>That's true in theory, but the Supreme Court has taken upon itself to impose uniform standards for the whole nation. As I recall, the German Constitutional Court upheld the practice in general, reasoning that it was an expression of Germany's heritage as a Christian nation. It then balanced that principle against the potential burden on religious minorities, to fashion that compromise.
It's more difficult and I really, really won't go into details because there are several conflicting legislations (state vs. federal), court cases and I honestly don't understand law deeply. The salient point that the ECHR ruling overrode the German Constitutional Court in that regard. If its ruling would still stand, it would overrule Bavarian legislation.
>In the United States, we're not allowed to acknowledge the country's heritage as a Christian country.
Confusing, as your nation's claim seems to be "In God we trust" if I am not wrong? For a country that claims separation of church and state, that's pretty Christian, in fact I wonder what US atheists have to say about that.
I'd like to point out the following: Germany has - contrary to how US Americans both from the left and right use it as a space for projection - traditionally been a socially conservative country, one of the more conservative ones in Western Europe, and I am not even talking about the time before 1945. That's why the incomplete separation of church and state in Bavaria, the call for traditional German values as the cultural mold by politicians from Merkel's party or the abortion laws are totally not surprising.
You might also be unaware of that, but civil liberties have to a great extend been forced down the throats of German politicians and conservative voters alike by the German Constitutional Court. E.g.
- gay marriage,
- equal rights for non-married couples and for kids conceived out of wedlock,
- (some) equal rights for women,
- freedom of speech,
- freedom of the press,
- the high rank of privacy laws
- restriction on out of area operations for Bundeswehr (requires Bundestag vote)
- disallowing the cross in schools (as mentioned, overturned by the ECHR)
- giving up the Mark for the Euro
- enshrining a lower bound for welfare payments that is binding to all of Germany. This is no longer a privilege but a right on the level of constitutional rights.
Likewise, the liberals had to swallow some unpopular rulings, e.g. the one forbidding abortion but decriminalizing it in the first 12w, essentially something conservatives won (the contested law allowed up to 24w). I can't believe that the US Supreme Court has not sided with conservatives at times.
The difference in Germany is that the political role of the Constitutional Court is widely accepted and politicians handle the issue responsibly. Bashing of the court system because of decisions that go against own beliefs is rare and frowned upon. The only party that questions that consensus is the extreme right (historically also the Marxists but those don't play a role anymore, and the rest of the far left has made peace with the court). But then, we are in the sunset phase of the Merkel years, so maybe the CDU will do a GOP and let themselves held captive by the alt-right.
But the conservative brand we got over here is able to see the value of compromises and after some time is able to move on, whereas in the USA it seems to me that moderate conservatives have died out and been replaced by what we consider extremists. And yet, they find voters because there is no moderate alternative.