A small example about the current situation regarding religious freedom in germany:
The pastor of the Protestant St. Martini church - Olaf Latzel - is investigated by the state protection on suspicion of incitement of the masses (!). The reason is the allegedhomophobic statements of the pastor.
Now Pastor Latzel is known for not proclaiming prosperity gospel, unlike most of his evangelical colleagues, but takes the Bible seriously and also literally.
As a consequence, he is the victim of various violent attacks, because the Bible naturally contains passages that the increasingly atheist society in Germany increasingly rejects.
One of them is the topic of homosexuality:
Pastor Latzel is accused of portraying homosexuals as "criminals" and "deathworthy" in a seminar that was also digitally published.
He has put that into perspective, because of course they are not. They are only sinners according to the Bible (like all people in the world) and welcome them to his church. "Yes to the sinner - no to sin". According to the word of the Bible, sin leads to eternal death, only repentance, repentance and the grace of God leads to eternal life. So far, so bad?
With "criminals" he referred to the "paramilitant aggressors" who have long chosen the pastor as their target. Apparently, these have been so incited by his statements that they legitimize the following (criminal) acts:
• Unknowns have scratched his car on all sides
• The display case and the church door of the St. Martini community were smeared with left-wing symbols and hate slogans.
• In early March, 50 same-sex couples disrupted worship service and then engaged in beatings with police
• A full 10-litre bucket of yoghurt thrown against the church door.
• An unknown person ordered a car from a dealer in the pastor's name.
• Attacks by hackers on his digital service (livestream)
• After the Bild newspaper reported on the incidents on April 4, the parish was once again the target of attacks on the night of April 5. The sign "Jesus is risen" was sprayed over and tipped into a container of missionary takeaways of paint.
Why is he being attacked?
His statements clearly fall under freedom of speech and do not call for violence, which would also be a clear contradiction to God's word in the Bible. Some may not like the fact that specific lifestyles are being attacked by these statements. But should a democracy not withstand such statements without a pastor having to fear being excluded from the church association and expecting such a strong persecution (see above)?
Another question is why the left chose Christianity as the enemy image and not Islam, which actually calls for violence and persecution against nonbelievers and homosexuals? Why does the church council not protect the pastor, but instead examine his removal? Why is the mood so poisoned that opinions outside the mainstream are being so sharply criticized? Do we have a dictatorship of public opinion?
Questions i would like to address in the forthcoming posts.
Sources:
https://www.idea.de/frei-kirchen/detail/bremen-hassattacken-gegen-pastor-olaf-latzel-und-seine-gemeinde-112497.html
https://www.idea.de/frei-kirchen/detail/pastor-latzel-entschuldigt-sich-bei-homosexuellen-sie-sind-willkommen-112748.html