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| German shooting champion nearly loses title for being Muslim | German shooting champion nearly loses title for being Muslim |
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| A shooting champion has become the centre of controversy over integration in Germany after the Christian association awarding the prize threatened to strip him of the title because he is Muslim. | A shooting champion has become the centre of controversy over integration in Germany after the Christian association awarding the prize threatened to strip him of the title because he is Muslim. |
| Mithat Gedik won the traditional German title of Schützenkönig (shooting king) in his home town of Werl-Sönnern in western Germany in July but was asked to return the trophy by the federation of historic German shooting brotherhoods (BHDS). | Mithat Gedik won the traditional German title of Schützenkönig (shooting king) in his home town of Werl-Sönnern in western Germany in July but was asked to return the trophy by the federation of historic German shooting brotherhoods (BHDS). |
| The federation, described as a Catholic organisation formed of ancient church fraternities, requires members to be Catholic. It has now decided the 33-year-old should keep the title, but he will not be able to compete in the next stage of the competition, the BHDS director, Ralf Heinrichs, told the Guardian. | The federation, described as a Catholic organisation formed of ancient church fraternities, requires members to be Catholic. It has now decided the 33-year-old should keep the title, but he will not be able to compete in the next stage of the competition, the BHDS director, Ralf Heinrichs, told the Guardian. |
| "We discussed it and established that our fraternity there made a mistake," he said. "They accepted him as a member, not knowing that he is Muslim. They accepted him and now he is the Schützenkönig. We can't put the blame on the affected brother, but the society has to stick to the rules expressed in its constitution." | "We discussed it and established that our fraternity there made a mistake," he said. "They accepted him as a member, not knowing that he is Muslim. They accepted him and now he is the Schützenkönig. We can't put the blame on the affected brother, but the society has to stick to the rules expressed in its constitution." |
| The case has reignited debate in Germany over integration and tolerance and comes as a recent poll carried out by the Forsa institute for the German magazine Stern found that 52% of Germans did not agree with a statement made by former president Christian Wulff that Islam belongs in Germany. | The case has reignited debate in Germany over integration and tolerance and comes as a recent poll carried out by the Forsa institute for the German magazine Stern found that 52% of Germans did not agree with a statement made by former president Christian Wulff that Islam belongs in Germany. |
| In a letter to Heinrichs, Christine Lüders, the head of Germany's federal anti-discrimination agency, wrote that the rejection of a Muslim demonstrated an "intolerant and discriminatory attitude". | In a letter to Heinrichs, Christine Lüders, the head of Germany's federal anti-discrimination agency, wrote that the rejection of a Muslim demonstrated an "intolerant and discriminatory attitude". |
| Heinrichs defended the federation and said, despite first being formed in 1928, its oldest fraternity goes back as far as 1139 and had been connected to the church for centuries. | Heinrichs defended the federation and said, despite first being formed in 1928, its oldest fraternity goes back as far as 1139 and had been connected to the church for centuries. |
| He added the association had always tried to integrate people of different nationalities but, as a Christian organisation, draws a line at different religions. | |
| As to whether it was a policy the organization was planning to change, Heinrichs said: "We have around 1,300 member fraternities and at the end of the day, they have to say how it will move forward in the future. We'll put it to the discussion, but you can't easily change a clause [in a constitution] from today to tomorrow." |