'God probably doesn't exist': Swedish humanists

Published: 10 Jun 09 14:31 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19988/20090610/

The role of religion in public life in Sweden has been brought into
sharp relief by a provocative ad campaign questioning the existence of
God.

Earlier this week, billboards went up in several Stockholm subway
stations and elsewhere around the city proclaiming, “God probably
doesn’t exist” (Gud finns nog inte).

Accompanying the proclamation are images of three flags featuring
symbols from Judaism, Islam, and Christianity fashioned in the same
shades of blue and yellow found on the Swedish flag.

The ads come from the Swedish Humanist Association (Humanisterna), and
are part of a campaign to further debate about the impact of religion
on public life and recruit new members to the organization.

“We want to get people to reflect on the fact that religion plays a
bigger role that they think,” Humanist Association chair Christer
Sturmark told the magazine Resumé.

The Swedish Humanists claim in the ad that less than 20 percent of
Swedes are religious.

As a result, the group thinks it’s worth considering how religion
affects the lives of the remaining 7 million Swedes when it comes to
issues such as abortion, homosexuality, and religious independent
schools ('friskolor').

Humanism, according to the group, is a secular worldview which
emphasizes democracy and human rights and rejects the notion that
supernatural beings play a role in life events.

The Humanists also believe that democratic values are often limited by
fundamentalist trends and religious dogma.

“It’s not that we want to stop the religious community, but we want to
level the playing field,” said Sturmark.

“Religious groups get huge sums from the state every year. We’re
dependent on our members.”

Sturmark explained that the campaign was paid for by donations from
some the association’s roughly 5,000 members, each of which pay an
annual membership fee of 3,000 kronor ($390).

The Swedish campaign echoes a similar campaign in London which a UK-
based humanist group sponsored earlier this year.

The London ads, which also challenged the existence of God, prompted
several Christian groups to organize a competing campaign arguing that
God does in fact exist – something which Sturmark thinks could also
happen in Sweden.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if they answered our campaign here too. But
we gladly welcome that. We want very much to start a debate,” he told
Resumé.

Åke Sander, a religion professor at Gothenburg University, believes
that atheism has become more aggressive in the western world and in
Sweden in particular.

He believes the trend depends in part on an increase in the number of
instances in which different religions run into one another due to
increased immigration, but also because of the earlier belief that
secular society would eventually wipe out all religions.

“The last two decades have proven that to be totally wrong. It’s
probably more accurate to say that this increase in atheism is a
reaction to the increased level of religion in public life,” Sander
told the TT news agency.

Swedish archbishop Anders Wejryd, on the other hand, while not
commenting directly on the Humanist’s campaign or the role of religion
in society, did inform TT that he believes God exists.

David Landes (david.lan...@thelocal.se/+46 8 656 6518)