America‘s Holy Warriors

Amerikas Gotteskrieger was the title of a book presentation and conference by Annicka Brockschmidt and sponsored by the Carl-Schurz-Haus.

Red Baron is still in shock because the picture Annika painted was grim and pessimistic such that she feared for democracy in America. Was January 6 a precursor?

The Evangelical movement has long been deeply rooted in the States and is driven by white supremacy. Apparently, it has more political influence than I had assumed so far.

For me, it is incomprehensible how in the 21st century, people are so religiously indoctrinated and react accordingly. However, when I look at our anti-vaxxer demonstrations, I understand that these erratic movements are dangerous to democratic structures.

I was brought up in a middle-class family. In my early days during the war, my father was absent, and my mother gave my education in the hands of the State and Church. I do not remember that I was directly influenced by the Nazi regime, but religion played a decisive role for my mother. She originated from a Catholic farm in Westphalia with one sister and seven brothers. Being nine years old at the end of the war, I was greatly influenced by Nazi news in the press and radio, but I understood only roughly what was going on,

After the war, my family moved to Hamburg, where I attended secondary school. We kids were re-educated and gently introduced to democratic thinking and structures. Living in an essentially Protestant city, my religious affiliation suffered quite naturally. Still, during my first years of studying physics, I pledged to address the spiritual issue seriously when I had time.

And indeed, I did it with the help of my father-in-law. I read Hans Küng, Karl Rahner, Joseph Ratzinger, Edward Schillebeeckx, and other intelligent books and concluded that I am not an atheist but agnostic in my thinking. As such, I follow - and only here - Frederick the Great, “Jeder soll nach seiner Façon selig werden (Let every man/woman seek heaven in his own fashion).”

Coming back to Annika’s conference. She insisted that white supremacy was one of the driving forces of those Evangelicals resulting in racism.

Starting the discussion, I asked what racism had to do with Christian ethics and whether Christian fundamentalists interpret the Bible nach Gutsherrenart (in the fashion of a lord of a manor, i.e., in their own autocratic way).

I understood from Annika’s reply that a lot of individualism was involved, but I didn’t get a clear-cut answer.

There were still many points I wanted to make, but I let the other participants ask their questions.

Is this the outcome of education, of which Annika said that the formation of young Evangelicals is strongly guided, e.g., in a clear creationist direction? Frequently, our tolerant society not only accepts both creationist and scientific explanations as a compromise but teaches them on equal footing.

This makes me ache as a scientist because scientifically-based facts cannot be replaced by alternative facts.

For me, in the end, it all boils down to education. Don’t indoctrinate the children with Bible stories; encourage their thinking capabilities instead.

Resist the seducers of the people!

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