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> "Yet they still have people register their religion choice. Ostensibly it’s because of taxes" Stupid question maybe, but do Germans actually comply with that

> "Yet they still have people register their religion choice. Ostensibly it’s because of taxes" Stupid question maybe, but do Germans actually comply with that law? Even the ostensible justification seems weird; why should religious beliefs be relevant to taxes owed?

detaro 7y ago
Because the state helpfully pulls in "membership fees" for the churches through the tax system. Really stupid system, but little political will to get rid of it.
- ptaipale 7y ago
  One may call it stupid, but such a system, particularly collecting the membership dues for the Lutheran protestant churches, is in place in very many of the most-advanced nations in the world with highest rankings of human development, press freedom, strong welfare state, good public health and so on. Is that a coincidence? I think it is not, although it is obvious that the mechanism doesn't work like "start collecting membership dues for Lutherans and you'll have a great welfare state". Rather, it's the current outcome of a long historical development.
  - C1sc0cat 7y ago
    I think you mean guilt from ww2 and also some of the sectarian episodes in Germanys Past - Bismarck locking up a large proportion of the Catholic clergy is one example not well known
    - ptaipale 7y ago
      I think WW2 is just a passing episode in this development, as different countries fared differently in the war but this long-standing development has ended in rather similar outcomes. Overall, it's that the secular society picked up from the administration structures and practices built by (mostly Protestant) churches. WW2 guilt did not stop Austria from applying this law for collecting church dues (for the Catholic church) after WW2, even if the practice was in fact brought to statute books by Adolf Hitler in 1939.
ptaipale 7y ago
They do; church membership dues are part of general taxation (if you are a member of the church). Same arrangement in Nordics (dk, fi, is, no, se). Church membership is not mandatory, but membership of the national church or churches comes with a tax.

detaro 7y ago

Because the state helpfully pulls in "membership fees" for the churches through the tax system. Really stupid system, but little political will to get rid of it.

ptaipale 7y ago
One may call it stupid, but such a system, particularly collecting the membership dues for the Lutheran protestant churches, is in place in very many of the most-advanced nations in the world with highest rankings of human development, press freedom, strong welfare state, good public health and so on. Is that a coincidence? I think it is not, although it is obvious that the mechanism doesn't work like "start collecting membership dues for Lutherans and you'll have a great welfare state". Rather, it's the current outcome of a long historical development.
- C1sc0cat 7y ago
  I think you mean guilt from ww2 and also some of the sectarian episodes in Germanys Past - Bismarck locking up a large proportion of the Catholic clergy is one example not well known
  - ptaipale 7y ago
    I think WW2 is just a passing episode in this development, as different countries fared differently in the war but this long-standing development has ended in rather similar outcomes. Overall, it's that the secular society picked up from the administration structures and practices built by (mostly Protestant) churches. WW2 guilt did not stop Austria from applying this law for collecting church dues (for the Catholic church) after WW2, even if the practice was in fact brought to statute books by Adolf Hitler in 1939.

ptaipale 7y ago

They do; church membership dues are part of general taxation (if you are a member of the church). Same arrangement in Nordics (dk, fi, is, no, se). Church membership is not mandatory, but membership of the national church or churches comes with a tax.