Federal Minister of Defense Kramp-Karrenbauer
for information
Federal President Dr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier
Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel
The President of the Bundestag Dr. German politican
Prof. Dr. Stephan Harbarth, President of the Federal Constitutional Court
Bishop Dr. Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German Bishops’ Conference
Regional Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria Prof. Dr. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, Council Chairman of the Evangelical Church in Germany
Dear Federal Minister of Defense,
We, the undersigned of this appeal, call on you, as the owner of the highest command and command of the armed forces, to cancel the big tattoo in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin, initially planned for August 31, 2021.
To pay tribute to soldiers who are returning from a twenty-year war in Afghanistan at the end of a commemorative event with this military and non-violent ceremony is also and especially with a view to the countless victims and the Bundeswehr soldiers killed in this war, theirs Survivors and the current dire situation in Afghanistan is totally inadequate. In this context, it is worth remembering the approximately 140 Afghan civilians who perished near Kunduz in September 2009 as a result of the order of an officer of the Bundeswehr. Our criticism relates particularly to the core content of the great tattoo: the prayer “I pray to the power of love that reveals itself in Jesus”. For Christians who have taken the non-violence of Jesus as a model for their actions, the intonation of this prayer with the parallel presentation of the soldiers’ rifles means an unacceptable violation of their religious feelings.
Jesus, who was executed on the cross as a result of his non-violent resistance to the inhuman forces prevailing at the time, must not be misused for warlike activities today. The ideologically neutral state must never instrumentalize religious rites and symbols for its own purposes, especially not to justify war and military violence. We call on you, Ms. Kramp-Karrenbauer, as the main political leader, to cancel the big tattoo planned in Berlin and to abolish this ritual in general. We call on those responsible in the churches and all political representatives to stand up for this demand.
Undersigned:
groups
Action Group Service for Peace (AGDF); Anti-War Working Group / Stand Up Bonn; Working group for development policy and self-taxation, Lindau; Bonn Peace Alliance; Bremen Peace Forum; Methodist Church in the Villingen-Schwenningen area; Gustav-Heinemann Friedensgesellschaft eV Siegen; Idstein Peace Alliance; Initiative musicians against military music corps; International Federation of Reconciliation – German Branch; Regional group Bonn-Rhein-Sieg; no weapons from lake constance (kwvb ev); LabourNet Germany; Lebenshaus Schwäbische Alb – Community for Social Justice, Peace and Ecology eV; Ecumenical initiative to reform or abolish military pastoral care; Oldenburg Peace Alliance; pax christi – basic group Idstein; pax christi – German Section eV; pax christi diocesan association Essen; pax christi – Bonn group; pax christi – Group Frankfurt / M; pax christi – Offenbach group; pax christi Rhein-Main – Regional Association Limburg-Mainz; Riders for Peace – The Peace Ride, nationwide; Die Schwelle Foundation, Bremen.
