A German court ban on crucifixes in schools has stoked a widening debate over whether Christians should obey the ruling.
In a highly controversial decision, Germany's Constitutional Court last week ruled that the heavily Catholic state of Bavaria must remove crosses and crucifixes from classrooms of public schools.In a 5-3 decision, the judges said the display of crosses and crucifixes in state schools infringed religious freedom laid down in the constitution. The ruling does not apply to Christian religious schools.
The decision has been met by a storm of protest, with some Germans calling it an insult to those who successfully fought to keep crucifixes in schoolrooms during the Nazi period despite attempts by Hitler have them removed.
Nazi functionaries initially threatened teachers who refused to replace classroom crucifixes with a photo of Hitler but were forced to back down following widespread opposition to the policy.
The Constitutional Court's ruling is being met by a similar response today.
Bavarian Premier Edmund Stoiber has said he will refuse to order any crosses taken down as long as Bavaria seeks to have the ruling overturned.
Ingo Friedrich, deputy head of Bavaria's ruling Christian Social Union, publicly called on state authorities not to enforce the court's ruling.
"The judges and plaintiff should come here themselves and take down the crosses with their own hands," said Sepp Ranner, a Christian Social Union deputy in the state parliament, adding, "We farmers will be waiting for them with our flails."
The public seems to agree: Only 24 percent of all Germans support the crucifix ban ruling, according to an opinion poll by the Emnid Institute.
Judges, meanwhile, warn that refusal to obey the high court's ruling could endanger German constitutional democracy, which was established in 1949 by the Basic Law, or constitution.
"According to the constitution, the Constitutional Court has the final say in the interpretation of the constitution," said a statement by the German Association of Judges. "The survival of the constitutional system is in danger if this principle is called into question."