--- Doug Henwood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > not terribly religious in the Western European > social democracies, > where the working classes have historically been > among the strongest > in the world
Are you talking about "Old" or "New" Europe? ;-) In East Germany, the Lutheran church has been engaged in social struggles since the time of the GDR. Churches were the organizational centers of opposition to Stalinism, and also gave organized expression to the "new social movements" such as ecology, as they developed in the east. Since the reunification, the church has been in the forefront of opposition to the Hartz IV reforms in the east, moreso than the trade unions, one could argue, and the trade unions are weak in the East anyway. ANd of course they still do "peace" protests. And one cannot ignore the theological influence of Ernst Bloch on protestant radicals. Jürgen Moltmann wrote an entire book of theology influenced by Bloch. Christian Führer of the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig is always getting media attention for various social struggles, blockading Nazi marches on 1.Mai and such. Though admittedly the autonomist milieu sees him as an opportunist and compromiser. I realize that Western leftists will never forgive the church for its role in toppling a regime that so many leftist intellectuals had cherished illusions in, but even the PDS has reconciled itself to the role of organized religion in left politics. The historical failures of social democracy, of the reformist and Leninist variety, means that Father Gapon is back in the saddle in many parts of the world. ____________________________________________________________________________________ No need to miss a message. Get email on-the-go with Yahoo! Mail for Mobile. Get started. http://mobile.yahoo.com/mail