Individuals
Hanne Adams (Erfurt); Helmut Adolf (Berlin); Sylvia August (Cologne); Lee Bach-Bayram (Hohenahr); Werner Bachmann (Cölbe-Schönstadt); Ursula Balt (Bochum); Dr. Rüdeger Baron (Röthenbach); Piero Bartalesi (Frankfurt / M); Rudolf Basner (Groebenzell); PD Dr. Johannes M. Becker (Marburg); Sigrid Becker-Wirth (Bonn); Erhard Beckers (Krefeld); Michael Behrmann (Bremen); Jutta Behrmann-Rogge (Bremen); Heinz-Dieter Benshausen, Rev. retired (Bremen); Joachim Bernecke (Braunfels); Ewald Biedenbach (Kassel); Matthias W. Birkwald, Member of the Bundestag DIE LINKE (Cologne); Roland Blach, Managing Director of the German Peace Society – United War Service Opponents Baden-Württemberg (Stuttgart); Volker Böge (Brisbane); Vera Bongert (Cologne); Edith Brandmüller (Aschaffenburg); Klaus Dieter Brandmüller (Aschaffenburg); Prof. Dr. Thomas Bremer (Münster); Dr. Martin Budzinski (Mühlacker); Peter Bürger (Düsseldorf); Irmgard Busemann (Hamburg); Isabelle Casel (Bergisch-Gladbach); Franz Conraths (Kyritz); Susanne Deufel-Herbolte (pax christi Berlin); Klaus Dick (Ravensburg); Jürgen Dornis (Herdwangen); Hartmut Drewes, Rev. iR (Bremen); Dr. Wilfried Drews (Bonn); Christoph Drolshagen (Andernach); Beate Eichhorn (Lüneburg); Hartmut Eckermann (Solingen); Dr. Elisabeth Eckle (Breisach am Rhein); Uli Epple (City Council Wasserburg am Bodensee); Ottoersching, speaker DIE LINKE (Lüdenscheid); Jost-Hinrich Eschenburg (pax christi Augsburg); Dietmar Euhus (Grossmutz); Ilina Fach (Marburg); Frieder Fahrbach (Lindau); Etta Fennekohl (Bonn); Ute Finkh-Krämer, former member of the Bundestag (Berlin); Bernd-Dieter Fischer (Nuremberg); Elisabeth Fischer (Nuremberg); Gerd Fischer (Nuremberg); Ulrich Franz (Attac Bonn); Ulrich Frey (Bad Honnef); Malte Fröhlich (Tangermünde); Julius Fröscher (Biberach an der Riss); Dr. Albert Fuchs (Meckenheim); Carla Fumagalli (Frankfurt / M); Horst Furtner (Potsdam); Johannes Gertz (pax christi – regional group Recklinghausen, pax christi – diocesan board of Münster); Josef Göbel (Berlin); Carl-Peter Greis (Wetzlar); Maria-Elisabeth Günter (Wittlich); Kathrin Grundmann (Cologne); Christa Guererro (Düsseldorf); Christoph Gurlitt (Endingen); Regina Hagen (Darmstadt); Dr. Christian Harms (Überlingen); Perdita Harms (Überlingen); Dr. Dirk-M. Harmsen (Forum Peace Ethics (FFE) in the Evangelical Church of Baden); Irmgard Hartmann (Neuss); Christoph Haun (Bremen); Anne Heemann-Singe (Vechta); Heijo Heidemann (Cologne); Günter Hees (Cologne); Steffen Heidenreich (Melle); Bernd Heilmann (Mülheim / Ruhr); Werner Heinrich (Munich); Henning Henrich (Wetzlar); Reinhard Herbolte (pax christi Berlin); Johann Herlyn, Pastor retired (Bremen); Bernhard Hesse (Bonn); Martin Hillebrand (Neuss); Michael Hiller (Mannheim); Werner Höbsch (Brühl); Lothar Höfler (Lindau); Hans-Ulrich Hofmann (Villingen-Schwenningen); Hartwig Hohnsbein (Göttingen); Helga Hohnsbein (Göttingen); Brigitte Hornstein (IPPNW Münster); Andrej Hunko, Member of the Bundestag DIE LINKE (Aachen); Priv.