For those unfamiliar with the way it is set up, both the Catholic and Protestant Church in Germany are tax-financed. In 2023 the Catholics received 6.8bn Euros, the Protestants 6.2bn. So while they are technically not state churches like the Anglican Church in Great Britain, they serve in praxis as amplifiers of state power.
That’s very interesting, I didn’t know that, thanks for sharing. Do you know if their subsidies were reduced recently, like the farmers’ were, to plug that hole in the federal government’s budget? And is the government funding other faiths, or just these two?
The „church tax“ (Kirchensteuer) is levied as a percentage of the income tax (opt-out is possible). As such the revenue has risen constantly despite dropping membership numbers in both mainline churches.
Legally, the entities entitled to levy the church tax are called public sector religious communities (Öffentlich-rechtliche Religionsgesellschaften). These are the various Protestant churches (one for each German state), Catholic bishoprics, several smaller Christian organisations, as well as Jewish and some Muslim denominations, Christian Science and Jehova‘s Witnesses.
The climate religion is similar to a pagan nature worshipping religion that predated monotheism. It’s religious but not monotheistic.
The Enlightenment pushed back on religion in the public square, casting doubt on whether religious ideas ought to decide public policy. The climate movement circumvents the title of religion and aims to control society like the pre-Enlightenment church did. It avoids the many controls put into place to prevent that.
For those unfamiliar with the way it is set up, both the Catholic and Protestant Church in Germany are tax-financed. In 2023 the Catholics received 6.8bn Euros, the Protestants 6.2bn. So while they are technically not state churches like the Anglican Church in Great Britain, they serve in praxis as amplifiers of state power.
That’s very interesting, I didn’t know that, thanks for sharing. Do you know if their subsidies were reduced recently, like the farmers’ were, to plug that hole in the federal government’s budget? And is the government funding other faiths, or just these two?
The „church tax“ (Kirchensteuer) is levied as a percentage of the income tax (opt-out is possible). As such the revenue has risen constantly despite dropping membership numbers in both mainline churches.
Legally, the entities entitled to levy the church tax are called public sector religious communities (Öffentlich-rechtliche Religionsgesellschaften). These are the various Protestant churches (one for each German state), Catholic bishoprics, several smaller Christian organisations, as well as Jewish and some Muslim denominations, Christian Science and Jehova‘s Witnesses.
The climate religion is similar to a pagan nature worshipping religion that predated monotheism. It’s religious but not monotheistic.
The Enlightenment pushed back on religion in the public square, casting doubt on whether religious ideas ought to decide public policy. The climate movement circumvents the title of religion and aims to control society like the pre-Enlightenment church did. It avoids the many controls put into place to prevent that.