“This decision is deeply unfair to non-denominational and non-religious people in Germany. And it is not the end of the debate”, declared the President of the Humanist Association of Germany (HVD), Frieder Otto Wolf, on Wednesday in Berlin on the ruling of the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG 6 C 11.13) on the right to ethics lessons at elementary school. In its ruling, the Federal Administrative Court rejected an appeal on points of law by the plaintiff Anna Ignatius, who wanted to introduce an ethical and moral education subject in Baden-Württemberg from the first grade onwards as an alternative to religious education. Due to the lack of an alternative value-forming subject in schools, she and all other non-denominational parents and adolescents in Baden-Württemberg are being unlawfully disadvantaged. Frieder Otto Wolf emphasized: “Irrespective of the opinion of the Federal Administrative Court, according to which non-denominational parents and pupils, in contrast to denominationally bound people, should not be able to derive a claim to ethically and morally educational lessons from the Basic Law, politicians can independently reduce the almost nationwide disadvantages in this area. The court’s ruling does not prevent them from implementing equal treatment of non-denominational and denominational pupils.” Helmut Fink, HVD Vice President, emphasized after the verdict was handed down in Leipzig: “The plaintiff’s great personal commitment over the years deserves the utmost respect. She speaks for many citizens who neither understand nor approve of the privileged status of religious education in schools.” However, as long as the current legal situation remains politically unchanged, there is another way to teach non-religious values from the first grade: “the development of a separate humanistic subject for all those who stand on the ground of a secular, enlightened humanism. We have already had good experiences with this approach in other federal states.” In conclusion, Federal Association President Frieder Otto Wolf said that non-denominational parents should consistently demand their right to an ethical and moral education subject at primary school level on an equal footing with religious education: “As taxpayers, they have just as much duty as denominationally bound people. They must therefore also have the right to the same quality of values education at school. The discrimination confirmed by today’s ruling makes them second-class citizens.”
If you would like to support the constitutional complaint against the judgment of the Federal Administrative Court, you can support the plaintiff directly with a donation.
Your donation is earmarked to cover the costs of the proceedings.
The Humanists Baden-Württemberg
IBAN DE 49 60050101 000 2493529 BIC SOLADEST 600 Purpose: For ethics lessons from grade 1 onwards
