Germany: Churches should promote integration of Muslims, says minister

Germany: Churches should promote integration of Muslims, says minister

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere called upon Germany's Christian churches on Thursday to promote the integration of Muslims, days before government-sponsored talks with Muslim groups are due to resume.


"I am a bit sad that the state is marching ahead. In fact, I would have wished for the churches to lead this dialogue," de Maiziere said at an ecumenical gathering in Munich. Christian churches needed to make more effort to come to terms with Islam, he added.


"The churches are doing too little and the state is doing too little," constitutional law expert Gerhard Robbers said during the discussion. He said Muslims were not fully recognized as German citizens.

"There are too many religious policy jibes," Robbers added, referring, for example, to a ban on headscarves in German schools.

"Such bans do not really take Muslims seriously as citizens of this country," Robbers said.




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Source: EarthTimes (English)

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