Paying for religion

The German churches fund an amount of the social care work, so the income tax percentage is vital to them You can however opt out or change from Catholic to Protestant!

I was surprised by that too Greatnan . As I was the evening we were dining in the parador in Santiago de Compostela and a German RC priest got up, called everyone to attention and started a lengthy prayer. Leading a coach party of pilgrims.

There is no way I would want to be forced to subscribe to a Church. It sounds like the old method of 'tithing' which is OK I suppose if you are an ardent church goer.

On the other hand priests and the like are - or they used to be - quite poorly paid and live in draughty houses and the money went to help them as well as the church fabric I believe. Whether that continues in this country I have to say I've no idea.

The cost of maintaining a church must be phenomenal.

If that were the case here eGJ I would be more than happy to pay my contribution. I have a feeling than NGOs are prbably better at some of these things.

The Germans don't have to subscribe to any church - but if they do register themselves as a member they have to pay the tax.
The priests I knew (and I knew a lot) all lived in some comfort and were able to drink and smoke.
I would certainly not allow myself to be dictated to by any cleric and if I wanted to go on conversing in a dining room I would certainly do so. I wonder how he would like it if I got up and gave a speech espousing atheism?