-Doz. Dr. Anne Maximiliane Jäger-Gogoll (Marburg); Monika Jennis (Essen); Manfred Jeub, retired dean of school (Freiburg); Rose Kellers (Kassel); Dieter Kalthäuser (Breisach); Elisabeth Kalthäuser (Breisach); Heinz D. Kappei (Berlin); Ulfert Kaufmann (Oldenburg); Alfred Keienburg (chairman pax christi Essen); Rudolf Kemmer (Wittlich); Dr. Ferdinand Kerstiens (Marl); Martina Knappert-Hiese (Kressbronn); Corry Knijff (Frankfurt / M); Gerold König (pax christi federal chairman); Dr. Eva König-Werner (Berlin); Beate Körsgen (Association of Reconciliation, Mainz Regional Group); Ilse Koppe (Göttingen); Rolf Koppe (Göttingen); Margret Koschel (Frankfurt / M); Jens Koy (Bonn); Constanze Kraft, Rev. iR (Berlin); Agnes Krieger (Bonn); Beate Kullmann (Aschaffenburg); Karl Laible (Lindau); Sigi Laugsch (Schwarzenbruck); Davorka Lavrekovic (Frankfurt / M); Anning Lehmeniek (Bremen); Friedegund Lendle (Göttingen); Ekkehard Lentz (spokesman for the Bremen Peace Forum); Dr. Manfred Lotze (Hamburg); Bernhard Lübbering, Rev. em. (Recklinghausen); Irmgard Lücke (Bremen); Gisa Luu (Frankfurt / M); Heike Mahlke (Hitzacker); Ursula Mathern (Merxheim); Bernhard Meier (Bonn); Hannes Menke (Bremen); Uli Mercker (Peace Alliance Bonn); Mohssen Massarrat (Berlin); Monika Merkel-Neumann (Cologne); Hanna Middelmann (Göttingen); Dr. Eberhard Müller (Zell aH); Wolfgang Neumann (Cologne); Paul Oettinger; Prof. Dr. Gottfried Orth (Braunschweig); Hedwig Oser (Frankfurt / M); Martin Otto (Wetzlar); Wolfgang Pahl (Ludwigshafen); Dr. Ursula Paulus (Cologne); Marion Pierrets (Oldenburg); Cornelia Praetorius (Berlin); Britta Ratsch-Menke (Bremen); Christine Rauch (Aschaffenburg); Klaus Rauch (Aschaffenburg); Martin Renner (Seelbach); Harm Ridder, Pastor retired (Bremen); Friedrich Rolly (Darmstadt); Gerd-Rolf Rosenberger (Bremen); Dr. Johanna Rothe (Chorin); Alfons Schabarum (Cologne); Walter Schäfer (Hohenahr); Günter Schlag (Berlin); Petra Schlag (Berlin); Ruth Schlette (Bonn); Marc Schlichtherle (Bremen); Burchard Schlömer (Aachen); Michael Schmid (Gammertingen); Rainer Schmid (Aalen); Friedhelm Schneiders (Düsseldorf); Hans-Günther Schramm (Nuremberg); Hans Ludwig Schröder, retired pastor (Achim); Hannelore Schützenmeister (Weil am Rhein); Doris Schulz (Solingen); Jo Schulz (Cologne); Uta Schumann (Erfurt); Karin Schwalm (Marburg); Rainer Seifert (Friends of Peace eV Bonn); Dr. Josef Senft (Bonn); Prof. Dr. Stefan Silber (Paderborn); Dr. Georg Singe (Vechta); Michaela son (Edemissen); Margret Staal (Hattert); Christoph Stark (Neuss); Gisela Stark (Neuss); Dr. Burkhard Staude (Stauffenberg); Ilse Staude (Stauffenberg); Johannes Steffens (Remagen); Dr. Dietmar Stoller (Lindau); Friedrich Straetmanns, Member of the Bundestag DIE LINKE, Bielefeld; Michael Strake, board member pax christi Speyer); Helga Temple (Ahrensburg); Konrad Tempel (Ahrensburg); Rainer van Heukelum (Bonn); Bernhard Völk (Augsburg); Michael von Whyl (Bonn); Susanne Warmuth (Aschaffenburg); Karin Warnatzsch (Gammertingen); Martin Warnecke, Pastor retired (Bremen); Stephania Weigmann (Berlin); Schulamith Weil (coasts); Dr. Wilhelm Wilmers (Wetzlar); Jürgen Willner (Bremen); Bernd Wipper (Überlingen); Dr. Gernot Wirth (Bonn); Dr. Theodor Ziegler (Baiersbronn); Dr. Inge Zimmer (Huerth).
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