VIENNA — A prominent Austrian Protestant official is criticizing the anti-immigration Freedom Party for suggesting brotherly love should be restricted to Austrians.
Ahead of Sept. 29 elections, party posters show its leader, Heinz-Christian Strache, affectionately gazing at an elderly woman who is stroking his cheek. The poster proclaims: "Love your neighbor. For me, those are our Austrians."
Protestant official Michael Chalupka says the slogan misrepresents the Bible. In Tuesday's Oesterreich newspaper, he says Jesus chose the Good Samaritan — for many Jews "a foreigner" — as exemplifying brotherly love that disregards issues such as nationality or religion, and suggests Strache doesn't understand the message.
Strache is quoted as replying: "Our brothers are the Austrians, whom we place in the focus of our interest — and not ... those trying to gain false asylum."
