Non-religious people must not be disadvantaged in the coalition agreements between the CDU/CSU and SPD, emphasized Frieder Otto Wolf, President of the Humanist Association of Germany, in Berlin on Thursday.
It had previously become known that a proposal for an agreement on cooperation with churches and religious communities had been submitted to the Working Group on Home Affairs and Justice under the lead negotiators Hans-Peter Friedrich (CSU) and Thomas Oppermann (SPD). The proposed agreement emphasizes the fundamental importance of freedom of religion and belief for our liberal society. It continues: “We will intensively cultivate the dialog with churches, religious communities and religious associations. Religions enrich social life and convey values that contribute to the cohesion of our society.” Wolf therefore called on the parties to give equal consideration in the coalition agreements to all legally constituted associations that are committed to the communal cultivation of a world view. “Belief communities are on an equal footing with religious communities, as the Basic Law clearly states. And even if we are still exposed to actual discrimination in many areas today, no coalition agreement should fall short of this clear constitutional requirement,” said Frieder Otto Wolf, referring to Article 140 of the Basic Law in conjunction with 137 para. 7 of the German Constitution. “Freedom of religion and belief also applies to atheists and all people who do not share traditional religious beliefs.” He emphasized that humanists contribute no less to the enrichment of social life and cohesion in society than religious communities. And even apart from questions on individual topics, it is essential that the negotiating parties respect the fact that non-denominational and non-religious people make up more than a third of the German population today in all agreements. The coalition agreement for the new legislative period should consistently take this fact into account, Wolf concluded, if the governing parties respect the neutrality of the Federal Republic of Germany towards the religious and ideological communities living in it, as intended by the Basic Law.
