Für den Skeptical Inquirer (Online) hat Annika Harrison mit Dr. Holm Hümmler gesprochen:
Are there special skeptical challenges in Germany and Europe?
There are local effects, of course, but I think in general, we’re all facing the same challenges.
In Germany, the government was relatively stringent in its reactions to the pandemic early on, and that was quite successful, but it also helped forge a strong movement of COVID-19 deniers and anti-vaxxers merging with a growing sovereign-citizen movement and QAnon believers.
Another specific German problem is a law dating back to the Nazis, which allows people who have taken some weekend classes to perform basically all kinds of “alternative” medical practices, including, for example, hypodermic injections with … whatever.
The German-speaking countries are the birthplace of homeopathy and psychoanalysis, but they have flourished elsewhere, in some cases even more. Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophy is probably still stronger here than anywhere else in the world, and that’s a serious problem, because it is so entrenched in the more educated, higher income, influential parts of our society.
So many people flatly refuse to see the magical, anti-rational, racist ideology that it is. Anthroposophy has also profited tremendously from the organic farming boom.
Zum Weiterlesen:
- An Interview with German Skeptic Holm Hümmler, skepticalinquirer am 28. März 2023
- TheESP – Ep. #371: „Fake Poutine?“ vom 31. März 2023
- TheESP – Ep. #370: „Acu-punctured!“ vom 24. März 2023