Is religion more involved in the German government than it is in the United States?

[Steve]

do Christians priests voice their opinion in the media more than they do in the U.S.? I have this quote that sort of leads me to believe so:

"Today they (Protestant Church) address the public in many ways, publishing documents and taking part in the debate on issues like peace and disarmament and labor market policy, abortion and protection of the environment. "

I understand there is a separation of church and state but it seems like they have alot of freedom in voicing themself to the government.

[geier55]

christians believings are to respect unlike like in the USA

priests talking in TV are very rare

churches sometimes point out to follow christian humanity on special things or in general..havent heard about other
the churches have absolutely no real power but are not unimportant too

Scientology is seen as a cult in germany and dont count as a church..with right

[Sandy B]

no this has no bearing on germany....they are a socialist democratic government....which means religion really doesn't matter

[Randy W]

well look who rules america, Republicans and Democrats, in germany there is CDU and SPD

CDU = Christlich Demokratischen Union (Christian Democratik union)

SPD = Social Democratic Party

I think it does, cuz they still pay church taxes as well

[t_maia2000]

In some ways it is more involved, in some ways it is less.

Germany is a country with a pre-dominantly Christian heritage, the majority of Germans are Christians (Catholic, Protestants or otherwise).

Yet from my observation religion is taken less seriously - it is not the question of live and death that it is in the US.

There are almost no "born-again" Christians or Evangelists in Germany, most Germans are either Catholic or Protestants (Lutheran). Quite a few of these people are 3-times-a-year Christians, at Christmas, Easter and a random time when they feel like praying. Their contribution is to pay church taxes, 7% additional on top of the other taxes but not much more.

The Catholic and the Lutheran churches have some sort of moral influence, but unless it is very important they do not get directly involved in German politics. It is not politically correct. What they do instead is adress the general public, trying to shape the consensus among citizens. They voice moral concerns to members of their church but don't do much more. Directly and openly attacking government decisions by religious authorities is a complete no-no. There are almost no public figures and no TV evangelists. TV broadcasts of religious service are limited to high holidays such as Easter or Christmas. Germans value freedom of religion and they know the only way to guarantee it is separation of church and state.

The last big discussion about the separation between the Church and the state were at 2 instances: The "cross ruling" by the Federal Court of Constititution in 1998, making it illegal for state churches (mostly in deeply catholic Bavaria) to display crosses in classrooms and second in the wake of the Fereshta Ludin ruling on whether it was permissible for teachers who are nuns to teach in their habit.

http://www.bfg-muenchen.de/cruzifix.htm
http://www.pluralism.org/news/article.php?id=6588
(Schavan is ultraconservative and comes from a family of radical pietists. She is Germany's John Ashcroft.)

Prayer in schools is not an issue at all. In schools administered by the churches it is occassionally done, but not common. There is no movement to press for prayer in state schools, such demands would be seen as utterly ludicrous and met with strong resistance.

Abortion is no longer discussed in Germany, it is allowed nowadays. The abortion discussion in the 90's prior to the passing of the new law was the last time the churches got involved openly in politics. It was decided that the churches would be part of the abortion process. A woman undergoing abortion has to submit a certificate of counselling before the act, and the churches have a part in issueing this certificate. The churches and other social organisations run special abortion counselling centres where women can discuss their decision with experts, with a religious view included if they choose so.

So in this way the churches are less involved - no TV priests, no public movements, no criticizing politicians at every corner, no rallys in front of the parliaments, etc. They are more involved in the way that things are done behind the scenes, lots of lobbying is going on and there are special rights granted to the churches out of tradition. The Catholic and the Protestant churches are secure in their position in society and there is no end to their countless inherited priviledges in sight. The biggest, most visible of these priviledges is the church tax. The churches levy the tax on their members and the government collects the money for the churches along with its own taxes. As long as you are a member of a religious community that is recognised by the government as a church, paying these taxes is non-optional.

Another priviledge the churches have is to teach religion in state schools. For one or two hours a week a special trained teacher with a degree from the church gives students lessons, discussing the bible and other issues. These lessons are optional, but students who do not attend must take substitute lessons in philosophy or ethics.

For the above privileges the muslims in Germany are trying to have their main associations recognised as a church by the government.

