Muslims contribute to German society, church gathering told

Dresden, Germany, June 3 (ENInews)--Islam is part of a modern, changing
Germany and necessary to develop a vibrant society, President Christian Wulff
said in a panel discussion on 2 June at the ecumenical gathering called
the Kirchentag. 

Christians should also be more tolerant towards other religions, Wulff
said. "If one is not open to other religions, one cannot expect Muslim
societies to be receptive to freedom of religion." He then went on to appeal to
Turkey to do more for religious freedom.

The German president was participating in the Kirchentag, Germany's
biennial church gathering, which takes place from 1 to 5 June. He took part in a
discussion titled "How much integration does a democracy need?" It
addressed the difficult issue of Muslim integration in German society. Other
participants on the podium were second- and third-generation Germans from migrant
families.

Last year, Wulff caused a stir when he said that "Christianity is, of
course, part of Germany. Judaism is, of course, part of Germany. This is our
Judeo-Christian history. But, now, Islam is also part of Germany." Intense
debate has raged in Germany about the willingness of Muslim immigrants to
integrate and learn German. A book claiming that Turkish Muslims are not
willing to integrate was a bestseller last year. 

Wulff said at the Kirchentag that last year's speech was intentional. "I
consciously used the sentence "Islam belongs to Germany," to give a
positive signal to Muslims who are well-integrated in this country that they are
welcome. I wanted to take them away from the marginalised sectors of society
and put them in the centre of our society." 

The German president spoke about the challenges facing a multicultural
Germany in times of rapid social and global changes. He said he finds it a
pity that some of the best German-Turkish academics are turning their backs on
Germany.

Wulff said that after his speech he received more than 4,200 letters, of
which 4,000 were worried and angry about the consequences should Islam
belong in Germany. "They were worried about what will happen to our Germany as
they knew it," the president said. 

Before his appointment as president in July 2010, Wulff, as Minister
President of the German federal state of Lower Saxony, appointed the first
Muslim state cabinet minister in Germany. "I still believe that an open society
will develop better than a closed society," Wulff added. 

The panel agreed that schools are important for the integration of
migrants into society as it is sometimes the only place where migrants and Germans
meet. However the reality is often very different, with large
concentrations of only migrants in some schools.

The chairperson of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD), Nikolaus
Schneider, told another gathering on 2 June that it is a new challenge facing
Christians to get Muslims to feel at home in Germany. "Muslims and Christians
could act together to achieve social justice," he said during a discussion
with the Muslim Grand Mufti of Sarajevo, Mustafa Ceric.