The openly gay comedian Hape Kerkeling finds himself facing a flood of hate comments after his call for banning the AfD, and he is also urging his fellow citizens to take a stand. “Every morning when I wake up after facing especially hostile treatment, I tell myself: just be the democracy you wish to see, and live it,” he said in Passau. “If we all do that, I believe a lot can be saved.” The question of whether he could envision himself in the office of the German president he left open.
Last week Kerkeling spoke in the Thuringian state parliament during a hearing on the merits and drawbacks of an AfD ban (TheColu.mn reported). In response to the ensuing hate comments online, he said in the evening: “There is nothing left to do but endure it.” In the past, newspapers or radio provided decent filtering systems. Today, “everyone can spread their vitriol however they want, and still receives a lot of praise for it on the Internet.”
Mandatory Moderation for Social Networks
Kerkeling expects social media platforms to implement mandatory moderation that ensures that derision, hate speech, and the humiliation of people do not take place there, because that is also a socially relevant space. He also noted that he had spoken out on political topics before, sometimes against the CDU, sometimes against the SPD. “There wouldn’t be a single CSU, SPD, or CDU supporter who would come to the conclusion of sending me a death threat.”
As important voices in society, he described the churches. The idea of democracy is shaped by the Judeo-Christian worldview. Kerkeling revealed that he — although he had left the Catholic Church — and his husband often find themselves watching Sunday service on television. “Perhaps that is also a matter of aging, I’ll gladly admit.” But these services do not shy away from addressing issues that matter to society.
President Kerkeling?
After Kerkeling had been floated as a candidate for the office of the German president in recent weeks, host Hannes Ringlstetter asked whether the comedian could imagine a political or presidential role. “Do you really think—honestly, at the moment—someone would rush to take on such a job in this stalled situation?” Kerkeling asked, and Ringlstetter interrupted: “If you watch Sunday services on television, you do things like that too.” To that, Kerkeling simply stated: “Then let’s leave it at that.”
In Passau, Hape Kerkeling was honored with the “People in Europe” award by the Bavarian media group for his life’s work “as a remarkable artist with a social conscience.”
