Active State Support for Religion

Abstract

In the subsequent chapter, three different models of active state support for religion will be examined in a critical way: the Belgian system of fixed compulsory taxes; the Italian system of mandatory religiously-oriented taxes; and the German system of voluntary religious taxes. Within this elaboration, particular attention will be given to state subsidies for (institutionalized) religion, for faith-based schools and for religious education. The chapter concludes by listing some recurrently arising problems in policies of active support: the impossibility of providing objective criteria for recognition, the related problem of defining religion in an impartial way, the difficult search for a fair balance between religious and educational freedom, and the requirement of neutral state schools.