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February 10, 2012
CDU chastens new Muslim minister for mooting school crucifix ban
Published: 26 Apr 10 17:20 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/politics/20100426-26797.html
Just one day before taking her post, Lower Saxony’s new Social Minister Aygül Özkan has apologised to her fellow Christian Democrats for starting a heated political debate by suggesting that crucifixes don’t belong in German public schools.
- A Muslim Christian Democrat's crucifixion - Analysis & Opinion (27 Apr 10)
The statements from the conservative Christian Democrat (CDU) member to Focus magazine sparked outrage within her own party.
On Monday morning Integration Commissioner Maria Böhmer rejected any suggestion of such a ban, saying crucifixes were part of the country’s national identity.
By afternoon Lower Saxony State Premier Christian Wulff, who appointed Özkan to his cabinet, declared the discussion was over.
After a “broad debate” in the CDU state parliamentary group, his new minister had accepted that crucifixes are “welcome and wanted” in the state’s schools, he said as a federal and state-level conference on integration began in Berlin.
“She backs this policy and the topic is finished for us,” he said, calling the situation a “misunderstanding.”
Meanwhile at the integration summit Özkan reportedly apologised for the interview, saying she gave it without adequate knowledge of the state party’s policies.
CDU parliamentary group leader David McAllister emphasised that state laws for religious symbols in schools would not be changed.
“In the eyes of the CDU the cross is a symbol of tolerance, also when applied to other religions,” he said. “The weekend’s irritations and misunderstandings have therefore been dispelled.”
A successful business woman, Özkan joined the CDU in 2004 and quickly rose through the regional ranks of the party to reach the Hamburg city council in 2008.
The debate over religious symbols in schools came as federal and state integration officials planned to gather in Oldenburg on Monday.
DDP/The Local (news@thelocal.de)
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Your comments about this article:
theeheee !!!.... and the plan really looks like it evaporated nowhere before it actually bear fruits. Anyway, good try gal........ next time consult the elders first.
Pesch gehabt Mrs. özkan.....
And as for Ozkan, why take a job if so many people are going to hate you as a result?
It's a wonderful thing to work for improvements. I too can imagine being a leader. However, I certainly wouldn't want to if the majority of society is going to hate me in the process.
The idea doesn't seem very CDU/CSU, though. Maybe she should have opted for a party that doesn't start with "C."
And who said the Germans don't have a sense of humour?
Fact: Germany is a Christian Country.
Fact: Most Germans are Christians.
Fact: The Cross and/or Crucifix are Christian symbols.
Question: Just how is this offensive?
I can only assume the lady was trying to get her name in print thereby enhancing her public image. If this is the case then I guess I'd better revise my view of her. She is a double-nitwit!!
Pity you lack both brains and tolerance.
My point, which you so obviously missed, has little to nothing to do with the subject matter of this lady's efforts - merely that it was so likely to fail she would have been better served trying to push water uphill.
No religious symbol has a place in a STATE school. It is not a school's job to indoctrinate children into any religion. If Germans want their children to be educated in the christian religion then they should send them to a catholic school or to whatever the German equivalent of a Sunday school is.
She was quite right to propose the banning of *all* religious symbols.
Because Germany is a secular state, your first stated fact is incorrect.
Since childhood I have maintained that religion causes more problems than it solves, this is why I am a committed humanist.
It is the only fair decision, everything else is bias toward Christianity, and is religious in nature, excluding all other religions but the "one true religion following Christ", which is a matter of personal opinion, or faith, not fact.
Therefore completely inappropriate in schools that are public in nature. I agree with here completely. Religious teaching and symbols do not belong in public schools period.
SO36, LancashireLad and Schindler are all correct. Germany is a secular state. The number of self-professed adherents to christianity is irrelevant. If Germany were ever to become a christian theocracy like the U.S., you might have a valid point. Until then, as Schindler says, "religious teaching and symbols do not belong in public schools." If parents want that kind of indoctrination for their children, they can send them to parochial schools.
Try, just try, to put yourself in the position of a child who does not share a belief in christianity and who is surrounded by christian symbols and subjected to religious teaching (and presumably prayer). How does that child react to the peer pressure to conform even though conforming is contrary to his or her beliefs? What if the kid is Jewish, or Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist? Or, god forbid, atheist? Why should any kid be subjected to that kind of pressure at public expense?
Utter tosh.
Keeping an eye on the number of citizens never even having joined or dropping out of the "official" (i.e. state-pampered) churches, it is obvious that there is not a christian majority in Germany anymore. The average German is non-religious or not a member of an organized church.
Religion does not belong in public buildings like courts or schools unless it is a religious private school. This has been certified by Germany's highest court already years ago. So there should not even be the need to discuss something which should not be there, legally.
Neither muslim nor christian symbols LEGALLY belong in public schools, so one has to agree with Ozkan concerning this point.
A symbol of tolerance? Yeah right, and so's my arse.
2010: You reap what you sow....