this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2023
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Or maybe rip the churches out of our tax systems (yeah, that's a thing in Europe) and derive them of the only thing they actually care about. Anyone who does 30 minutes of research into the history of the Catholic Church can't seriously believe that this system isn't working just as intended.
In Australia in 2007 the Catholic church successfully argued that it was not a legal entity and therefore could not be sued. The "Ellis defence" https://www.concordatwatch.eu/not-a-legal-entity--k38175
Wait what? Please elaborate. Are you saying churches in Europe GET tax money? And not just don’t have to pay taxes like in the U.S.?
They get tax money from members of the church. You can leave the church at any time. But they also get tax money for administrating things like kindergartens and old people's homes, which is an issue because while they get tax money for this they can make the rules however they like. There have been cases where people who worked in e.g. kindergartens lost their job because they got divorced
Yeah, basically the two big churches don't have to lift a finger to get all of their members to pay up because the state is doing it for them. Opt-out costs a one time fee even, at least in Germany.
Germany isn't secular :s
Most (Many? It's a lot) European countries have official state religions. The Church of England, Church of Scotland, the Lutheran Churches of Scandinavia.
In Germany, if you are associated with a religion, tithes are taken directly out of your paycheck like taxes.