Bonner Querschnitte 38/2018 Ausgabe 555 (eng)

Translated from an idea press release, www.idea.de

(Bonn, 26.11.2018) Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right. Where it is violated, other human rights are also in a bad state. This view was proposed by Thomas Schirrmacher (Bonn), Associate Secretary General of the World Evangelical Alliance, on November 1st in Wuppertal.

He spoke at the autumn meeting of the Lutheran Convention in Rhineland on the issue of “Persecution and Discrimination of Christians”. There is no country in the world where religious minorities are oppressed but the human rights situation apart from that is “otherwise in order”. Christians worldwide are currently more often affected by violent oppression than members of other religions. One reason for this is that most of the former “Christian countries” have developed into secular democracies. “Precisely because Christians no longer have a Christian state on their side, they become easy victims of violent religious currents and states that despise human rights”, Schirrmacher said. The democratic countries are therefore called upon to also stand up for the protection of persecuted Christians, “because otherwise in the end nobody will do it”, said Schirrmacher.

The Lutheran Convention in Rhineland was founded in 1936 as an opposition to the National Socialist “German Christians”. Its concern today is to represent the Lutheran confession within the Rhineland Church.

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• Photo 1: Thomas Schirrmacher with the board of the Lutheran Covent © BQ/Warnecke
• Photo 2 and photo 3: Thomas Schirrmacher during his lecture © BQ/Warnecke