Observing Hermann...

In a blatant failure to recognize which country and day and age she is living in, native Family Minister Ursula von der Leyen has actually had the audacity (or is it just naiveté?) to propose a Bündnis für Erziehung (Alliance for Upbringing) between the German government, the Catholic and the Lutheran Churches with the expressed intent of exposing innocent young children to innocent old Christian values. This diabolical plan was immediately attacked by the usual suspects, oops, I mean powers-that-be as being an unsupportable “signal for alienation”.

And of course it is, if you don’t share these values, that is. Let me list just the few of the offensive values she mentioned, so you can see exactly what I mean by that: “Respect, reliability, trust and decency”.

That Frau van der Leyen sees this as just a humble beginning and openly plans to later involve other religious communities and related organizations, as well, made no difference to anybody pretending to have listened. The door which “is wide open” as she said, was promptly slammed in her face. And then she stumbled again and made the fatal observation that the culture we live in here in Germany is one based upon the very values she would like to see boosted and, well, let’s face it. That was the last straw – the last one she had been holding on to, I mean. She must have resigned herself to her fate after that because then she says, check this one out, then she actually says “But values don’t just grow on their own, they have to be demonstrated.” And that’s when all hell broke loose because the last few supporters she had (a few parents) suddenly realized that they would have to be getting involved here and do something, too.

This one apparatchik guy from the Union for Upbringing and Science (upbringing and science need a union in this country, I guess) summed it up best when he said that her initiative got off to a colossal false start because all the important people (like him) had been left out of the process. You know, every other religious and religious organization in existence, teachers, pre-school teachers, the pedagogues, the pedagogues’ dogs etc. (just the kind of folks who can sit down on one table and really get the ball rolling with something like this, right?). And one of the best lines came from some family expert from the FDP: “It is intolerant and dangerous to use a crowbar to implement Christianity as the leading set of values in a state in which so many non-Christians live.” Hmmm. Maybe in Saudia Arabia it is. But here? In G-E-R-M-A-N-Y? No joke. Educated people actually say stuff like this here.

But this is neither here nor there. Nor even over there. It is everywhere. Everywhere where Christianity forms the basis of the dominant culture, that is. You know, “We’re not worthy, we’re not worthy…” To “get it right” in the West, you have to be willing to apologize for being what you are, whether good, bad or ugly. Why that is, I can’t say. But here in Germany, where the natives are so efficient and all, nobody does it better.

And that is why Frau von der Leyen’s initiative is doomed to failure. It is unapologetic, see? It is not doomed to failure because it is flawed or alienating or irrational or intolerant or even ill-conceived. It is doomed to failure because she has had the guts to take a stand on something for something. And if you “respect” yourself enough to have the “decency” to “trust” your instincts and prove yourself to be a “reliable” leader by doing so (the values she mentioned, get it?), I mean, how can you not fail here?

Kirche und Staat müssen getrennt bleiben. Vom Kopf, meine ich.

Kommentare auf Deutsch? Logisch.