Green politician misses point of Good Friday

Controversy surrounding a Good Friday tweet by Katrin Göring-Eckardt, Vice-President of the Bundestag: because the Green politician had related the death of Jesus on the Cross to the current climate crisis on Friday morning, she earned sharp criticism.

Green Party politician, Katrin Göring-Eckardt's tweet on Good Friday has been met with sharp criticism. Göring-Eckardt, who is also vice-president of the Bundestag, had tweeted on Friday morning: "Today is #GoodFriday. Christians know: Easter comes on the third day. But at that time, the feeling of hopelessness and being at the mercy of no longer being able to do anything must have been oppressive. Today, many can understand that and feel the same way. #climate crisis #species extinction". Numerous internet users then criticised the politician for linking the death of Jesus on the Cross to the climate crisis. By Friday afternoon, the tweet had been read by more than 150,000 users, who wrote over 2,000 - mostly negative - responses.

Among others, the editor-in-chief of "Die Welt", Ulf Poschardt, accused Göring-Eckardt of instrumentalising Jesus' death on the cross for her own party platform. The politician responded to this in another tweet: "Neither the climate crisis nor the extinction of species are party programmes, they are reality. The feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness is associated with Good Friday for me and the two greatest crises of humanity are associated with exactly this feeling for many." Other internet users accused the Protestant politician of being part of a "climate sect" and of pursuing ideological politics. 

Social media posts by parties and politicians on Christian holidays have repeatedly sparked criticism in recent years. For example, the CDU 2021 was accused of instrumentalising the feast of Ascension Day for party political purposes with a post. At the time, the party's posting showed a traditional image of the Ascension of Jesus and an - incorrect - passage from the Gospel of Mark. The image was framed by the CDU's party logo and a black-red-gold circle, which the party has been using for its branding for some time. Numerous internet users were irritated by the party's contribution or asked incredulously "Is this real?". The representative for religion and world views of the Green parliamentary group, Konstantin von Notz, wrote about the post on Twitter: "I am a devout person and think religion, world views and secular convictions belong visibly in our society and our lives. However, putting a party logo on Jesus Christ and curling it with election campaign symbolism is tasteless at best."

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