Comments by "John Luetjen" (@jehl1963) on "" video.

When churches are endorsed by the state, citizens don't feel the need support the church. The result is an apathy toward religion by people. Why be involved if the state will do it? This is an unexpected (to many people) benefit of the separation of church and state.
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@ikengaspirit3063 I don't know. Historically, in Germany, people defaulted into the religion of their parents, and prior to that, the religion of their local ruler (as defined in the Treaty of Westphalia). Sure, people could choose to convert from one denomination to another, but that wasn't common. And prior to the Reformation, there were really only 2 choices -- Catholic or Jewish. The Catholic Church prior to the Reformation had a structure which overlapped with the Holy Roman Empire, although nominally independant of the HRE. My point is that in Germany, the church has always been tightly interwoven with the State. It was only with the advent of the "Free Church" as a response to the "shotgun" merger of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches by Konig Frederick William III of Prussia did an alternate option even exist.
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