German Efficiency.
You think the church in the UK is weird?

Try the German version.

For a start, everyone in Germany has to pay Church Tax. Seriously, this is a regular deduction from your income which is paid to the church. I don't pay it, because I'm not registered as being baptized into any church in Germany, but if I do - BANG! It's tax time!

Secondly, my other half, being Echt Deutsch, was asked, some while ago to become a godparent. Now this isn't like in the UK, where you just turn up on the day.

Oh no.

In Germany, it's just like applying for a job - you have to have the correct documentation.

Her Maj had to apply to the church she was christened in to obtain the correct certificates, which then had to be sent to the church where the christening would take place. Doubtless it had to be rubber-stamped twice etc.

I was surprised and amazed that they didn't call a register at the beginning of the service.
( Stevedix http://www.stevedix.de/blog, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 16:15, 10 replies)

It does sound
suspiciously efficient.
( gareth_alien will be human again at, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 17:09, closed)

Incorrect - Everybody in Germany *doesn't* have to pay church tax, as your post goes on to prove

( Dixipoos Bye Bye Blackbird, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 21:48, closed)

true
I don't.

But many foreigners do fall into the trap when they move here, thinking it's just a harmless question on their residence permit forms... then BAM!

It physically sickens me to know that I contribute to a tax system that collects money on behalf of the church, but not on behalf of the jews, or the muslims, or the buddhists, or the spaghettimonsterists etc etc.
( admiral crunch holds the newsreader's nose squarely, Tue 24 Mar 2009, 22:00, closed)

And...
Neither do I, although that doesn't stop them from insisting that I must, under the "stupid foreigner" clause.

To whit : You're from overseas, therefore we can tell you any bollocks we like, however incorrect it is. This also goes for a number of less-than-honest employers. They're really devious over here.

Fortunately, due to my EU status, I don't have to visit the Ausländeramt (or the "Temple of Casual Racism" as I've come to think of it) any more.
( Stevedix http://www.stevedix.de/blog, Wed 25 Mar 2009, 13:03, closed)

Ah, we get that in Switzerland, too.
Anywhere between 1-5% of your earnings go to the religion of your choice. Granted, it can be any religion, so if you put 'pastafarian', then they give the money to a spaghetti factory to put some stained glass windows in, or something.
But you can opt out, which we gladly do.
However, it makes it hellishly expensive if you cark it here and want to be buried.
( Colonel Boris "...a desperate Buzzfeed imitation...", Tue 24 Mar 2009, 22:07, closed)

I would venture to suggest that once I'm dead...
...I won't care about the cost of anything.

What will they do? Reanimate me, just to get my signature on the cheque for the funeral director?
( flake has nothing against your right leg, Wed 25 Mar 2009, 2:29, closed)

"Doubtless it had to be rubber-stamped twice etc."
they been taking lessons from the Chinese?
(zenmeban thinks the weather could be better, Wed 25 Mar 2009, 1:40, closed)

true
true
(Dan dan dan They tik urh jerbs!!!, Wed 25 Mar 2009, 10:44, closed)

Rubber-stamping
Believe me : They taught the Chinese. Germany has one of the most nightmarish bureaucracies in the world.

If you think you're pretty good at German, try reading a typical page of "Beamter Deutsch". It's evil stuff.
( Stevedix http://www.stevedix.de/blog, Wed 25 Mar 2009, 12:56, closed)

Chinese have it
I have lived in Germany and now live in China. I long for the simple bureaucracy of Germany these days. Someone told me, the Chinese invented bureaucracy and spent the last 5000 years getting it right. The highest calling and demonstration of success for a Chinese is to be a bureaucrat.
(bad_advice QOTW survivor from the first trollocost!, Thu 26 Mar 2009, 7:55, closed)