[wideawake]

Nice headline, sure to get the blood pumping.

A few relevant facts:

(1) In Germany, citizens have the option of either designating that 8% of their taxes go to a church, or of opting for that tax money to go directly to the state.

(2) German churches are allowed to forgo the tax and collect donations directly, but if they do, they have to turn over to the state all the tax information of their adherents.

(3) Nominal Catholics who do not support their Church still want to use churches for weddings, funerals, christenings and other functions - and expect that the choirs, organists, electricity, security and everything else should be paid for by the Catholics who actually designate the Church as their tax contribution.

So, what is being said here is simple: if you deliberately choose to fund the state instead of the Church, and yet expect the Church to spend scarce money and time that could be used for outreach and charity on your personal functions, then you should reexamine your assumptions.

[Olog-hai]

And how is any of that good?

[Cronos]

German churches are allowed to forgo the tax and collect donations directly, but if they do, they have to turn over to the state all the tax information of their adherents

Really? that is too much interference by the state. Is this true of the Scandanavian countries as well?

[Cronos]

Nominal Catholics who do not support their Church still want to use churches for weddings, funerals, christenings and other functions - and expect that the choirs, organists, electricity, security and everything else should be paid for by the Catholics who actually designate the Church as their tax contribution.

And that is just the start of problems when you get big govt

It's better in the rest of the world where you pay for what you use

[Lukasz]

Nice headline, sure to get the blood pumping. A few relevant facts: (1) In Germany, citizens have the option of either designating that 8% of their taxes go to a church, or of opting for that tax money to go directly to the state.

First of all, liberal German bishops adopted this system because they consider it more profitable to local clergy. This system is in fact destructive for the church. German clergy will be more and more dependent from the state.
What is more, Catholics are not the clients of the church and they have full rights to boycott such unCatholic solutions. Vatican court is on the side of the people on this issue anyway.
A pity that they cannot force German bishops to act like real Catholic shepards should act...