Dirk Wollenweber from Peiting is a pastor and knows what concerns people. In the interview he talks about why debates are heating up so quickly at the moment and how we can find our way back into togetherness.
Peiting – Dirk Wollenweber knows about people and their crises. The Protestant pastor from Peiting has been working as a pastor for over 24 years and has been a church councilor for emergency pastoral care in the fire department and rescue service since 2022. We asked him why the mood in society seems to be changing so much at the moment and how we can manage to find our way back into a sensible discourse.
Mr. Wollenweber, the tone in debates is becoming increasingly harsh - especially online. Where does it come from?
We live in a time that has a lot of uncertainty. For example, we don't know what will happen to our environment or the war in Ukraine. This gives people the feeling that the security they have always felt is suddenly shattered. This uncertainty can lead to a more irritable tone for some people. That's understandable, because when what I've always trusted, what gives me security, is suddenly at risk, then I feel insecure. Maybe even more panicked.
Are these also concerns that people address in your pastoral care?
Pastoral care is often about existential problems. And that can be related to concerns about one's own resources. At this point I would like to mention an American scientist: Stevan E. Hobfoll, who developed the resource conservation model. According to this, we humans are always concerned with retaining and increasing our resources. At the moment we are experiencing that our resources are dwindling. For example, if your own financial resources are decreasing because everything is becoming more expensive, or friends, acquaintances or relatives are no longer available as they used to be.
“We have to perceive and support each other in a society”
And the fear of this influences our opinion?
I assume that this plays a role for many people, consciously or unconsciously. The tone becomes rougher, as you noticed. The question is how we deal with fear.
How best?
We have to perceive and support each other in a society. First of all, it starts with myself: I have to realize that I can do something myself. That I have the opportunity to create something in certain areas.
What does that mean specifically?
In concrete terms, this means that what I do actually has an effect. For example, when I get involved in a club or plant something in the garden. Many people are currently also feeling their effectiveness in preparing for an emergency. They dig cisterns or store food. Now it's time to extend this to the people around me.
Go out, get away from your cell phone - and live in community
You inevitably have to think about the panic purchases during the Corona period. Was the pandemic a trigger for the feeling of uncertainty?
To answer this simply, I have to quote Hobfull again. He says that we also have to feel our social effectiveness - as a group, community, state, village, city. A lot has fallen behind during the Corona period. Community and society were highly contagious. The resource was not available in that form.
So should we seek more community again in order to find our way back into sensible debates?
I think this is a very important thing. That we go out, let go of our cell phones and live in community again - and fill it with life. This is a very important point in order to be able to perceive yourself socially again, in order to balance and negotiate things. Discussions now take place mainly online. As a rule, the people who feel that they belong to one opinion are in their own bubble.
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Many people seek confirmation for their own opinions.
Yes. It is important for self-efficacy and resilience to know that others think the same way you do. That you are not alone with your fears, hopes, plans and ideas. But it's very difficult for us to enter into a discussion.
How can you bring people back out of their bubbles and into real discourse?
I find it difficult to say what a “real discourse” is and where it takes place. At demonstrations, in politics, at the regulars' table? A discourse is often conducted quickly and violently, where I always miss a bit of conversation culture. This is something we need to practice again.
How can you help people who are just feeling overwhelmed at the moment?
People who come to me because they feel alone with their opinions and needs are sometimes even deeply bitter because they feel like they are not being heard. I try to find resources with these people. These are often very small steps and ideas that people get to help them get out of their big, overwhelming situation. Imagine a large bathtub full of water: if you remove a little water in one place, the level in the entire bathtub drops. Sometimes it is possible to find such moments in pastoral care. Then you can literally feel how someone's energy begins to flow and the strength arises to get rid of something, to change something, to plan something.
People often seek self-efficacy for themselves and the community
What could this be, for example?
This could mean that people do something that is good for them more often. Or vice versa: leave things that are not good for you.
So we need to reflect on ourselves, rethink our habits?
Basically, it's about leveraging the wealth of experience that everyone has within them. At the same time, we must always remember that we do not live alone, but in relation to other systems. In a society. We have to help each other with this.
In summary, it's about finding self-efficacy: for yourself and for the community.
Yes. People often come to pastoral care who are looking for both.