Incidentally, I like listening to Bayern2 – and not exclusively to radioWelt, either. This morning, they again had some remarkable news and information.
First, I heard about a political breakthrough (politischen Durchbruch):
The conciliation committee actually did it! Federal and state authorities are now in agreement about pressing operations for carbon dioxide (CO2) generated when fossil raw material is made into electricity.
It seems like they mutually agreed as follows: the storage spaces will become smaller and each state can veto the building of this kind of storage.
Now isn’t that an interesting agreement? I find it rather symptomatic for our policy. The only thing such an agreement might cause is the shared opinion of all citizens that this sort of policy does not deserve the name policy.
To me, a solution that is objectively better looks quite simple. Why not just prevent that carbon dioxide is generated? We have the necessary technology. The money, too, seems available in heaps. The only thing that is missing is the political desire and the realization by experts.
After all, it makes no sense at all for us to transport the world’s best coal from Australia to Germany in order to then win electricity from a (very small) part of the energy potential of coal. Neither does it make sense to me that we here mine and burn the probably worst-quality coal of the world in Germany in order to then filter out the poisonous components such as sulphur – not knowing where to dispose of it. And then we want to pressure-store it somewhere underground right here?
There was a second report by radioWelt this morning that also made me thoughtful. According to the Cologne verdict, the religious circumcision (Beschneidung) of boys (both Jewish and Islamic) are a violation of the law and therefore subject to prosecution for assault. Circumcision, even if religiously motivated, violates the physical well-being and the right of self-determination of children (who, after all, are also humans).
And, of course, the Central Council of Jews are not the only ones who were outraged by this verdict. Representatives of other and Christian religions were just as annoyed. For example, the German Conference of Catholic Bishops voiced its strong criticism of the verdict by the Cologne Central Civil Court on the circumcision of boys for religious reasons. According to them, the decision is “extremely strange, because it does not at all take into consideration that parents have a constitutional right to educating their offspring and to free choice of religious persuasion”, said Heinrich Mussinghoff, chairman of the sub-committee for religious relations between Christians and Jews (source: Spiegel)
”Let everyone get to heaven in his own way“ („Jeder soll nach seiner Façon selig werden“) said Frederik II. of Prussia as early as around 1750. And this is, after all, something we all feel comfortable with, don’t we? It would make me quite happy to see that the same rule is also applied to other affairs, instead of being unnecessarily forced to act in certain ways. But does this also mean that we are at liberty to mutilate other persons however we wish to – even if said other persons are our own children?
But then, there is also a new taboo/rule: “You must not violate other people’s religious feelings!” That annoys me! In my opinion, if you are actively involved in a religion, you also have to accept that sometimes your feelings will be subjected to offense. After all, since you know you own heavenly truth, you are already one up on all the other poor creatures living in this world, aren’t you?
Nobody is interested in whether or not my feelings are offended if children in Germany are mutilated for religious reasons.
And as soon as the child is grown up, he can feel free to get circumcised. Because if an adult person wants to mutilate himself, for instance by a tattoo or piercing, then I accept it – no matter why he does it.
RMD
(Translated by EG)
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