Berliners voted on Sunday in a referendum on religious education in schools that goes to the heart of how Germany's sizeable Muslim minority is integrated into modern society.
by Simon Sturdee
Excerpted from Brisbane Times
Germany's biggest city, described by one sociologist as "the world capital of atheism", got a wake-up call in 2005 with an "honour killing" of a Turkish woman by her brother because of her secular lifestyle.
Shocked by how such a crime could occur in the capital of a country that aspires to be a modern, multicultural success story, its left-wing city hall decided that schoolchildren needed a lesson in ethics.
The idea was to foster common values in schools in a city where over 40 percent of children come from immigrant families, most of them Muslims, and nip dangerous radicalism in the bud.
Germany, which opposed the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq but has around 3,700 troops in Afghanistan under NATO command, has managed to escape terror attacks by Islamic radicals but authorities say there is still a serious threat.
Following the honour killing of Hatun Surucu, the city introduced mandatory ethics classes in 2006-7 that all secondary school students - from whatever background - in Berlin have to attend.
Beforehand, children could take voluntary religious education classes like pupils in most of the rest of Germany. These were poorly attended, and attendance has slumped since the ethics classes were introduced.
This prompted considerable anger and to 265,000 people signing a petition which forced Sunday's referendum organised by a group called Pro Reli - "Reli" being what kids call religious classes.
The group wants children to be able to choose between the ethics class and take "Reli" lessons instead, with children of different religions being taught separately.
Pro Reli says that the whole idea behind the compulsory ethics classes is wrong-headed. Learning more about Islam, not less - and openly, not behind closed doors - will help stop young Muslims turning into radicals, it claims.
Leaders from other religious groups say children must be steeped in teachings from their own faith in order to understand the beliefs of others.
Supporters of the compulsory ethics classes counter that allowing children to choose between either ethics or religion lessons would split classes up and mean less integration, not more.
And they say that hot-button issues such as abortion, women's rights and sexuality should be aired in a secular forum where all sides can be considered. ... Read the full article here.