Gus talks about the Catholic Church in Germany, which lost over half a million Catholics in 2022. Gus explains how the Church in Germany has a very unholy alliance with the government in that you pay a 9% tax based on your religious affiliation and that money goes to the church to which you belong. If you don't belong to a particular church, you don't pay that tax. However, in the Catholic Church there, if you don't pay that tax, you can be denied the sacraments, including communion, and be unable to receive a Catholic burial. Gus opens up the phones for listener comments.
Also, earlier this week, Gus talked about how he had an encounter with a celebrity when he met legendary bowler Walter Ray Williams Jr. and invited listeners to call in and share their celebrity encounters. One caller told him she is related to Sonny Vaccaro, a former sports marketing executive whose time with Nike, and the development of the Air Jordan sneaker, is the subject of a new movie starring Matt Damon called Air. Gus invites listeners who are related to somebody notable or famous to call in and share their stories.
Love your show but the German church tax is a percentage of your regular income tax not income. In other words if you are in a 20 percent bracket the tax is .08 of .20, or .016 rate, $1,600 per $100k of income.