|
Lazy eyes listen
|
NewsRescue
The German Federal Administrative Court, one of the country’s five federal top courts, ruled on Tuesday that the authorities in Bavaria had the right to demand that Christian crosses be put in all government facilities. The decision came after a spat between regional officials and an atheist organisation.
The Bavarian administration implemented the regulation in 2018, led by Markus Soeder, the president of the region’s most prominent political group, the Conservative Christian Social Union (CSU). At the time, officials ordered that Christian crosses be put over the entrances to all government buildings in order to show the state’s “cultural identity as well as Christian [and] Western influence.”
The southern German state had previously enacted similar rules for public schools and courtrooms, making cross displays compulsory. Soeder also took a particularly tough stance on migration and sought to streamline asylum procedures in the state.
Both secular organisations and religious leaders slammed the 2018 decision. The Catholic Church accused Soeder of exploiting Christian symbolism for political gain. The ‘Union for Mental Freedom,’ an atheist organisation, argued that the judgement infringed its right to free thought and filed a lawsuit in 2021.
A lower court denied the union’s initial legal complaint, causing it to turn to the Federal Administrative Court. “What does a cross have to do with an official activity like granting a driver’s licence?” Nothing!” said a lawyer representing the organisation throughout the trial.
Federal judges, on the other hand, viewed the Bavarian authorities’ decision as a “mere administrative provision with no legal external effect,” which did not “violate any rights of the plaintiffs.” The court accepted that the cross is seen as the major emblem of the Christian faith, but stated that its exhibition does not violate any constitutional principles.
Soeder applauded the decision, calling the cross “a sign of our Christian and cultural nature,” adding that it “belongs to Bavaria.” Klaus Holetschek, the leader of the CSU faction in the regional parliament, also applauded the development, saying “‘yes’ to our values and ‘yes’ to the Christian-Western nature of our country.” The Union for Mental Freedom has vowed to appeal the decision to the German Constitutional Court.
