Reuters: Oddly Enough: God's gender divides German government

Reuters: Oddly Enough Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

God's gender divides German government Dec 21st 2012, 15:31 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Merkel coalition stymied by opposition veto on tax cuts Thu, Dec 13 2012 Bavarians promise Greeks solidarity instead of scorn Sun, Dec 9 2012 Greek PM visits Bavaria on charm offensive Sun, Dec 9 2012 Germany's SPD names former finance minister as Merkel challenger Sun, Dec 9 2012 German government in "no doubt" economy still growing Fri, Dec 7 2012 German Families Minister Kristina Schroeder addresses a news conference in Berlin, September 24, 2012. Credit: Reuters/Tobias Schwarz BERLIN | Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:31am EST BERLIN (Reuters) - A minister in Angela Merkel's government has sparked a pre-Christmas row among Germany's ruling parties by suggesting God be referred to with the neutral article "das" instead of the masculine "der". Family Minister Kristina Schroeder made the comments when asked in an interview with German weekly Die Zeit how she explained to her young daughter the use of the masculine form for God. "The article is not important," she responded, adding that it was fine to use "das" instead of the traditional "der" when referring to God. The remarks were immediately denounced by members of Schroeder's own Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). "This intellectualized nonsense leaves me speechless," Christine Haderthauer, Bavarian social minister, told top-selling daily Bild. Stefan Mueller, a CSU lawmaker, said he was "bewildered" by Schroeder's "inappropriate" comments. When pressed on the matter at a government news conference on Friday, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert backed Schroeder. "If you believe in God, the article is not important," he said. "If you speak to God in a different way, the prayers are still heard." (Reporting by Noah Barkin. Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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