America First?
Die US-Kirchen und ihre Haltung zum Zweiten Weltkrieg
by Christian Werner
America First ist keine Erfindung des US-Prasidenten Donald Trump. Es war der Slogan einer Bewegung um den Luftfahrtpionier Charles Lindbergh in den Jahren 1939 bis 1941. Mit Millionen Amerikanern lehnte er die Beteiligung an dem aufziehenden Konflikt in Europa und Asien ab. Aber fur den US-Prasidenten Franklin Delano Roosevelt war der Nationalsozialismus eine existenzielle Herausforderung. Wie Lindbergh und Roosevelt sehr unterschiedliche Positionen vertraten, ging der Riss in dieser Frage durch die ganze amerikanische Gesellschaft und spaltete auch die Kirchen. Theologen wie Reinhold Niebuhr bemuhten sich, durch religiose, ethische und politische Impulse die Aussenpolitik der USA mitzugestalten. Amerikanische Prasidenten von Eisenhower bis Obama bezogen sich wiederholt auf die Niebuhrianische Wende. Wenn wir heute das andere Amerika jenseits von Donald Trump begreifen wollen, mussen wir uns mit den Wurzeln der deutsch-amerikanischen Beziehungen und der besondere Rolle amerikanischer Kirchen in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus auseinandersetzen. [America First? The US Churches and their Attitude towards the Second World War] America first is no invention of US President Trump. It was the slogan of a movement led by aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh in the years 1939 to 1941. Millions of Americans opposed the participation in the approaching conflict in Europe and Asia. But for US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt National Socialism was an existential challenge. Lindbergh and Roosevelt perceived the threat posed by Hitler quite differently. There was a deep rift in American society that divided the churches also. Theologians like Reinhold Niebuhr tried to contribute to the US foreign policy by providing religious, ethical and political impulses. American presidents from Eisenhower to Obama repeatedly referred to the Niebuhrian turn in explaining their foreign policy. If we want to understand the other America beyond Donald Trump we have to look at the roots of the German-American relations and at the special role of American churches during the time of National Socialism.
- By (author) Christian Werner
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