Posted: May 04, 2010 10:54 am
Regina wrote:Hm, but what about the bishop, whose influence on his congregation is even bigger than that of a teacher on a class, and who can't be fired, for obvious reasons? Things get even more complicated when you look at Germany, where the churches are largely financed by the taxpayer (including bishops' salaries) ?
Well, I haven't thought about that much - I think it's an insane situation to have the state funding churches - but maybe the state in that situation could cut off funding to his church as long as such a person is maintaining that view in a public way while holding such a position.
I just think making it a criminal offence is ridiculous. It is criminalising having an opinion over an issue of historical fact, even such a ridiculously untenable one.