Luther Condoms" campaign stopped © KNA
The Evangelical Church in the Rhineland has stopped a condom distribution campaign with which a Dusseldorf youth church wanted to promote Reformation messages among young people. Luther's quotes violate the dignity of young people.
The campaign was "fundamentally unsuitable for youth work," according to a letter from Oberkirchenrat Klaus Eberl, head of the Education and Training Department in the regional church office, which was obtained by Evangelischer Pressedienst (epd). In the meantime, the initiators have also acknowledged this. Last weekend, the youth church had distributed condoms with provocative slogans to youth institutions in the year of 500. Reformation anniversary should draw attention to messages of Martin Luther (1483-1546). On the packaging were phrases such as "For whores and saints" and "Here I stand, I can't help it.".
Distributed condoms collected again
However, the historical background of the texts and their reformational message only became apparent via a website that has since been taken offline. Isolated on a condom package, the allusions to Luther quotes, taken out of their content and historical context, would have a sexist effect and violate the dignity of men, women, girls and boys, criticized state youth pastor Simone Enthofer in a letter, which is also available to epd. Shortly after its launch, the campaign was stopped again and already distributed condoms collected.