Church
Diakonie boss rejects convinced AfD voters as employees
“Anyone who votes for the AfD out of conviction cannot work in the Diakonie,” says Diakonie President Rüdiger Schuch. photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa
The Christian churches have sharply differentiated themselves from the AfD. As employers, they also want nothing to do with supporters of the far-right party. This affects hundreds of thousands of employees.
Diakonie President Rüdiger Schuch wants to be convincing Do not tolerate AfD voters in your own ranks. “Anyone who votes for the AfD out of conviction cannot work in the diakonia,” Schuch told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “Basically, these people can no longer count themselves as part of the church, because the AfD’s anti-human worldview contradicts the Christian view of humanity.”
The Protestant welfare association Diakonie Deutschland is one of the largest employers in Germany and, according to its own information, employs more than 627,000 people. The two large Christian churches had already sharply differentiated themselves from the AfD in the spring. As employers, many church-supported institutions are so-called trend companies and have comparatively great freedom to decide who they employ.
Schuch said that it should first be spoken to the relevant employees and made clear that there is no place for inhumane statements in Diakonie facilities. “But if that doesn’t change anything, there must be consequences under labor law,” said Schuch. He added: “Anyone who supports the AfD has to go.”
AfD speaks of witch hunts
The AfD reacted indignantly. Church political spokeswoman Nicole Höchst spoke of a “modern witch hunt against the AfD” that is un-Christian and anti-human. The Diakonie President’s statements were “hollow phrases”. “The Diakonie must accept the accusation of violating Article Four of the Basic Law,” said Höchst. Article 4 guarantees freedom of belief, conscience and religion.
The Lutheran Bishops’ Conference had already warned against the AfD in March and declared: “Anyone who votes for the AfD is supporting a party that tramples on the Christian view of humanity.” In a resolution from February, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference formulated the following: “We say with all clarity: ethnic nationalism is incompatible with the Christian view of God and humanity. Right-wing extremist parties and those that proliferate on the fringes of this ideology can therefore have no place for Christians political activity and are not eligible for election.”
The Catholic German Caritas Association, which employs almost 696,000 people in social institutions, says it is in the process of clarifying what this means in terms of labor law. The association resolutely rejects “extremist, fundamentalist, racist, anti-Semitic, anti-democratic, nationalist, xenophobic positions,” said a spokeswoman when asked.
The “basic order of church service,” which regulates labor law in the Catholic Church, also explicitly refers to the rejection of anti-church positions. A working group is currently discussing specific labor law issues as a consequence of this basic attitude. The spokeswoman explained that a handout with specific points should be published promptly.
“For the preservation of the open society”
As “tendency companies,” Christian employers have special rights and can impose certain requirements on their employees in order to preserve the “credibility of the church” or its moral teachings. In the past, for example, marriage to a divorced partner or secretly leaving the church were considered grounds for dismissal for employees.
Diakonie President Schuch warned employers in Germany to ask their employees to vote. “They should also make it clear that it is important not to use their vote to strengthen the enemies of democracy.” Democracy is not a sure-fire success. Schuch added: “Every company in Germany should therefore examine its attitude and ask itself whether it is doing enough to maintain the open society.”