Former EKD chair criticises church for weapon deliveries

Under the leadership of Annette Kurschus, the EKD Council has clearly spoken out in favour of weapon deliveries to Ukraine. Käßmann is careful in going along in this position too easily, Jesus.de reports. She refers to Jesus’ commandment to Peter in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Put the sword back in its place! Love your enemies.”

Christian pacifist under the gun for Western involvement in Ukraine

25-02-2023

The former chair points out that she is asked about the position of the church on weapon deliveries every Sunday. Churchgoers are afraid that Germany will become involved in the war, she notices. They worry about the church’s support for arms deliveries.

Save lives

At the last EKD synod in Magdeburg, Kurschus said that weapons could save lives. However, Käßmann disagrees with that statement, Domradio writes. She thinks that guns are made to kill first and foremost. Yet, she stresses that she does not want to criticise the ethics of her successor. Instead, her statement is meant to make the Church leadership think, as “both advocates and opponents of arms deliveries will have to deal with the respective arguments of the other side.”

At the same time, she acknowledges that pacifists have been a minority in the German Protestant Church. “Ever since Luther, Protestantism has also tended towards a certain degree of obedience to authority”, she says.