[Jerry]

I agree to t_maja2000, but would like to add, that it also depends on the region in Germany, you're looking at. There are some regions like Bavaria or the Rhineland, where the (catholic) church still has a strong position in society about morals and a high number of members, while especially in the eastern parts of the country, christianity is rather a side issue and most people are atheists.
In general, the christian church tries not to intervene into politics too open and to keep its statements moderate and not too concrete (but still conservative). Those, who don't, like the catholic cardinal Meisner, are mainly seen as troublemakers.
Politicians who have a religious background or a strong faith most times try to keep calm about it. If some politician used christian arguments like "god", "good and evil" or "What would Jesus do" in a factual discussion (even if it's about religion), as it seems to happen in the US sometimes, his polls would be in free fall.
About appearence in the media; there's a weekly broadcast of a five-minute-speech in state TV ("Wort zum Sonntag") with quite low audience rating, and the rest is limited to events like congresses or dates like Easter.

The christian churches are seen as an institution, that should not have more influence than any other civilian. So they are doing behind the scenes.

[David]

No! They USA is way worse about that!

[Dave C]

I was just in Germany, and I took a tour of Berlin. The tour guide said that when you move to Berlin, you have to state what your religion is. If you say you are Catholic, you pay taxes to support the Catholic churches and other buildings. If you say you are Jewish, your tax dollars support those buildings. The tour guide said a lot of people claim to be atheists because then there are no church taxes!

[lastchancebud]

No. Religion is not more involved in the German government than it currently is in the United States.

No. Christian priests do not voice their opinion in the media more than they do in the U.S.

When reading these answers, keep in mind who is currently in control of the executive branch of the U.S. government and how very much these people relied on strong support from the religious right to get elected.

In Germany, although two of the major political parties have the word Christian in names, the church plays a typically German role in politics. Not too loud, not too pushy, more main stream and quiet, behind the scenes stuff. There are also some regional differences (a lot more Catholics in Bavaria for example) but in general the church plays a low keyed role.

Issues which are uniquely American do not get the attention they do here, whereas issues which would never pop up in the U.S. are big things here. The Scientology Church is frequently a topic of discussion as it is generally regarded as an un-democratic sect and is most likely "under observation" by the Constitutional Protective Service (Verfassungsschutz), a sort of secret police with responsibility for detecting and monitoring threats to the German Constition (Verfassung) and the constitutional form of government. Keep in mind that in the area currently covered by the Federal Republic of Germany the last century saw just about every type of government in existence at the time here at some time, starting with a monarchy and ending with a Federal Republic. The Germans take this a little more seriously, although there is a relatively high standard of freedom of speech which even in the U.S. might be seen as going overboard.

A unique aspect of the German system involves Church Tax (Kirchensteuer). Persons who are registered members of the two major religious groups, Catholics and Protestants (Evangelisch), allow this information to be used by the Federal Tax Agency (Finanzamt) which then automatically deducts a set amount from the individual's paycheck and credits to the appropriate church organization. This is a voluntary method of paying your tithes with the minimum of hassle. Typically German, absolutely efficient, and you never have to enter a church to pay.

Germans generally deal with issues from a much more flexible and informed position than the Americans, to include religion, which is why their economy is one of the most stable in Europe. Nevertheless, the two things that one should never discuss with anyone other than very very close friends in Germany are pay and religion.

I'm an American, living in Bavaria since 1993.

[DeSaxe]

Germany has several political parties, 2 prominent parties are CDU & CSU (Christian Democrats & Christian Socialist Union) these parties are presently in a coalition government under the leadership of Angela Merkal (CDU) with the SPD Socialist Democrats.
Germans must register by race and religion. If you belong to a recognized religion you pay church tax. Based upon your faith and you location your taxes go to the local church and you belong to that church. How often you to church is you matter, but should you want a church marriage, child baptized, or church funeral, that’s you church. Also kindergartens for your children, if you are not a member of the church you can only use the kindergarten on a space available basis plus must pay more. Part of your church taxes pay for some of the Kindergartens spaces. You will find crosses in schools above the doors and above the teacher’s desk and most students do have an hour of religion in school, at least in the grade schools. And they do pray in school.

Every Saturday night a priest comes on German State TV with the message for Sunday.

Sunday is a religious day, and many activities and business must close on Sundays. You can not wash you car, go shopping, only restaurants, guesthouses, amusement parks, zoos etc, are open.
The Religious leaders have formed a political block sometime the do things together sometimes separately but they are very well involved with the government’s politics.
Not to mention that the present Pope is German.
Technically I would say the involvement of the Church in the government in Germany is greater than in the US. The fact is that tax money in Germany does pay the salaries of a number of religious leaders who do bear influence in the government, they do not hold seats in parliament but they do bear influence.

I live and have lived in Germany since 1984. I spend about 1 month a year in the States.