Equality Commissioner Too Politically Correct for Church Official
A regional leader of Estonia's Evangelical Lutheran church has called for equal rights commissioner Mari-Liis Sepper's resignation, charging that she oversteps her authority and persecutes citizens.
The statement from Veiko Vihuri, provost of the church on Estonia's islands, said Sepper represents a type of overzealous political correctness that intimidates ordinary citizens.
A spokesperson for the Lutheran church on the national level disavowed the remarks.
Sepper has commented on two cases in October, one of them directly involving the church and the conservative institution's bete noire, homosexuality.
Sepper had asked for explanations from church officials as to why the Lutheran Church's administration removed a pastor, Heino Nurk, from his post. The reason was that Nurk had founded a congregation for gay Christians.
Vihuri cited that case, where Sepper said a Lutheran cleric was discriminated against on the basis of sexual orientation. And he also pointed to another incident from October, in which Sepper wrote to a race organizer to find out why African runners had not been allowed to compete in a Saaremaa marathon.
These cases, said Vihuri, "show that a Kafkaesque system characteristic of an authoritarian regime is developing where the autonomy that is guaranteed by law for religious associations is violated and ordinary citizens are intimidated with various discrimination accusations and procedures."
The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church's public relations head Arho Tuhkru told uudised.err.ee on November 7 that Vihuri's remarks represented Vihuri's own views, not necessarily those of the church.
Vihuri also criticized a campaign run by the Ministry of Social Affairs, called "Diversity enriches us", which he said stigmatizes traditional values as "phobias."
Vihuri said Sepper should step down, saying she abuses her authority and cuts citizens down to size. "Mari-Liis Sepper cannot continue in her post, and the state must stop disparaging its citizens through support for certain campaigns," he said.
Kristopher Rikken