Professor
Bernhard Uhde delivered his lecture, “
Kann man zwei Herren dienen?
Can One Serve Two Masters?” - subtitled “
Zum Verhältnis von Religion und Demokratie
(On the Relationship Between Religion and Democracy)“ — as the keynote address
during the 175th
Stiftungsfest (foundation celebration) of the
Freiburg Fraternity Teutonia.
Their house is located on the lot next to my
apartment building, and so it is customary for Teutonia to invite its neighbors
to its annual Stiftungsfest.
Despite the
summer heat, Lecture Hall 1021 at the university was packed, as Professor Uhde has a
reputation for delivering lectures that, while scientifically precise, are easy
to understand and, spiced with Bavarian humor, are entertaining.
Bernhard
Uhde embodies human warmth and, in doing so, paves the way for peaceful dialogue
between people of different religious orientations. He is committed to making
religious diversity understandable, fostering mutual respect, and, in the
process, keeping traditions visible within the context.
The photo of Professor Uhde was taken during a lecture last year. In Freiburg, too, he delivered his talk while seated, due, as
he explained, to a discomfort in his left
Haxen
(calf). And in Freiburg, as well, he did not begin his lecture without three
preliminary remarks - which eventually turned into four.
The title of the lecture is a passage from the Sermon on the Mount and can
be found in the Gospel according to Matthew 6:24:
“No one
can serve two masters: Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you
will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
Mammon.”
Democracy is a product of the
Enlightenment. It allows people to live together rationally, for it is self-evident that
all men are created equal. Thus, all people are equal before God as well - though not within church institutions, since they are not democratic.
The statement in the American Declaration of Independence is generally understood to mean that all people are equal in dignity and entitled to equal rights.
Thus, people live freely within a state, but they are also free in relation to religion, because they can freely choose to believe in God.
However, human beings cannot be loyal to two things at once if they contradict each other. They cannot make both God and another higher authority (power, money, ideology, or their own ego) the supreme standard in equal measure, for then they would find themselves in an internal conflict. Ultimately, the question of the supreme guiding principle in life remains.
Finaly, according to Prof. Uhde, the saying “No one can serve two masters” takes a surprising turn, for religion and democracy are not two masters at all, since they do not claim the same thing.
- Democracy is based on the sovereignty of the people, majority decisions, and the openness of political processes.
- Religion is grounded in the struggle against transience. It claims to provide guidance based on an ultimate truth.
The two compete with one another only when either religion seeks to seize political power or when democracy elevates itself to the status of an ideological doctrine of salvation.
Prof. Uhde cited Islam as a “modern” example. Where fundamentalist Islam exists, democracy does not.
Abul A’la Maududi held the view that sovereignty belongs to God alone. Therefore, the people cannot create laws at their own discretion. In a “theo-democracy,” democratic procedures are permissible only within the limits of Sharia law.
Ruhollah Khomeini declared that God’s laws must not be replaced by majority decisions, and thus Iran’s political system is based on this principle.
Representatives of the Taliban have repeatedly stated that democracy is a Western system and incompatible with Islam. Instead, they advocate for an Islamic emirate.
Ideological writings by al-Qaeda and the Islamic State also condemn democracy and call for a theocracy.
Prof. Uhde concluded: For a free person, religion and democracy are not contradictory but complementary, because
- Religion seeks to answer questions about ultimate meaning, truth, and ethical guidance for humanity.
- Democracy is the sometimes difficult endeavor to enable people with different views to live together peacefully and to make political decisions.
Thank you, Professor Uhde, for your "enlightening" lecture.
**
