BAVARIAN PREMIER ORDERS CROSSES IN GOV’T BUILDINGS
Markus Soder Has Been Criticized By Secularists And Christians Alike With His Decision
https://www.trunews.com/stream/bavarian-premier-orders-crosses-in-govt-buildings
Markus Soder, the premier of the German state of Bavaria, has ordered crosses placed at the entrances of all government buildings, enraging secularists and Christians alike. The state’s political leader, whose conservative Christian Social Union is affiliated with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union, announced the decision Tuesday. The order goes into effect June 1, according to German newspaper Deutsche Welle. Soder took to Twitter, posting a photo of himself holding up a cross, along with the following comment (translated from German): “Clear commitment to our Bavarian identity and Christian values. Today in the Cabinet decided that in each state authority from 1 June to hang a cross. Immediately after the meeting hung a cross in the entrance of the State Chancellery.”
Germany is the most Christian country in Western Europe with 58 percent of the population belonging to Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox denominations. Bavaria is even more religious with more than half of the population identifying as Catholic, and another 20 percent identifying as Protestant. Still, the German constitution requires the government take no stance on religion. Secularists decried Soder’s decision, which they said was exploiting religion for political gain—something they said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan would do. Some Christian leaders, however, said they were angered by Soder’s explanation, saying it “diminished” the cross to a mere “folklore symbol.”