Mandated German Religion Courses Voted Down in Berlin

Although many Americans see Europe as largely atheist, you'd be surprised at the level of influence that both Protestant and Catholic churches have in many parts of Germany. In the southern state of Bavaria, which is famously conservative, newcomers to cities must register their new addresses and religion at the local city hall. This information is used to allocate a portion of their taxes to the faith of their choice. Additionally, tax money is used to finance public television, which often airs religious programming.

Also in Bavaria, students are required to take religion courses, though they have a choice over which ones. Protestants and Catholics have their own classes and in a few cases, there are even classes for Islam due to the large number of Turkish immigrants in Germany. Students who claim no religion receive an education in ethics which sometimes includes overviews of different world religions. For Americans who are used to strict limits on interaction between church and state, this might come as a shock.

However, Berliners have voted against allowing religion classes in the city and for a required ethics class instead, even though the measure to allow religion classes or an ethics class was supported by key community leaders. The Christian Science Monitor has a good story about the vote here.

tags: germany  deutschland  lifeingermany  protestant  catholic  berlin