Margot Käßmann: AfD attacks on churches are a good sign

Margot Käßmann, a prominent German theologian and former bishop, has responded to attacks by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on the major Christian churches. In an interview with the weekly newspaper der Freitag, she argues that the AfD's criticism is actually a positive development, as it demonstrates that the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches have learned from history and now stand firmly for human dignity and religious freedom. Käßmann specifically criticizes the AfD's draft government program for Saxony-Anhalt, which claimed that 'authentic and vital faith' is practiced in free churches, Baptist congregations, and Orthodox churches. She questions the party's authority to judge what constitutes correct faith. The AfD has attacked the established churches as 'church tax churches' and called for a return to a supposedly 'true' faith. Käßmann sees this as evidence that the churches are not conforming to ethnic nationalism but are instead advocating for universal human rights.