Indicative proceedings against the work of Steiner – A campaign from prejudiced opponents

The (in the meantime declined) applications for proceedings against two of Rudolf Steiners written works was punctually planned for the summer break as a clever campaign from opponents of the Anthroposophical movement and its manifold initiatives. That these applications have been declined is only to be welcomed.

Directly shocking was the fact that the media from their side gave a blanket negative report, at the same time giving the relevant authors a usable platform.

What started out as an application to prove if the more than 300 bounded works with tens of thousands of pages has a few single passages containing what could be understood by today views as racist, became a general attack on Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy, which after the past weeks was almost put on the level of a racist conviction by many people. A rock bottom low for journalistic circumspection!

One could say: That those who intend to do so, will find what is today to be understood as fly dirt even on the purest of diamonds. Those who have read Steiner’s work from beginning to end will always come to the conclusion that Anthroposophy is exactly the opposite of a racialist ideology.

There are distinct differences between people as well as between races.

This lies in the differences of the culture circles, the different religions, but also that which is called mentality. Those who deny this existence have not experienced the facts of life themselves. Racism starts there, where one puts value to these differences and hunts it down – and where one starts fixing these differences on people. Rudolf Steiner exactly opposed this view a by alluding objectively to the being of the different races.

The uniqueness of each individual id the foundation on which Anthroposophy stands. It takes away all grounds on which racism stands and is the foundation on which Waldorf education is built and works out of – with more than 1000 Waldorf schools and 2000 kindergartens in more than 60 countries.

Committed teachers are realising Waldorf education with the background of their own individual cultures “education toward freedom”. All Waldorf schools are open to children regardless of their social, religious or cultural background. In Africa Waldorf schools are still the fore runners of the much claimed rainbow nations. Waldorf schools in Israel promotes Judaic and Arabic community projects and encourages and understanding for all cultures. Many Waldorf schools are pioneers in the environment as a child orientated education. The most obvious are the South American favelas, the African townships, in some still authoritatively ruled countries, but also almost every where else too. At regular international conferences Waldorf teachers from all continents across the world exchanges their experiences with each other.

In Waldorf education one does not convey to the child fixed ideas and ideologies, rather looks at flexible concepts, that the child could later when it has step by step become capable of judging , he may find then build his own judgements.

These fundamental aspects of an “education towards freedom” is what makes Waldorf schools ideologically free, where by the current world view can only impart a materialistic picture of the world. At the same time there is a high tolerance level at Waldorf schools and a big world interest – these fruits can be directly connected to Anthroposophy which Waldorf teachers are constant and effortlessly working with.

Holger Niederhausen