Digital services ad: Kiel in trouble after church leaving clip
The city of Kiel wanted to advertise digital government services on Instagram and chose leaving the church as an example. The outrage was immediate.
The Petruskirche in the Kiel district of Wik
(Image: Matthias SĂĽĂźen, Petruskirche Wik Kiel, CC BY-SA 4.0)
In Schleswig-Holstein, a botched advertisement for the digitalization of administrative services is causing a stir. The background is an Instagram video from the state capital Kiel, which chose to leave the church as an example to illustrate the reduction of bureaucracy. After significant criticism from the Catholic and Protestant churches, the clip was deleted from Instagram, and the state government has announced an assessment. The city itself has already stated meekly that it never intended to advertise leaving the church: "The aim of the post was rather to present new online services."
Indignant Churches, Contrite City, Questions for the State
The short video, in the typical style for social media, showed a young woman in a registry office waiting to be called for her appointment. According to the description, she wants to leave the church. At this point, she notices a laptop on another chair, where a person explains to her that this can now be done easily and digitally, to the notarization. Subsequently, she gives a thumbs-up to the camera and declares, "I'll do that!" After the outcry, the video was removed from the platform, and a city spokeswoman made statements about it to the Bild newspaper.
"It is very strange that an administration publicly advertises leaving the church," said Beate Bäumer, head of the Catholic Office Schleswig-Holstein in the Archdiocese of Hamburg, to the Kieler Nachrichten. She had not expected such one-sided partisanship from the city. The Protestant church expressed similar sentiments: Leaving the church is "not a neutral process like re-registering or getting a new ID card, but touches on very personal questions of faith, belonging, and life history," said Pastor Wilko Teifke, the North Church's state representative, to the paper. Therefore, he expects more sensitivity on this issue.
Videos by heise
The churches also pointed out that in the state, leaving the church currently requires a declaration to the registry office. One must appear in person for this. Therefore, legally, the process differs from registering or re-registering one's residence or a car, which are usually cited as examples of digital services. The city of Kiel has already contradicted this and assured that the advertised procedure was designed not to violate the Church Exit Act. The state's Interior Ministry has announced that it wants to have this explained. Afterwards, it can be assessed, according to the Kieler Nachrichten, quoting a spokesman for the CDU-led ministry.
(mho)
