RELIGION IN NORWAY: CONTEMPORARY NORWEGIAN SOCIETY Lars Laird

RELIGION IN NORWAY: CONTEMPORARY NORWEGIAN SOCIETY Lars Laird Eriksen Sociology – Norwegian School of Theology

From one religion towards many religions? or no religion?

An overview of this lecture Part one: - A quick history - The legal situation: changing the constitution Part two: - Religion amongst young Norwegians today A story from my fieldwork on religious education in Norwegian school. Secular? Cool? Identity?

A quick history Pre-Christian Sami religion – BC 8000 Shamanist Animist Pre-Christian Norse religion AD 500 - 1000 ”Noaider” Part of wider germanic religious system Mostly known through later Christian sources Odin, Thor, Freya, Balder, Loke Even this early, there was plenty of cultural communications between Sami and germanic cultures.

Christianity enters the scene: Scandinavia not isolated – a culturally complex time! Christianity slowly spreads from about 950. Traditionally connected to King Olav Haraldsson (St. Olav) Political consolidation or religious change?

Reformation In 1537 Christian the 3rd was King of Denmark and Norway. He became convinced by Martin Luther, and left the Catholic Church. Church of Norway: 1000 years of Christian Tradition? Half of it Catholic! The bible in Danish A political move as well as religious. A state church is established! Sermons in Norwegian/ Danish The institutions needed to connect Norwegianness and religion established!

Pietism – enforced by the state State pietism 1736: compulsory confirmation 1737: Bishop Pontoppidan’s Q&A book 1739: School for all! A mix of control and good intentions. Religion a tool for shaping the population Providing shared

Pietism – Challenges the state Hans Nielsen Hauge Preacher and writer (1771 - 1824). Anti-Clergy Illegal religious meetings Industry and social work Imprisoned Religion a tool for expressing discontent againt foreign

Modes of religious life in the 20thC Religious ”counter-culture” with prayer houses Rural Hard-working ”protestant capitalist ethic” South and west coast Emphasis on personal faith Politically conservative

Modes of religious life in the 20th Century The «folkekirke» – or the people’s church Life rites: Christening, Confirmation, Weddings, Funeral CofN Church buildings often local hub Open for all More liberal ethics Eastern, middle and Northern Norway

Modes of non-religious life in the 20th century: secularisation Norway part of broader European trend – enlightenment philosophy Religion and labour movement : From hostile to ambivalent relationship Strong secular humanist movement Norway is low on religious participation, slightly higher on self-identification

Sami Religion today Læstadianism Swedish pastor Lars Levi Læstadius engaged with the Sami populations in Norway, Sweden and Finland A pietist, anti-authority movement – establishing an indigenous Sami Christianity. Countering colonialist missionary activity Still an influence – an ascetic counterculture

Pre-Christian religions today Sami traditional religion: revived? Pockets of revival of pre-christian Noaidemythology Not seen as continuous tradition – part of neo-pagan movement Åsatro Several attempts to revive a nordic pagan tradition Some turn to nature Some have a clear right-wing nationalist

Immigration and pluralisation From about 1960, labour migration to Norway. Islam Hinduism Buddhism Christian denominations (Catholic and pentacostal) Changes in school Changes in State-Church relations Place of Islam in public life a huge issue

The constitution: State & Church Established Church. Part of administration, not legal entity Government appoints bishops 50% of the government must be members of CofN. King the head of Church Financed through govt budgets – other faith organisations compensated with equivalent sum. This will change in 2012.

Article 2: All inhabitants of the Realm shall have the right to free exercise of their religion. The Evangelical-Lutheran religion shall remain the official religion of the State. The inhabitants professing it are bound to bring up their children in the same

Changes in Article 2 4 major changes - a fifth coming up 1851: Removing the exclusion of Jews. 1897: Removing the exclusion of monastic orders 1956: Removing the exclusion of Jesuits 1964: Including the specific right to religious freedom

A new article 2: The foundational values remain our Christian and Humanist heritage. This constitution shall secure democracy, rule of law and human rights. What does ”foundational values” mean? Are heritages and values the same? Are ”christian” and ”humanist” heritages compatible or at odds?

What do the new changes add up to? Greater liberty for the Church of Norway ending Government influence on Church matters (especially appointing Bishops) Ending the formal connections between the Church of Norway and structures of governance Retaining (even strengthening) the symbolic importance of a Christian heritage for a Norwegian identity Retaining a priviliged position for the Church of

PART TWO - Religion today Join me in meeting the ninth grade in southeast Oslo I met over 400 kids 3 self-identified as Christian Surprisingly few considering Norwegian history public debate statistics of membership in religious organisations

Christians in the closet? Why did so few kids call themselves Christian? A sociological (not a moral!) inquiry. Four tentative explanations: Secularisation? Pluralism - Christianity not PC? Not cool? Identity - Religion and Norwegianness

Secularization ”Religion 1991 - 2008” Part of an international survey. Strongly believes: Does not believe 1991: 20% 2008: 15% 1991: 10% 2008: 18% No Belief 2008: 18 Prob. No bel 14 Higher force 24 Believe Believe /doubt 29 15

Secularization: Participation in religious services Monthly or more Never 1991: 35 11% 2008: 43 7% 2008: Monthly 7% Several times a yr 8% More rarely Never 42% 43%

Secularization: Selfidentification Strongly religious Strongly non-religious 1991: 10% 1991: 13% 2008: 7% 2008: 22% Strongl A bit y non- non-rel rel Neither rel or nonrel/ don’t know A bit rel Strongl y rel 22% 37% 28% 7% 7%

Secularization YUPP! Check! But not enough to explain my finding! Secularization theory has been countered worldwide, but seems to hold for Norway.

Pluralisation - Membership 1980 Church of Other faith Norway organisatio n 87.8 3,8 No faith org. 3,2 1999 86.2 7.6 6.2 2006 83.5 8.3 8.2 2009 80.7 9 10.3

Pluralisation - which organisations? Islam Judaism Hinduism Buddhism Catholic Church Life-View org 1991 19 000 1045 2009 92 700 800 5200 12 300 26 600 57 300 49 400 81 700

Pluralism YES - Norway has become more plural More people active in a more organisations These organisations are cover a wider scope of religious difference. Greater acceptance of religion? Greater controversy around religion?

Religious discrimination Marie von der Lippe: There are two things going on in terms of Islam: Tolerance in everyday interaction Criticism and debate – sometimes discriminatory attacks – in public sphere Issues concerning religion Education Religious covering

Not cool to be a believer? A ”majority misunderstanding”? Norwegian protestantism high emphasis on personal faith - a barrier for self-identification? Shame? Privatisation of religion? ”Proud muslims make it easier for everyone to be open about their faith” - says teacher. I didn’t see it. ”Christian values” often mentioned in public debate

Identity I mentioned the three who called themselves Christian? All connected to a ”pseudo-ethnicity” Maybe this is the case with non-christian religions? Maybe kids easily claim a religious identity when it is framed as group belonging, not personal statement?

The ”whiteness” theory: Majority background Norwegians walk ”unmarked” in society. They have the privilege of controlling when their religious identity is relevant. Religion as FAITH privatised Religion as IDENTITY public The ”religionization of identity”