Prayer of Thanks

Europe is making a good impression on me. The people are friendly, good-hearted, and seem to be honestly concerned about important issues like global warming, poverty, and peace-- which is more than I can say for many people in the USA. 

But something I can't grasp is Europe's relationship with religion. The continent is becoming more and more secular, despite recent the EU addition of Catholic powerhouse Poland. But European governments continue to meddle in religious affairs. Although Germany promotes religious freedom, it doesn't have a separation of church and state. 

Upon moving to Germany, I had one week to register with the police as every new arrival must. My application forms always asked what religion I was. I decided to leave that question blank every time, and the Munich clerk didn't give me any problems. But others in the group who also decided not to register their religion were questioned about why.

German schools teach religion, too. Each student receives instruction in their (or their parents') religion, and Germany offers the option to take an "ethics" class for non-religious people. But at every university, the Catholic or Evangelical Church (or, lately, the Islamic governing body) has complete power to remove faculty in their respective theology departments who don't toe the Church's line. This doesn't sound like academic freedom to me.

Religion (or fear thereof) is radically reshaping the continent's political landscape, too. On the far right, a small group of politicians loudly complain about Muslim immigrants. A few political posters I've seen here even advocate for a complete ban on the building of Mosques. These people are certainly in the minority though, as evidenced by the huge, disruptive counterdemonstrastions against them in Cologne last week.

But even the question of allowing headscarfs in schools gets honest play from politicians across the political spectrum. At Oktoberfest today, I met an Austrian couple who were not happy about their country's recent turn towards more conservative government. However, they did advocate a complete ban on headscarfs in Austrian schools.

I proudly told them that this isn't even an issue in the USA. Our system isn't perfect, but we have found a healthy relationship between Church and State. We don't tell people how to practice their religion or what they can and cannot express in public. We don't register people's private religious beliefs in government databases. History plays a big role, but Europe would do well to look west for its governments' religious future.