Religion in Norway - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Religion in Norway

NORINT 0500 Norwegian life and society

21.10.2013

Anne Hege GrungSlide2

In this lecture:

Religion in Norway in a historical perspective: State and Church

Religion in contemporary Norway: Religious pluralism, inter-religious interaction and current developmentsSlide3

The

king

and

queen

appointed by the presiding Bishop of the Church of Norway (1991)Slide4

The Church of Norway

From the Norwegian constitution:

Original §2: ”Den evangelisk-lutherske tro forbliver statens offisielle religion. De Innvaanere som bekjenner seg til den forplikter aa oppdra deres barn i samme.”

2012:

Revised §2: "Værdigrundlaget forbliver vor kristne og humanistiske Arv. Denne Grundlov skal sikre Demokrati, Retsstat og Menneskrettighederne." § 16: "Alle indvaanere af Riget have fri Religionsøvelse. Den norske Kirke, en evangelisk-luthersk kirke, forbliver Norges Folkekirke og understøttes som saadan af Staten. Nærmere Bestemmelser om dens Ordning fastsættes ved Lov. Alle Tros- og Livssynssamfund skal understøttes paa lige Linje."Slide5

Norwegian

legislation

on religion and religious freedom:1814: The Church of Norway a

state

church

,

Lutheranism

official

religion

Jews

and

Jesuits

were

’not

allowed

’ to

enter

Norway

(

changed

for

Jews

in 1851, for

Jesuits

in 1956).

1842: ”Konventikkelplakaten” (1741)

dismissed

– it

became

allowed

for

religious

gatherings

and

meetings

beyont

the

clergy’s

control

1845:

Allowed

for

other

Christian

denominations

to

establish

themselves

in

NorwaySlide6

1969: ”Lov om trudomssamfunn og ymist anna” established full freedom of religion in Norway, including

- The right to establish faith and life-stance communities, the right to convert (after the age of 15), the right to organize meetings and gatherings and to free speechSlide7

And still … Slide8

The

official

symbol

of

the Church of NorwaySlide9

2013: Suggestions for a new profile in official policy towards faith- and life-stance communities

An expert committee established by the government suggests:

That governmental financial support of all registered faith and life-stance communities continue

That religiously based symbols is allowed in the police force and for judges in court (turban, hijab)

That all marriages should be conducted in a civil manner before religious marriage ceremonies (voluntary)Slide10

In the constitution:

Suggestions to replace ’kristne og humanistiske verdier’ (’Christian and Humanist values’) with a more neutral value qualification

Or to mention other religious traditions explicitly (Islam, Judaism, Buddhism etc.)

The labour party (Arbeiderpartiet) has stated that the existing formulation should be ’protected’ (Helga Pedersen, Vårt Land 12 February)

The newly elected government of Høyre and Fremskrittspartiet (2013) also signals that they will keep the formulationSlide11

Religion in School

KRL via RLE to KRLE – as part of the etsblished platform for the present government

55% of KRLE should be teaching about the Christian tradition

Protests both from groups affiliated with the Church and representatives for the religious and life-stance communitiesSlide12

Religion in Norway - statistics

Based

on

membership numbersChurch of Norway: 3,83 mill/78% (2011)

In 1998: 94% (In Oslo: 64,7% (2009))

Other

Christian

denominations

: 289 000 (2012)

Islamic

faith

communities

: 112 000 (2012)

In 1990: 19 000

Buddhism

15 000,

Hinduism

5 600,

Baha’i

1000,

Judaism

115*,

Sikhism

1 100 (2012)

http://www.kirken.no/?event=doLink&famID=140268

http://www.ssb.no/trosamf/

in

English

:

http://www.ssb.no/english/subjects/07/02/10/trosamf_en/

*The

previous

year

it

was

819Slide13

Life-stance

communities

: The

Norwegian Humanist Organisation80 000 (2008)Slide14

The mosque in Åkebergveien, OsloSlide15

Mosque in Tromsø, NorwaySlide16

The religious plural Norway

Emerged from the mid 1980’s

Caused primarily, but not only by (work) immigration

Norway as part of a broader European religious and cultural pluralization process

Increased transnational relations via religious communities and individualsSlide17

The

council

for

faith

and life stance communitiesSlide18

The Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities

The Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities in Norway was established on the 30th of May 1996.

The goals of the Council for Religious and Life Stance Communities are defined in the statutes:

To promote mutual understanding and respect between different religious and life stance communities through dialogue;

To work towards equality between various religious and life stance communities in Norway based on the United Nations covenants on Human Rights and on the European Convention on Human Rights;

To work, internally and externally, with social and ethical issues from the perspective of religions and life stances.Slide19

Member communities:

The Bahá’í Community of Norway

The Buddhist Community of Norway

The Catholic Church in Norway

The Christian CommunityChristian Council of Norway

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons)

The Church of Norway

Gurwara Sri Nanak Dev Ji (Sikhs)

The Holistic Community

The Islamic Council of Norway

The Jewish Communities in Norway

The Norwegian Humanist Association

Norwegian Hindu Culture Centre

Sanatan Mandir Sabha, Norway (Hindu)Slide20

Pluralism

,

secularity

- and

dialogue?How secular is the Norwegian society?

And –

can

Norway

be

categorized

as a

religiously

plural

society

?

Understanding

public

space

as

secular

–

access

for all,

on

equal

footing

,

with

conversations

using

common/shared

language

and arguments? (Cf. O. Leirvik: ”Religionsdialog, sekularitet og

eit

felles

forpliktande

språk” (

Interreligious

dialogue

,

secularity

, and a

shared

language

of

committment

) (Bangstad, Leirvik, Plesner:2012)Slide21

Examples

of

interreligious dialogue/diapraxis in NorwaySlide22

A

Church

minister and an imam

together

at the funeral of Bano Rashid– after Utøya 2011Slide23
Slide24
Slide25
Slide26
Slide27

Current developments:

Secularization

Pluralization

Polarization

and dialogue – identity politics vs. shared community valuesReligious affiliation as an identity marker in Norway today?Being a Lutheran Christian and a Norwegian is not equivalent anymore