[fso301]

In Germany, everyone has a choice: about 9% of your tax bill is set aside either to donate to a religion or to simply go straight to the government.

And that tax was likely a main culprit behind secularization as it made the churches unresponsive to the needs of the congregations.

[wideawake]

And that tax was likely a main culprit behind secularization as it made the churches unresponsive to the needs of the congregations.

The point of the system in the first place was to make Protestants and Catholics equally loyal to the government, since no matter the religion of the politicians in charge, no one's church would be subject to defunding.

So, yes, the net effect was to make the state the master of the Church in economic matters and therefore to encourage secularism.