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The Church in Germany (churches actually, the Protestant alliance is about as large as the Catholic church) goes beyond that by not only having their schools, h
by pluma 9y ago
The Church in Germany (churches actually, the Protestant alliance is about as large as the Catholic church) goes beyond that by not only having their schools, hospitals and so on de facto paid for by the state (always in part, sometimes 100%) but also getting to impose their own laws on their employees instead of having to adhere to the secular labour laws.
Had an abortion? Came out as gay? Got a divorce? If you work for a "Catholic" hospital that can easily result in the termination of your employment even if your salary comes 100% from the state and this discrimination would be illegal if the hospital were secular.
It's a widespread misconception (even within Germany) that Germany is a secular nation or has a separation of church and state. That no single religious group is formally given exclusive privileges or that we're not under the direct rule of any religious leader doesn't change that fact.
- snambi 9y agoIs Germany a secular nation?
- rsynnott 9y agoThis was legal in Ireland until very recently with Church-run schools (for teaching staff only). Though with some restrictions; notably, a gay woman who was a teacher was passed over for promotion to principal because she was gay; when investigated, the school's defense was that she was gay. They lost; the view was taken that while they could have refused to employ her for that reason they couldn't otherwise discriminate against her. Fortunately, the law was changed in 2015; church-run schools can no longer discriminate on 'ethos' in employment. Incidentally, this wasn't just the Catholic Church; any religious organisation who ran a school got to discriminate until then.
- gdwatson 9y agoChurch schools in Ireland are no longer allowed to hire only practicing coreligionists? How do they still function as church schools?