2 ms·
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 mos
by 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 agoI 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 agoI 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.