[Skybird]

In case you did not know it, Germany in reality is no secular state. While on paper it is, in reality the state serves as an enforcer of tax bills for the churches. Yes, in case you did not know this either, in Germany church taxes are madatory. We certainly have left the medieval behind us, but hey, why so extreme, we certainly must not get rid of all theocratic practices there were, we can keep the one or the other bad habit, just for sentimental remembrance of the bad old days, in case our historic memory fails us once again, like it does so often, eh?

Where in other countries churches must make their living by voluntary contributions of their fanclubs (look how nicely that works for televengalists in US TV!), in history-aware Germany anti-secularism does not stop just with church taxes, no, of course there is also the fact that the Vatican still is given diplomatic status as if it were a state, the church is allowed to maintain its own parallel legal system with its own internal legislation, and public property that was to 90% and more raised with public general tax funding and during operation to 90% or more gets financed by public funding (for example hospitals or kindergardens), is allowed to be officially given into church possession and legislation, in other words even non-members of the church, even people totally opposing the church and its brainwashing ideology are legally obliged to pay for the church and give its craving for recognition and power a financial boost instead of the middle finger. Good ol Skybird may have left the church 28 years ago, may be an atheist and may be totally hostile to this psychotic monkey circus that the church is - but he stills cannot avoid to financially support it by his - thankfully small - general tax contributions. Seen that way I am very happy that I need to get over the month with relatively little money.

However, the news that made all this worth to write a note from Germany, is a surprise that my favourite jesters from the Greens have come up with. A group of them, with parliamentary credits, think it is the modern secular politician's duty to assist the church in stopping the trend of once submissive believers fleeing the church in huge numbers. This trend might have something to do with a general raise in reasonability and education in our society and culture (although that is hard to belive, hehe) , science and wildfiring internet information hurricanes may play a role, a general scepticism for the obscene dogmas the church has tormented people for too long with, the many scandals over pedophiles finding refuge from police law enforcement as long as they wore a soutane when absuing children and teenagers, the sick sexual morals of the church, The successful campaign of the church for spreading AIDS and human suffering, the massive tax evasion and the general financial corruption that especially the Catholic church shows since decades and centuries.

These Green politicians, all of them active Catholics engaged in layman church and bible work, now said that this trend of shrinking church communities has to be stopped, and they constructed an argument of that people only give up their faith because their households' budgets are so very small already from all the inflation and cold progression and bailout for poor bankers and shrinking real wages; and so they do not want to get a rip by the churches anymore. Internal criticism of the church is not people's motive, these Green Catholics conclude. So they want to stop the fleeing from the church, by imposing a mandatory culture tax on everybody who is fleeing the church tax by leaving the church. If people will pay the same or even more money that way, not only will this stop the shrinking of the herd of sheep in the Gothic and Romanic stables, it maybe will even push some atheists back into the church who outside the church would need to pay even higher taxes than they would need to pay church taxes.

Give to the church the things that are the church's, and if you disagree with it, give it all that nevertheless, and then some more.

Isn't secularism just great! And I thought Green underhandedness was just limited to environmentalism and securing governmental power!