“What’s your name?” asked of the young blond man who had just approached the co-leader of the (AfD) party for an interview. “LE-O-NARD JÄ-GER is my name,” Jäger, wearing a big black jacket over a white shirt, answered boldly. His hair was neatly combed back. “Perhaps you know me,” he said. “I was on the trip to the US where we met !” Weidel smiled in a friendly but reserved way.
In January, the far-right , in the eastern German state of Saxony. For Weidel, the congress wrapped up with a marathon of interviews. TV networks and newspapers wanted to know: Has the AfD become more radical? How far-right has the party become?
But Weidel also made sure to set aside plenty of time for right-wing newspapers and YouTubers such as Leonard Jäger. His YouTube channel has half a million subscribers, and his interview with Weidel has been viewed over a million times. “You’re always under fire from the media,” the young man said, showing his support for the political leader. His interview lasted eight minutes and the main topic was God.
Alice Weidel on faith and God
“Do you believe in God?” was his first question. Weidel launched into a somewhat roundabout answer: She talked about the water, minerals, and metals that make up the human body — about how fascinating she finds the question of God. And she also mentioned being a very introspective person. “I would like to believe, but I think I need a little more time.”
Jäger’s online persona could be defined as defiant cheerfulness, and he often posts videos of himself engaging in debates with people at left-wing demonstrations. He discusses gender issues, the AfD, homosexuality, and God, and often edits his videos to make his critics look ridiculous. He believes that there are only two genders, that leftists want to introduce children to sex at an early age, and that the elites want to ban everything. In addition, Jäger’s answer to the world’s problems is often Jesus.
Although Weidel doesn’t not appear to be especially religious, the AfD does ride the wave of traditional Christian culture and values. The party stokes fears about Islam and a general uncertainty about change.
To many, the image of an ideal world of cheerful snowy Christmas celebrations, peaceful churchgoers, and straightforward rules about right and wrong sounds like the solution for dealing with the complexity of the modern world, which is why, observers say, the AfD maintains close ties to Christian traditions.
“My partner is Christian, and she is very devout,” Weidel told Jäger. “Our children are also being raised as Christians. I think that’s very important for laying a solid foundation.”
However, devout Christians are somewhat of a rarity in the AfD, and Germany’s major Christian churches have accused the party of hate and incitement. Moreover, faith doesn’t play as big a role in German society as it once did — a trend that is true for Europe as a whole. The AfD strongholds in eastern Germany are traditionally very secular.
Exploiting Christian traditions
So why the overtures to Christianity? “Because it is compatible with the political mainstream,” said Matthias Kortmann, professor at the Technical University of Dortmund, where he specializes in examining the ties between religion and the radical right.
“Many people, even those who don’t sympathize with the AfD, would still agree that Christianity plays a special role in Germany’s history and culture. And the AfD exploits that,” Kortmann told DW.
Most of the AfD’s references to Christian values are made in their attacks on Islam, which they associate with immigration. Ever since hundreds of thousands of , the party has been warning of the downfall of Western civilization and what they call “population replacement.” The AfD often claims that other political parties are deliberately flooding Germany with Muslims in order to destroy their own culture.
Around 83 million people live in Germany, 25% of whom have some immigrant background. However, the percentage of Muslims remains much lower. According to official figures from 2020, there are approximately 5.5 million Muslims in Germany, only 6.6% of the population.
Nevertheless, prominent AfD politicians like Beatrix von Storch argue that Germany is undergoing a “de-Christianization.” In an interview with DW, she warned of the “growing influence of Islamic movements on culture, society, and politics, and the shrinking role of Christian values in public discourse.”
Von Storch is also a devout Catholic. “I see my duties as serving God and humanity, with a responsibility to promote what is good and to do what is right,” she said.
Punished for transphobia
For von Storch, her faith means fighting abortion, the , and, above all, transgenderism. In fact, her transphobic remarks have got her in trouble in the . Last year, she was sanctioned for making offensive remarks about the transgender MP Tessa Ganserer, even after receiving numerous warnings. Bundestag Vice President Katrin Göring-Eckart condemned the heckling as “degrading and disrespectful.”
According to Kortmann, discussions about gender identity are a classic example of how populists try to capitalize on social uncertainty in the modern world. “This is super easy to exploit: Many people are already feeling insecure, and they say, ‘now they’re also taking away the two-gender system, which was something we could always depend on’,” he said.
Ultimately, critics see the AfD’s relationship with Christianity as instrumental: The party draws on Christian traditions when it suits its agenda. However, the party does not cultivate close ties with the churches. “The AfD must always be careful not to align itself too closely with particular groups that, upon closer inspection, may generate significant skepticism among the general population,” said Kortmann.
He thinks Christian fundamentalists are the exception in the AfD: “Because these groups are not only against transgenderism, but perhaps also have a very outdated view of women or are against same-sex marriage. All of that is absolutely accepted in society.”
Piety as a political force: Europe and the US
Up until now, the influence of Christianity on politics has generally been one of the major differences between Europe and the US, where evangelical billionaires sometimes use enormous sums of money to shape politics in the name of God. Many of them support the radical right surrounding Donald Trump.
But according to Philipp Greifenstein, this phenomenon is now also spreading to Europe. Greifenstein is editor of the German online magazine Die Eule, which covers religious politics, the church, and theology. “Right-wing or far-right influencers are using religion as a way to downplay their own views and to curry favor with the evangelical movement in the US,” Greifenstein told DW. “Financial reasons definitely play a role here, because this US movement has a lot of money at its disposal.”
Greifenstein argues that many Christian influencers are more impressed by US dollars than by the evangelical message. “I don’t get the impression that Leonard Jäger wants to promote Christ. It’s all about expanding reach.”
That is a goal that Jäger certainly shares with Alice Weidel and the AfD.
This article was originally written in German.
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