Even if Eva Herman has since rowed back: With her comparison of the Love Parade to Sodom and Gomorrah, the conservative provocateur played on the idea of a punishing God. This is now indirectly contradicted by Praeses Nikolaus Schneider, Chairman of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany.
"Despite all the fright and questions, I am quite certain: God had not abandoned the people who feared and fought for their lives in the mass panic," Schneider wrote in the "Rheinische Post" newspaper published in Dusseldorf on Tuesday.The theologian underlines that God "was also with those who lost their lives". He is now with the mourners, and he will not leave those "who have made mistakes" in their plans and decisions. God also does not let go of those who have become headless in their panic because they only want to save their lives, Schneider writes.The President admitted: "It is impossible for me to discover and theologically interpret in detail God's actions at the Love Parade last Saturday in my hometown of Duisburg."His faith and theological convictions, however, forbid him to see this accident as a sign from God against the Love Parade or against the organizers. "And certainly I cannot understand the deaths as divine punishment for participants," Schneider stressed.
The criticism of Eva Herm Longtime daytime talk show host and book author Eva Herman had described the Love Parade shortly after the disaster as "a huge drug, alcohol and sex orgy". "Who looks at the pictures of the Loveparades from the past years, believes to have landed in the film version of the last days, as they are described in the Bible". The event is a consequence of the social changes since 1968, says the article published on Sunday. "Those who, drunk and drugged, tear off their clothes, who let the last norms of decency collapse while celebrating and dancing, and who are supported for this by the supporters of society, are not far from the abyss."In the meantime, she has apologized for her remarks. She had not wanted to insult the victims of the disaster, Herman stressed Monday on the website of Rottenburg-based Kopp Verlag. "If, nevertheless, especially family members, friends and communities of solidarity feel that their sense of piety has been violated, I am sincerely sorry for it." Over the weekend, 19 people were killed and 340 injured in a mass panic during the techno festival.