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The Week in Germany: Current Affairs December 8, 2006 Protestant Church, Prominent Singer Seek to Promote Interfaith Dialogue and Integration in Europe
Germany's main Lutheran churches appealed recently to Muslims to meet them in a dialogue on peace that would set a worldwide standard for inter-religious conciliation. The Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) issued a declaration as Pope Benedict XVI began his historic visit to mainly Muslim Turkey. Germany's 26 million Lutherans are equal in number to the country's Catholics. The German government this year opened its first talks with the country's Muslim minority, estimated at more than 3 million. The EKD suggested Christians and Muslims could be forerunners for a worldwide dialogue between the religions. Under the heading "Clarity and Good Neighborliness", the declaration underscores that Germany, as a democratic and pluralist society, could serve as a good springboard for broad interfaith dialogue. It moreover suggested that tolerance of questions about traditions and culture was needed to promote "constructive co-existence". The EKD stressed that Lutherans had needed a long period of history to learn to accept critical discussion of their own traditions. Xavier Naidoo act aims to bridge cultural gaps
At the same time, singer Xavier Naidoo did his part to promote integration in a special performance called "170 Nations in One City". Naidoo, 35, wanted to showcase how various cultures and religions co-exist in his native Mannheim, a mid-sized city south of Frankfurt, the multicultural financial metropolis and longtime center of the US Armed Forces in Germany. Naidoo himself is an international melting pot of German-Tamil-Egyptian heritage via South Africa who is no stranger to racism. Naidoo's show will be available online at www.olivelait.de as of December 25. The singer said he does not purport to present all the answers to tough integration questions. "We just wanted to make a start … I don't want my children to ask me later why I didn't do anything," he said. He was quick to add, however, that the program was not about "pointing the finger" at anyone, but about entertainment.
This particular TWIG editor and former Frankfurt resident can attest
to the award-winning Naidoo's musical prowess both as a solo artist and
in various collective projects, perhaps most notably Die Soehne Mannheims
(The Sons of Mannheim). Their 2000 album "Zion" topped the charts
in Germany with a blend of hip hop, German rap, soul, funk and jazz. Naidoo's
latest solo album, "Telegram fuer X" hit No. 1 in the German
charts, and the acclaimed singer was honored as best national artist of
the year at the 2006 German music industry's ECHO awards. Naidoo's lyrics
deal with society, God and love. (TWIG, dpa) Links:
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