Tickets to Church
I am in the habit of spending Christmas in Germany. The historic city of Weimar in the former East has all of the amenities I could ask for in easy walking distance: concerts, theater, a great variety of restaurants, fast train connections to Berlin and Leipzig, and outside my window the vast park designed by Goethe. Weimar provides the perfect counterweight to rural Texas.
There is much to write about here where I am surrounded by cultural history. On my short five-minute walk to the city center I pass Goethe’s house, traversing the same alley he used to visit his mistress. Liszt’s house is about the same distance. Bach’s house would be closer if it were still standing.
The time before Christmas is an occasion to walk the streets, visit the Weihnachts Markt, and stand in the cold drinking Glühwein in the holiday ambiance. But the kiosks are now being disassembled and the stores will close at noon on Christmas Eve as the Germans eliminate the commercial distractions and focus on family and friends. The sparsely attended churches will fill up on Christmas Eve.
I usually attend the Jakobskirche, built in the 12th century, where on a typical Sunday you might find a dozen worshippers. On Christmas Eve, hundreds will appear, with standing room only on all three levels.
And that has one German lawmaker doing what lawmakers frequently do – meddling in things that shouldn’t concern him and turning a small problem into a big one.
“I’m in favor of having church services on December 24 open only for people who pay church tax.”
Germany’s Catholic and Protestant churches are still largely funded by tithes, which are collected by the federal tax office. Germans have the right to opt out of paying tithes — by leaving their church.
So it upsets some tithe-paying religious folk to find their normally underpopulated churches crowded with people at the holidays. The head of the business-friendly Free Democrats in the Berlin city assembly gave support to Volk’s proposal, telling Bild that members should be handed tickets to guarantee them a seat during a crowded service.
This phenomenon is not unknown in the U.S. On Christmas and Easter, the regulars frequently stand as the pews fill with people we have never seen before. It’s a small problem, and we should remind ourselves that it’s better that they come twice a year than not at all.
The secularism that grips Europe is exacerbated by state regulation. The state controls the purse strings and, if this particular lawmaker (of the Christian Democratic Party) has his way, it will also function as gatekeeper, man the box office, and perhaps someday administer tests on the catechism.
If Europe continues on this course, as it probably will, the primary question seems to be whether the churches will become museums or mosques. The foundation of the culture is eroding. If we are lucky, we may find future Germans standing in the cold drinking Glühwein in celebration of nothing in particular. Alternatively, there will be no Glühwein, no Weihnachts Markt, and no opting out of state-supported religion.
