The Bavarian regional bishop Christian Kopp, apparently not fully versed in theology according to the gospel, gave a lesson in his sermon about his understanding of democracy. Apparently diversity can only exist in society, but not in a “Koppian democracy”.
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Kopp sermon on the unity of Christianity
Christian Kopp, regional bishop of the Protestant Church in Bavaria, has kept what he announced when he was elected as the new bishop. He will continue the path taken by his predecessor, Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, who moved to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Kopp impressively illustrated these ambitions in his sermon in the ecumenical service during the week of prayer for the desired unity of Christians. Kopp gave his lecture in the Liebfrauendom in Munich (Source). The week of prayer in Germany is sponsored by the Association of Christian Churches (ACK). An organization in the spirit of the Charter Oecumenica (Info).
Gospel only marginally – but politics
The Bavarian bishop’s sermon only touched on the gospel occasionally. But Kopp really went all out when it came to politics. These signs of a “fluid fusion” of church and state could not be overlooked at the 2023 Church Congress in Nuremberg (Info). The echo heard from the political ranks is not averse to this idea of marriage to form a church state (Info).
In the sermon, the regional bishop explained his “Christian view” of democracy. “As Christians, we know: Things only work together,” says Kopp. This also applies to the state, because democracy is not innate and democracy does not happen on its own. Democracy must be learned by example and here the churches serve as a role model for the community, said the regional bishop.
In these times, the churches have the “great task” of standing side by side with “civil society players” to stand up for democracy. For this purpose, “the global networks must be used for the good of people”. This applies to caring for one another, against violence and against “right-wing attitudes”. This is because “we love love,” says Kopp.
No more pluralism in politics?
When it comes to democracy, there is suddenly nothing left of the rainbow-colored pluralism within society that was particularly desired by the “Christian”, (once) Protestant church. Here the “theologian” only diagnoses that democracy functions when there is unanimous cooperation. So all the participants in this “democracy” that Kopp envisions are on the same page, in the same mindset. Conversely, this meant that breaking away from this close-knit community could only be an enemy of democracy. Since the community in a unanimous sense knows no opposition, this defined “hostility to democracy” would also apply to such a counterpart.
When a bishop teaches democracy
The “clergyman” also seems to have a misunderstanding of the term “state” in the context of a democracy. The regional bishop contrasts “Christians”, including voters within a democracy, with the state. Apparently Kopp misunderstands the foundations of such a democracy, the structure, the sovereign and the acting organs. A democratically structured state does not have to learn democracy first; it emerged from it. Whether the executive bodies still understand this connection one day after the last election is another matter.
The regional bishop lost his connection to history and hopefully not completely to reality when he described the church as the model for democracy. It would be difficult to scrape together any democratic structures of everyday life in people’s lives, from diaper age to walker age, in addition to the periodic attacks at the ballot box every four or five years. In any case, the church will not be among the foundlings.
Preparatory work for the mother church
It is obvious. The mother organization, the Roman Catholic Church, historically the “most brilliant example” of democracy in its purest form, longs for the glory years between the 6th and the end of the 18th century. The monopoly power over religion and the state. A position that can no longer be practiced so openly today when violence of any kind is exercised.
But the structures for this have long since been restored, as the “Club Magazine” of the same stable to which Pope Francis belongs noted last year (Info). The Protestant churches, the repentant daughters of Rome, are doing brilliant groundwork for their mother’s still very ambitious goals (Info). The most recent “sermon” by Regional Bishop Kopp proves this again.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.
Revelation 19:20
Bible verses from King James Version
