[GeronL]

intertwining the church and state is just evil

[MondoQueen]

That’s what I love about this country. We do not have a state religion, where we have to pay a tax to the state, which then doles it out to the church of state.

[A.A. Cunningham]

The Church tax in Germany explained.

[Lurker]

They’ll be selling Indulginces again soon.

[Fiji Hill]

Does the tax apply to Muslims?

[Forrestfire]

This tax is nothing new! My wife is German, and when I was stationed there back in the 80’s she decide to “quit” the church and save the taxes, besides we were attending church on base. Well, the stops collecting the “Church” Tax, and immediately replaced it with the “Art & Culture” Tax!!! Typical government!!

[E. Pluribus Unum]

A decree issued last week by the country's bishops cast a spotlight on the longstanding practice in Germany and a handful of other European countries in which governments tax registered believers and then hand over the money to the religious institutions.

I guess the German Roman Catholic Church doesn't believe in all that free-will schmarnn.

[stevem]

This sounds dangerously close to simony from days of yore. This is the practice of selling and buying indulgences.

This was one of the things that caused Martin Luther to drive down a different road.

It might have helped that the Pope was marrying off his daughter so the boys could arrange to murder her husband and, thus, take possession of a few more acres of land.

Still, we should not lose sight of the most corrupt of religions extant i.e. the Religion of Peace.

[BipolarBob]

It’s the pay to play tax.

[Rio]

In Germany, Catholics, Protestants and Jews pay a surcharge of up to nine percent on their income tax bills

Not muzzies?

[svcw]

German Christian and Catholic churches who refuse prayer and blessings for money are neither.

[T-Bird45]

Good article showing the prescience and wisdom of our Founders in the First Amendment. Of course, they or their forebears had already experienced religious persecution in Europe and came to America to escape it.

[jimtorr]

The practice of selling sacraments is one of the things that caused Martin Luther to Protest.

[count-your-change]

You can understand the German Bishops fighting to keep the tax since some bishops live very, very comfortably from it.

[cva66snipe]

What a person gives any church should be between them and GOD not anyone else. This is just one of the reasons the Founding Fathers broke away from Britain. If I gave $.10 or $1,000,000 to a church why would I or why should I have to tell Uncle or even the preacher, priest, or elders, for that matter it was me? Matthew ch 6 v3 says as much.

On the other hand because LBJ managed as a U.S. senator to put an unconstitutional clause into the U.S. tax code churches in the U.S. would be wise to the pay tax over being silenced. The smart thing would have been for churches to have fought his amendment. Ironic that LBJ did this when FDR solicited clergy to talk to their churches about Social Security and other New Deal programs which was a political agenda.

[Shadowstrike]

Jesus and his cat o nine tails would be very busy right now.