>not a religion / Governments sticking their nose in. / May or may not be good
@JonB:
One can see on the real life examples that the Govt. involvement can bring either positive or negative results. Consider extremes on both sides:
US where Govt. keeps out of it almost completely: idiotic cults (including COS) pop up and flourish, many ending in tragedies and/or mass murder/suicide (US based cult has the lead in the grim death record).
Russia where Govt. tied itself strongly to one religion (I am keeping here to the semi-Western style democracy and not going to religious states around the world, where this discussion does not apply anyway): Cults are suppressed but so are the genuine religious movements that pose no threat.
I personally see the German model as middle-of-the-road, best though not perfect solution. If laws are still similar to what I remember, tests COS would fail there are forcible linking of the status in the church with the moneys given and lack of openness of the church teachings to the outside world. Clear markings of the cult.
In some ideal world Govt. wouldn't need to be involved but considering that most democratic govt's give churches some special status, some minimal responsibility needs to be maintained as well.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
