Michael Oh yes, and there is no church tax in the US as there is in Germany, as state and religion are strictly separated here. When I tell my coworkers that in Germany the church tax is automatically deducted from your salary unless you explicitly leave the church, I am met with incredulous astonishment. By the way, America also treats all religions equally. One of my favorite TV shows is the broadcasts of a televangelist named Benny Hinn.

He always performs at venues the size of sports stadiums, invites people with various illnesses onto the stage, and heals them on the spot. People in wheelchairs and on crutches come onto the stage, while the same music always plays softly in the background. The preacher touches the sick, and if they’re standing, they fall backward as if struck by lightning (helpers always catch them), sometimes twitching on the stage floor for a bit. Seconds later, they get up and are healed—-blind people can see, and the lame can walk.

You might be thinking, "Yeah, yeah, Michael is rambling again," but I'm telling you, this is the truth. Anyone who visits us, I'll gladly show it to them-—I just need to turn on the TV. But what’s far more important: this is considered a completely normal religion. Every donation to the preacher (and they always display the toll-free number you can call to donate) is tax-deductible, just like contributions to any other church.

That’s why Americans find it completely incomprehensible why the Scientology sect is so heavily persecuted in Germany. Here, there's a fundamental law-—actually one of the "Amendments," an addition to the Constitution, the "Grundgesetz" of the USA—-that every religion, no matter how crazy it may seem, is equal under the law and untouchable. Although similar wording exists in the German Grundgesetz, it’s not taken nearly as literally.

Anyone who wants to see the faith healer in action should check out http://www.bhmm.org online and watch the videos with the RealPlayer software, which is available for free at http://www.real.com -— worth a look!

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• More topics you might be interested in:

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