HoHoHo.. if you're in the UK, did you get snow? Have we? I don't know, she's hasn't opened the front door yet, the blinds are down, our thickly lined curtains are still drawn.. great way to keep cold out and heat in.
She has much work to do, first up is 'Hunt the Slow-Cooker', it is a big beast so she tucks it away somewhere and this morning, we are not absolutely sure where that somewhere is.. then much chopping has to be done.
Carrots, parnsips, onions, ginger, Hamburg parsley and spices are to be the ingredients of a stew along with two lots of Kid meat that defrosted overnight in the kitchen sink, the stew will cook slowly all day long and will be perfect for supper when she comes home from church at about a quarter to eight.
Do you go to Church, Dear Reader, were you Baptised, Confirmed, did you marry in a church, do you 'practise' your religion or do you consider that 'old hat' and do nothing?
She considers that she is extremely fortunate to have the freedom be able to practise her faith, she is a Protestant and feels great sorrow for the many Christian Copts in Egypt whose churches have been destroyed and themselves persecuted. Also, for the fact that the situation in the Middle East is based, IN THEORY, on intolerance of other peoples' religious beliefs.
She read recently that all Germans, who are officially registered as Catholic, Protestant or Jewish, pay a Religious Tax, worth an extra 8-9% of their Income Tax bill. And the German Government has recently significantly upped this tax rate by now applying this to Capital Gains Tax as well.
It is worth noting the list of countries who also have Religious Taxation and the list is surprising.
Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland all apply this tax but the rates of each country's tax varies enormously.
This is taxed at source, if you are registered it is taken from you, you do not pay it yourself, and it has caused a massive amount of people to abandon their faith. Apparently four hundred thousand people in Germany alone have resigned from their officially designated religions in order to save themselves from paying this latest tax.
A Catholic Bishop has decreed that anyone not paying the tax would therefore be denied the right to religious rites. This means NO: Baptism for children, Holy Communion, Confession, Marriage (church) and, presumably, Funeral service. Neither are you allowed to send children to any school that is run by the Church.
In 2011 alone, the Catholic Church received 5 billion Euro (4 billion £ - 6.5 billion $), the Protestant Church received 4.5 billion Euro from the German Taxpayer. The taxation from the Jewish Faith has not been publicised. BUT this does not include the amount of monies received by the churches from daily or weekly service donations or from legacies left to the before mentioned Religions.
And I know this little vignette applies to England but I know that similar things happen in other countries.. for legacies and donations are not always in the form of money.
A dear friend of her family, upon the death of Francis, her much beloved husband, gave a large field to their local church in Wiltshire. Why a field, you might well ask. Well, the church is extremely old, the parish is quite large, time moves on and practioners die. The churchyard was getting more than a bit cramped.
This lovely woman, who took her to Jean-Louis Scherrer in Paris when she was sixteen, had been greatly supported by the Vicar, his wife and their neighbours when Francis was dying.
The field lay on the other side and to the back of the church, it has been consecrated and will form the new Churchyard.. gifts come in all forms, shapes and sizes.
Interesting, is it not?
GeeGee Parrot.
February 1st, 2015.
She has much work to do, first up is 'Hunt the Slow-Cooker', it is a big beast so she tucks it away somewhere and this morning, we are not absolutely sure where that somewhere is.. then much chopping has to be done.
Carrots, parnsips, onions, ginger, Hamburg parsley and spices are to be the ingredients of a stew along with two lots of Kid meat that defrosted overnight in the kitchen sink, the stew will cook slowly all day long and will be perfect for supper when she comes home from church at about a quarter to eight.
Do you go to Church, Dear Reader, were you Baptised, Confirmed, did you marry in a church, do you 'practise' your religion or do you consider that 'old hat' and do nothing?
She considers that she is extremely fortunate to have the freedom be able to practise her faith, she is a Protestant and feels great sorrow for the many Christian Copts in Egypt whose churches have been destroyed and themselves persecuted. Also, for the fact that the situation in the Middle East is based, IN THEORY, on intolerance of other peoples' religious beliefs.
She read recently that all Germans, who are officially registered as Catholic, Protestant or Jewish, pay a Religious Tax, worth an extra 8-9% of their Income Tax bill. And the German Government has recently significantly upped this tax rate by now applying this to Capital Gains Tax as well.
It is worth noting the list of countries who also have Religious Taxation and the list is surprising.
Austria, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland all apply this tax but the rates of each country's tax varies enormously.
This is taxed at source, if you are registered it is taken from you, you do not pay it yourself, and it has caused a massive amount of people to abandon their faith. Apparently four hundred thousand people in Germany alone have resigned from their officially designated religions in order to save themselves from paying this latest tax.
A Catholic Bishop has decreed that anyone not paying the tax would therefore be denied the right to religious rites. This means NO: Baptism for children, Holy Communion, Confession, Marriage (church) and, presumably, Funeral service. Neither are you allowed to send children to any school that is run by the Church.
In 2011 alone, the Catholic Church received 5 billion Euro (4 billion £ - 6.5 billion $), the Protestant Church received 4.5 billion Euro from the German Taxpayer. The taxation from the Jewish Faith has not been publicised. BUT this does not include the amount of monies received by the churches from daily or weekly service donations or from legacies left to the before mentioned Religions.
And I know this little vignette applies to England but I know that similar things happen in other countries.. for legacies and donations are not always in the form of money.
A dear friend of her family, upon the death of Francis, her much beloved husband, gave a large field to their local church in Wiltshire. Why a field, you might well ask. Well, the church is extremely old, the parish is quite large, time moves on and practioners die. The churchyard was getting more than a bit cramped.
This lovely woman, who took her to Jean-Louis Scherrer in Paris when she was sixteen, had been greatly supported by the Vicar, his wife and their neighbours when Francis was dying.
The field lay on the other side and to the back of the church, it has been consecrated and will form the new Churchyard.. gifts come in all forms, shapes and sizes.
Interesting, is it not?
GeeGee Parrot.
February 1st, 2015.
Yes, this has always been an interesting phenomenon for me, an American. FORCED tithing is hardly a way to encourage people to be religious, is it?
ReplyDeleteThe other point also Joanna is.. no church funeral, where will you or your ashes be buried, in unconsecrated ground?
ReplyDelete