Or where cultural differences have legal roots.
This afternoon, my accountant calls me to tell me that the tax office has finally finished reviewing my tax declaration. And then she asks me this very personal (at least in my books) question: "Are you a catholic?". Now. The reality is, I've been raised in the catholic religion by my parents, went through the whole baptism, communion etc. I had my religious and mystic moments, but they went. As a matter of fact, although I still claim that my "beliefs" (for lack of a more accurate word) are shaped by the catholic religion, I lost faith about 10 years ago. It was abrupt, it was hurtful, also liberating and good. In short, I have not been a *good* catholic in 10 years. I have occasionally gone to church, I still believe in some kind of entity somewhere out there. An agnostic of sorts. But if people asked me: "Do you feel that you belong to the catholic Church today", I would say no. In fact, I tell you, no, I don't. But if people asked me what religion I am, I would probably answer that my beliefs are shaped by catholicism, or even that I am a catholic. Some kind of a cultural background. Problem is, what is really behind this question "What is your religion?"
Well, when I arrived in Germany, I had to register at the local administration. And they asked me what religion I was. I answered catholic. Big mistake, huge. To me, this was in the middle of tens of other questions such as how old are you, where were you born etc. In short, some kind of census information which would be used for statitstics. Nothing more, nothing less. Well no. In Germany, when you say you're a catholic, it has nothing to do with your beliefs, it has to do with your membership. The real question should be "What church are you a member of?". Because once you say you are a catholic, that's it, you're listed as one, receive papers from the local church, the this-and-that journal of the catholic church, in short, you're a member. And, last but not least, the State (yes, the laïc state), actually adds 8% taxes on your income tax at the end of the year, which will be distributed to the catholic church.
Mind you, I learned about that last year, when I did my tax declaration, and my tax adviser already asked me the question and listed the caveats associated with being a catholic in this country. To which of course I answered, I am "without confession", because well, it is the truth. So one year went by. I had no taxes to pay, so nobody really paid attention. This year it seems, there was money to take, so the tax office added those 8% to my total. And I don't want to pay them. Mind you, at this stage, it's not so much about the money, there isn't much to pay. It's about the principle. You see, I come from a country where the separation of State and Church occurred in 1905. And when we mean separation, we really mean separation, it is entrenched in our culture. The Church is on its own. And as a matter of fact, the French Catholic church appeals to its followers to help, through the "denier du culte" and other means to get money. In short, there is no tie between the State and the Church. and certainly no financial tie.
Now, the most interesting thing is, my accountant was trying to convince me that "this is the law". ie. that if I've said once that I am a catholic, I need to get a paper which proves that I am not. In short, you're guilty before you can be innocent. *I* am the one who has to prove that I am member of a church I never entered in the first place (at least in Germany), in order to leave that church. And I was trying to explain to her how shocking this forced membership is to me, and that if anyone had to prove anything, it should be the German State or the German Church which would have to prove that I am, indeed, a catholic and an active member of the Catholic church. I must say that to my French mind, the mere idea that by crossing inadvertently a checkbox one day makes me a life long member of the Catholic church is at best a big mistake, at worst an act of coercition. The joke being, that in Germany, to get "out" of the Church, you need to pay and make a whole lot of administrative steps which finally end up in the deliverance of a piece of paper which confirms that you're out. I am not even sure that exists in France, and even if it does, there is no way I am going to "get out of the Church" that formally, because in my culture, it's a personal choice, as I believe any religion should be, not a legal or tax-bound choice.
The next steps promise to be interesting, since at this stage, I am not sure what I have to do to "get out of it". Stay tuned.
5 reactions
1 From Olaf - 30/11/2007, 20:53
In order to get "out" of the church, you simply go to your local "Bürgerbüro" (office that deals with anything going on between the city and you, the citizen. The place they issue passports as well as parking permits. The place they sell you a trash bag if you have more trash than your alloted quota/than fits into your trash can) and state that you want to leave the church ("Ich möchte aus der Kirche austreten"). You pay a (steep! for that little administrative effort at least) fee, which differs between cities, get a piece of paper which states that you left church and take that paper as well as your "Lohnsteuerkarte" (colored income tax piece of cardboard) to another person in the same office and they will cross out your religious affiliation and then you won't have to pay tax on your (non existing) religious affiliation.
If you try to argue that you never "joined" the church in Germany good luck. Most Germans were joined by being born by parents associated to a Christian church and I had to pay, even though *I* never joined anything.
You have to prove that you are not a member of the church, NOT the other way around - even though it *should* be the other way around. But I never understood German logic either.
2 From Olaf - 30/11/2007, 21:27
The BBC article about the roots of French secularism you linked too also says that "all obvious religious symbols from schools - including headscarves, Christian crosses and Jewish skullcaps" are banned.
In Germany, there is no issue about what school children wear to school (imagine the state forbade Jews their kipa (scullcap)! Gulp!).
However, there has been an issue with German teachers wearing a headscarf and whether this was legal or not. The conclusion some states (such as Baden Würtemberg) reached was, that the headscarf was illegal for teachers - but NOT the nun habit (the Christian version of a headscarf and modest clothes). (There are some schools run by monasteries)
Weird, isn't it?
And the weird thing was, that the courts even uphold this rule, even though it clearly favors one religion over another...and even though this runs against the German constitution ("no one may be discriminated against because of their religion")
3 From ann - 23/10/2008, 14:24
hi!
I am in exactly the same situation. I said 'yes' , I am a catholic and only later I realised I need to pay high 9 % taxes on income for that!!! And I do not even go to church. You mentioned 'steep' fee...how much was it if I may ask?
thanks a lot!
4 From notafish - 29/10/2008, 08:41
@ann the fee is not exactly steep, it's around 20 euros, depending on your local administration. This said, I do find it "steep" that you're asked to pay to "get out of the church". I still have to blog about the fact also that I received a very nice but firm letter from the Catholic Church in France, a few weeks after having "gotten out" of the church in Germany which read that they were sorry to see me go. So this has a long tail.
5 From Moya - 25/02/2009, 12:00
This is a dreadful situation for the unsuspecting foreigner in Germany. There should be some kind of obligation on the authorities in Germany to explain to every foreigner employed in Germany that being Catholic or Protestant has nothing to do with religious faith but with finance.
The scandal is that opting out of paying Church Tax requires the person to renounce his/her faith. In the case of a baptized Catholic, from the point the 'church leaver' signs the formal declaration at the Local Court, he is excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Germany is the only country in the world heaving with apostates! Leaving the Catholic Church in Germany incurs severe penalties. As an excommunicated Catholic you cannot then be married in a Catholic Church. Your children cannot be baptized. You cannot be buried in a Catholic cemetery, your children cannot go to a state-funded Catholic school and so on.
The Catholic institutions, schools, hospitals, kindergartens, retirement homes are funded by Church Tax, which is collected by the state on behalf of the Church. Thousands are employed by these institutions and remunerated from the income from Church Tax. The problem is, the price paid to keep these insitutions going by the richest Church in the world is the highest that could be paid: excommunication if you don't want to pay this troubling tax.
Catholics have been leaving the Church in droves in recent years. The question is whether the German Catholic bishops are willing to ditch Church Tax for ways of financing its services which other countries around the world have been using for ever. It will of course mean than German Parish Priests will no longer be paid the high salaries they have accusomed to, or cruise around their parishes in Mercedes, but maybe, just maybe, they will then start remembering that the founder of the Church wanted to bring people to God, not drive them away.