Lutheran Pastor Jailed in Germany for Opposing Abortion

[Gunter S]

Erlangen (Germany), SVM news, June 26, 2007: A German court sentenced a 55-year old Lutheran pastor in jail on June 14 for opposing abortion (Volksverhetzung, which means incitement of the people).

Pastor Johannes Lerle was sentenced to prison for an year by Erlangen court in Germany for compared the killing of the unborn in contemporary Germany to the holocaust.

Without legalized abortion the number of German children would increase annually by at least 150,000, which is the number of legal abortions in birth dearth Germany. Pastor Johannes Lerle compared the killing of the unborn as the Jews were killed in Auschwitz during the Second World War.

On 14 June, the court in Erlangen ruled that, in doing so, the pastor had "incited the people" because his statement was a denial of the holocaust of the Jews in Nazi-Germany.

"Previously also he had been jailed for eight months for calling abortionists "professional killers." An allegation which the court ruled to be slanderous because the court says the unborn are not humans," a woman Pro-life activist in Germany who does not want her name to be published told to Rev. Paul Ciniraj, the Director of Salem Voice Ministries and SVM News Service by telephone.

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[Webber]

i was told a while ago that in Germany comparing or praising the holocaust is a crime

[.LxT]

Not just Germany, but a lot of other places in Europe - Holocaust denial and even revisionism [the analysis of whether the Holocaust actually happened] are considered crimes and treated as such.

It's a bit much, if you ask me.

[.Promoter]

its abit much hes in jail, but i like how its the opposite of america there. Pro abortion also means pro-life. Just becuase you dont believe in abortion doesnt mean others cant. This is why i hate that argument in america. Too many people think that just because their view is correct, no one can do the other one. Its nice to see that the germans are protecting the choice of those who do want abortions, and are actually punishing those who speak out against the choice, rather then just sticking to their own pro-life priniciples when applied to themselves.

[.LxT]

Well, OK, you can't talk about a correct choice and an alternative that's NOT wrong. You can talk about dissenting opinions that would then be on equal levels.

But beyond the semantics of the matter, there is something to be said about how the German government does not quite allow people that have doubts or concerns regarding Holocaust history to pursue said views - even as a matter of research. In the words of George Carlin: "consistency".