CDU branch removes God's Name in policy draft
The C seems less important for the Christian Democratic Union in Saxony Anhalt. Photo EPA, Filip Singer
Central Europe
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the German region of Saxony-Anhalt is working on a new policy. One of the changes is the removal of God and the Church from the document.
Currently, God has a prominent place in the policy document. It starts with the words, "Our policy is based on the Christian understanding of man and his responsibility before God." The program dates from ten years ago, however, and the party deemed it necessary to update it, PRO reports. The new party program must focus more on current issues, such as climate protection and digitisation.
However, with the new program, some values seem to go lost as well, PRO writes. Because the 60 pages of the document do not even mention God and Church once.
In addition, marriage, which used to be seen as one of the unshakeable principles of the Christian Democrats, was moved from chapter two to way further in the back.
Accusation
Secretary General of the regional CDU, Mario Karschunke, rejects the accusation that the party is departing from its core values Evangelisch.de reports. "The Christian image of man remains the basis of our politics", he says. However, the CDU should also be there for the 80 per cent of non-denominational residents of the state, he adds.
At the same time, the draft is not ready yet, and there are a lot of amendments in the pipeline, Karschunke says. Therefore, he expects that the draft will look very different at the end of September when it is to be looked at by the party conference. "We're proud of our C in our name. We will never say goodbye to God and the Church."
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