On a trip to Germany last month, I met a young man who wanted me to understand something important about his country. He said he, like me, is a believing Christian—and this, he did not need to tell me, makes him rare in his generation. He also said he is a conservative, but a conservative under siege in a way that an American like me might not understand.
“You have to realize that in Germany, anything to the right of the liberal conservative party”—he meant the Christian Democrats—“is seen as fascist,” the young man said. Given Germany’s history, this designation demonizes any and all challenges to the current system.
