"Bekennen gegen den Atomstaat." Die evangelischen Kirchen in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und die Konflikte um die Atomenergie 1970–1990 by Michael Schüring (review)

While Christian churches no longer have as much public power as in the past, they are still a significant element in the political landscape of contemporary European societies. However, church leaders and churchgoers are faced with difficult choices when it comes to collective political engagement. A position of neutrality carries the risk of marginalization or complicity, whereas overt political engagement can be divisive and often alienates members who are out of step with the political trajectory of the institution.

Michael Schüring's research explores how Protestants faced such questions in the midst of heated conflicts over nuclear energy in the Federal Republic of Germany during the 1970s and 1980s. On the national level Protestant leaders initially adopted a position of formal neutrality, hoping that the church could facilitate dialogue as well as ongoing study and reflection. Though an activist minority demanded a more confrontational and prophetic stance, the church leadership did not modify its position until 1986, when the Chernobyl disaster brought about a widespread reorientation of public opinion. However, even before this shift occurred, "the conflict over nuclear energy in Germany was culturally and religiously coded," and there were numerous points of connection between the church's traditions and the "discursive strategies of the opponents of nuclear power" (8). Although the church was not central to the antinuclear movement, two decades of engagement led to the emergence of a new protest culture within the church itself.

Protestant theologians in the antinuclear movement drew on a common fund of Biblical symbols, narratives, and motifs but either had to bend them toward an environmentalist agenda or draw on resources outside of their own tradition (for example, an apocryphal speech attributed to Chief Seattle). Other theologians, along with the church hierarchy, were skeptical of this "ecoBiblicism" as well as various doomsday scenarios that seemed to forecast destruction without the possibility of redemption. At the parish level, a minority of pastors and parishioners joined in dramatic acts of protest and disobedience, including major demonstrations at Brokdorf (1976), Grohnde an der Weser (1977), Saint Peter's Church in Hamburg (1979), and Gorleben (1980). Some pastors wore their vestments and led services "in the field," to the dismay of a church leadership that wanted to avoid the appearance of taking sides. Many conservative members feared that their church had been coopted by leftists, anarchists, and Marxists.

Schüring notes that many antinuclear activists made references to the complicity of the churches during the Nazi era and hoped to avoid taking on a similar burden of guilt in their own moment of crisis. A rich array of symbols enhanced this tendency to equate nuclear energy with the crimes of the Third Reich, including the barbed wire that enclosed construction sites for nuclear power plants, the use of (tear) gas to disperse protesters, references to nuclear waste disposal sites as Endlager, and clever word play—for example, the phrase "Volk ohne Strom" brought to mind "Volk ohne Raum" and implied that one justification was as dubious as the other (103). Of course, such comparisons raised the stakes and made political compromise seem inappropriate.

Although protests and demonstrations drew the most attention, equally important was the educational work carried out by the church's environmental commission under the leadership of Pastor Kurt Oeser, as well as Protestant academies like the Forschungsstätte der Evangelischen Studiengemeinschaft. Over time, the work of these institutions led to a growing consensus that the church had a responsibility to raise awareness of environmental issues, including the risks associated with nuclear energy, through preaching, parish work, and faith formation.

Schüring's analysis of Protestant mentalities and their application to the nuclear energy debate is impressive, and his focus on three key areas (theology, politics, and culture) yields important results. However, the evidence within each chapter is poorly...