2007-06-12 20:12:04 · 24 answers · asked by bucnomore111 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
From the 16th century until 2000, the Church of Sweden was run by the government and you paid a church tax, much like the Church of England. You could leave but you had to send in a form. It wasn't until 1950 that you could actually leave the State Church without joining another church (i.e. become an Atheist). Which means religion has been viewed as somewhat oppressive and mandated.
The welfare system has in some ways replaced religion. Jesus doesn't save you, we pay taxes for our hospitals to do that...
The long overdue separation of church and state might change this. We'll see. But for now, people over here seem happy to live in a secular country.
2007-06-12 20:24:32 · answer #1 · answered by ThePeter 4 · 6⤊ 2⤋
I dont know... but my great grandparents are from Sweden. They were church goers, but I'm agnostic.
Thanks for that tidbit of quasi-web-info which may or may not be true.
(also, there is such a thing as a agnostic theist, someone who believes in god, but philosophically can not say they know there is a god)
I would guess part of it has to do with their Heritage of Nordic religion (Thor, & Loki & all that) and how those stories conflict so drastically with the Bible.... I've noticed the more I learn about different religions, the more they all kind of seem the same, as far as the archetypes & morals... etc.
When you're exposed to pluralistic viewpoints it becomes harder to take things without questioning them.
Seems like Sweden, as a culture has been questioning the validity of organized religion for many years longer than our society, and as a result have come upon a collective conclusion.... you can be a good, ethical person without a church telling you how to run your life.
They also have some of the best social services in the world, and one of the lowest crime rates... hmmmm?
Gets you thinking about where the christian evangelical fundamentalists are really taking the USA.... to heaven on earth... OR.........?
2007-06-13 03:14:50 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Education, science, common sense and growing fed up with things to 'believe' rather than experiencing and realizing them at first hand.
Its not only in Sweden, orthodox Buddhist and Hindu communities in Asia are also facing this and moving towards newer religions/losing their faiths due to lack of interest in the 'older' religions.
2007-06-13 03:28:31 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
Sweden also has one of the best education systems in the world, with pretty much 100% literacy. Maybe the two are connected...
2007-06-13 07:16:54 · answer #4 · answered by The Truth 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Education
2007-06-13 03:18:23 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 2⤋
It's more than Sweden, but I have 65% ... Atheism has gone from a trickle in 1860 to hundreds of millions now...
With the ToE, Big Bang Cosmology and much more, the upshot is that we’ve gone from relatively few to huge numbers in less than 150 years. We find (roughly) the percentages of Atheism for certain countries: Vietnam – 81%, Sweden - ~65%, Denmark – ~65%, Norway – ~64%, Japan – ~65%, the Czech Republic – ~58%, Finland – ~51%, and so on. China has ~150,000,000 atheists, while Russia has ~44,000,000, Germany has ~36,000,000, France has ~28,000,000, the U.K. has ~22,000,000 and even little Canada has ~8,000,000 atheists (lots more of course). There are up to 26,000,000 atheists in the States. Given these numbers and associated growth, it becomes apparent that atheism is just thriving. Hopefully, the current trend will even accelerate!
2007-06-13 03:15:54 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 9⤊ 4⤋
Beats me but I think I might have to look into some real estate there. Or at least buy a Saab.
2007-06-13 03:18:05 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know, but I might have to take a vacation there in the near future. I've also heard they have extremely high standards of living and a large number of citizens who report "happiness" with their country.
2007-06-13 03:16:01 · answer #8 · answered by Dalarus 7 · 7⤊ 2⤋
One theory is that it is the large number of big breasted blonde ski bunnies cavorting around in a country where it is too d a m n e d cold for Mr. Big to appreciate them, thus causing major sexual frustration resulting in spending too much time on the computer...
Some experts deny this, however, citing the high incidence of chubby young men with goatees and a general unkempt appearance as the reason for the reluctance of the blondes to participate in their sexual fantasies...
Of course, for the purposes of this study...ummm...
where was I?
= ^. ^ =
2007-06-13 03:34:36 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋
Common sense?
2007-06-13 03:24:14 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 2⤋