Evangelical news agency idea Germany

Politician and Bishop Demand “Disarmament of the TV Screen” Increasing Violence Worries German Public  ­ Schroeder’s Challenger Meets Female Bishop

Hanover, June 5 (idea)  ­ — Edmund Stoiber, conservative challenger of the German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at the upcoming general elections, and the Lutheran Bishop Margot Kaessmann have called for a “disarmament of the TV screens”. The media should take the lead in overcoming violence in society.

Stoiber  ­ the Christian Democrats’ candidate for the chancellorship – met the leader of the 3.2 million member regional Church of Hanover during his election campaign at her residence in Hanover, June 1.

Kaessmann and Stoiber agreed that families needed to be strengthened. “Bringing up children is not a secondary task but a social challenge of the first degree”, said the 44-year-old Bishop, who is a mother of four daughters.

Stoiber, prime minister of Bavaria, acknowledged the outstanding educational achievements of most parents. Children, he said, must not become a “poverty risk” because of a lack of state support for families. He regards family subsidies as an “investment for the future”.

The German public has become increasingly concerned about the growing violence especially among the younger generation since the school massacre in Erfurt, which left 17 people dead including the assassin.

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