Manifesto on a consensus on values in Germany
We live in historic times in which the world is changing at great speed. The accompanying influx of people from different countries and cultures confronts us with the greatest challenge in a long while, but at the same time it also offers great opportunities. In this we depend on a compass to give us our bearings, on a guiding vision that shapes our actions – on a consensus on values.
Our German consensus on values is based on the achievements of the Enlightenment. It places reason before religious revelation, establishes a democracy that carries through the separation of state and religion, and provides for pluralism and tolerance. The equality of all human beings is its inalienable foundation. Our consensus on values also includes the German language, our customs and traditions, and the lessons of our history – for good and for ill.
The German consensus on values is reflected in the Basic Law (Grundgesetz), but reaches beyond it. It is shaped by Christian and Jewish tradition. It cultivates a culture in which the strong should help the weak. It requires that differing opinions be heard. It stands for the personal freedom of every individual, which ends only where it infringes the freedom of others. Part of our consensus on values is also that Germany understands itself as part of a common Europe founded on solidarity.
Our consensus on values fosters a culture of clarity and consistency. Those who uphold our values and principles, and those who oppose them, must be able to rely on them in the future as well. Because our values become laws, adopted by freely and equally elected representatives in parliaments, those laws must apply equally to everyone and be enforced with determination.
Tolerance means that we respect and bear with other opinions and give no space to intolerance. On core points such as freedom, human dignity and human rights there is no discount.
The state must set a good example and act in accordance with this consensus on values. A state under the rule of law that does not observe its own laws puts itself at risk. The state alone, however, cannot guarantee the preservation of our German consensus on values. Here society as a whole is called upon. Each one of us must contribute to it – in the family and in the neighbourhood, at work and in our leisure time. The sum of many small personal decisions, the everyday individual commitment to our values, shapes our society. Only if we preserve what makes this country so attractive will this Germany remain our country.
This must be both an incentive and an obligation for each of us.
