Austria Protestant leaders slam Hofer over 'God' slogan

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

Austria Protestant leaders slam Hofer over 'God' slogan

24 October 2016 Europe

Christian leaders in Austria have criticised a far-right presidential candidate for invoking the name of God in a political campaign slogan.

Norbert Hofer's new slogan translates as "So help me God" which his party says reflects "a strong anchorage in Christian and Western values".

But leaders from Protestant churches said God was the defender of the weak, "who today include refugees".

Mr Hofer's Freedom Party has campaigned against immigration.

The Christian leaders - not including the country's dominant Catholic Church - also said God was not Western, but universal.

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Read more: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37749825

[TygrBright]

1. yeeeesh... thought all Deutsch-speakers knew better than to go anywhere near "Gott Mit Uns"... n/t

[Leontius]

2. Why should they not use it?

It's a traditional motto used by several German states since the 18th century.

[TygrBright]

3. It has a much more recent, and darker, history.

http://whisper.sh/whisper/051861df3a2af4578868590fdd35e283b91635/Nazi-sloganGott-mit-UnsGod-With-Us

It appeared on belt buckles, cap badges, regimental flags, and many other items of Nazi regalia.

informatively,
Bright

[Leontius]

4. Linking Gott mit uns to Nazism is usually a way here to

link Nazism to Christianity. So that too has a darker history. It is no more a Nazi slogan than the Deutschlandlied is a Nazi anthem.