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The international Catholic peace movement pax christi rejects the military intervention of the West in Libya. Johannes Schnettler, vice president of the German section, fears to our site "enormous civilian casualties".

The United Nations Security Council had passed a resolution in New York on Thursday evening (local time) to ban flights over the North African country to protect Libyan civilians from the air force of ruler Muammar Gaddafi. Almost anything is permitted militarily – except ground troops. Germany abstained in vote and wants to do the same for air strikes.

This is "military support for the opposition movement in the country," Schnettler said in an interview with our site on Friday (19.03.2011). At the same time, however, the civilian population is also endangered by possible attacks from the air. In addition, NATO is being drawn into a conflict "the consequences of which are as yet unforeseeable". Although pax christi "sympathizes with the protest movement" in Libya, the great dilemma lies in the choice of means. With the path that the United Nations has now prepared, the suffering will be increased.

Buber-Rosenzweig Medal © Mathias Ernert

How is Christmas celebrated? This is currently the subject of a lively debate on the Internet. Meanwhile, tens of thousands support the Facebook group "Christmas is decided in the manger," an action against the slogan of an electronics chain. Just one example of the struggle for the interpretive sovereignty of the Christian festival.

"Christmas will be decided under the tree," Media Markt says. This slogan undermines the Christian origin of the festival, promotes the pre-Christmas consumer terror and exposes people who could not afford such gifts, describes initiator Melanie Zink the motives of her fellow campaigners.

Meanwhile, the Ingolstadt company's slogan made it all the way to the German Advertising Council. On Thursday, however, the industry's self-regulatory body decided to forgo a rebuke. The chain can therefore continue to advertise without complaint with the slogan. For Volker Nickel, spokesman for the Central Association of the German Advertising Industry (ZAW), the event raises a completely different question anyway. "Why does it need an impulse from outside at all for the churches to stand up and say what is important to them at Christmas??After all, the companies' advertising only reflects what they already find in society," reads the title. "Otherwise it won't work."