More and more theologians declare solidarity with Extinction Rebellion

Already more than 1,800 scientists from Germany, Austria and Switzerland call for "necessary objectification of the debate" - Around 50 theologians have signed - Ethicist Paganini: "Theologians are perhaps more courageous than scientists to stand by their convictions"

More and more theologians are showing solidarity with the climate activists of the "Last Generation" and their concerns: Prof. Claudia Paganini, an Austrian-born ethicist, stressed this to the news agency Kathpress (Tuesday). Paganini, who teaches media ethics at the Munich School of Philosophy, is one of the initiators of the declaration "Negotiating instead of criminalising", with which more than 1,800 scientists from all over the German-speaking world have meanwhile shown solidarity with the climate activists. More than 50 signatures have now come from theologians, according to Paganini. One reason, according to Paganini, may be that "theologians are perhaps more courageous than scientists in standing by their convictions".

The declaration, which was presented at a press conference at the end of April, calls on politicians, the media and society to "set an appropriate tone" and urges a "necessary objectification of the debate". The occasion is the increase in hate speech, aggression and physical violence against climate activists, Paganini said. "And this cause continues," the ethicist shows concern: "There is no awareness that the bashing, belittling and ridiculing of activists in public only increases the latent propensity for violence against activists." This dangerous escalation dynamic must be avoided. Also, "the motivations why people engage in climate activism and why civil disobedience is an important part of a mature democracy are hardly ever addressed".

According to Paganini, one reason for the growing commitment and willingness to show solidarity, especially among female theologians, is a high "crisis awareness" among theologians. "They tend to have a sense that history is not just a linear sequence of equivalent time intervals, but that there is the special moment, the 'kairos', in which it is necessary to act." Theologians are also already practised in "reconciling their scientific ethos and their ideological convictions and standing up for their values in public" - in this they are perhaps even ahead of their secular colleagues.

Finally, Paganini was irritated by the current debate on the topic of "Speed 100" (one of the demands of the "Last Generation"). When politicians reject this demand with reference to restrictions on freedom rights, this testifies to a "strongly abbreviated concept of freedom, geared purely to the preservation of consumer habits", said the ethicist. "The state should actually protect another kind of freedom, namely that of people being able to realise their humanity without harming each other in the process." In the current debate, however, "the state degrades itself to a mere guardian of consumer goods" - whereas theologians usually have a "far more differentiated concept of freedom". (Info or statement online: https://handeln-statt-kriminalisieren.com)

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