BERLIN --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." – Reuters
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