On the occasion of the 4th German Islam Conference (DIK) under Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU), the President of the Humanist Association of Germany, Florian Zimmermann, points out that many of the religious policy challenges faced by Muslims in Germany also apply to people of other religious and non-religious world views such as humanism. He warns against mixing integration and religious policy issues and disregarding immigrants without religion.
“Religious policy issues need a framework in which all religious and ideological communities are included on an equal footing.” Zimmermann is thus expanding on a demand made by Hans Michael Heinig, an expert in constitutional and state church law, who had called for an alternative format for religious policy discussions similar to the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs, to include the aspect of ideology.
According to Zimmermann, a conference on religious and ideological issues must lead to a long-term reform of state church law towards a contemporary equal treatment of religious and ideological communities. The call for new discussion formats in which representatives of all religions and world views sit around one table was also voiced several times at the 4th German Islam Conference, in which representatives of the HVD also took part.
Zimmermann sees this as an opportunity to finally take account of the changed social circumstances and thus religious and ideological pluralism. In addition to the large Protestant and Catholic religious communities, the non-denominational group already accounts for over a third of the population. Muslims and other religious groups, on the other hand, make up a smaller proportion of the population with a share of five percent.
The Humanist Association of Germany is a worldview community that advocates humanism and humanity on a secular basis. The core of the humanist worldview is to work on the project of a humane, solidary and just society with the aim of improving the living conditions of all people.
