The chairman of the German Ethics Council, Peter Dabrock, calls for more tolerance in the debate on "marriage for all. If people are excluded from a congregation, that is also theologically unacceptable, Dabrock said.
What is not acceptable is quoting biblical passages out of context, said the Protestant theology professor on Saturday at the Kirchentag in Dortmund. "If we do that, we would also still have slaves," because there are also passages on this in the Bible. According to Dabrock, people who are faithful to the Bible are not those who exclude, but those who accept that everyone has their own biblical key. He spoke at an event in the "Zentrum Regenbogen" (Rainbow Center).
Excluding people is "an absurdity"
Dabrock sharply criticized the fact that in some state churches pastors are allowed to refuse same-sex marriages with reference to their conscience. If people are excluded from a congregation, that is also an outrage theologically, Dabrock said. Nor should a pastor, for reasons of conscience, reject a theologian in his congregations, for example, because of the color of his skin. If a pastor has problems with this, he would have to look for another pastorate.
The theological vice president of the Westphalian regional church, Ulf Schluter, pointed out that marriage for all in the regional churches is often a long process. "There are processes where things go very slowly at first, then everything happens very quickly, and in the end everyone has always known," Schluter said.
Marriage is possible in half of the regional churches
In the Westphalian state church, the state synod in November will deal with the marriage of same-sex couples as well. He ames that there will then also be a wedding ceremony for all in Westphalia. Up to now, there has been a public blessing in a church service in the regional church.
Among the 20 regional churches of the Protestant Church in Germany, about half allow homosexual couples to marry. Many churches point to the 2017 Bundestag decision to open marriage to homosexual couples as well. Last decided on 14. June, the Lippische Landeskirche (Regional Church of Lippe) supports church weddings for all.