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I am an atheist from Brussels, passing through Oulu, my first time in Finland. One Sunday morning recently I picked up an issue of the Kaleva newspaper to check where I would be able to find a few religious ex-pats, who would be able to tell me more about Finland’s state religion. I knew at least that church and state are not separate here, as they are in most of the world, including the U.S.. So I whipped out my pocket translator and learned that the English services would no longer be held in the campus chapel of the University of Oulu; they had been shifted to the cathedral downtown. The time of the worship services had also been pushed later to 6 p.m. That very day I arrived a little late and found the massive church doors locked. A note in Finnish was stuck to one of the brown- painted wooden doors. Again, relying on my small technological wonder piece, I learned that the English service was cancelled and that there would not be another until May 6, three weeks later. Reason given? At this point the battery of my translator died. No one was around and, although the sun was shining, a freezing breeze was trying to get through my coat. A little miffed I returned to my hotel. In the few days since I’ve been able to learn a thing or two about the state church. A huge controversy is raging over the ordination of women, and this battle seems fiercest here in the Oulu area. The archbishop of Finland, who conveniently is not accountable to anyone higher than he is threatening to sanction priests (seems quite heavy-handed and intolerant to me) who do not want to work side by side their female counterparts. When it comes to authority most religions base their teachings and practices on a set of laws, usually in the form of a sacred book. The Bible has always been the book of Christians. Nowhere in its hundreds of pages does it indicate the ordination of women. In fact in the history of the Lutheran church, women priests are a very recent phenomenon. But I don’t want to belabor this point. I brought it up simply to say that I have much less respect for religions that add faulty interpretations to their sacred books. These interpretations then turn into traditions which eventually obfuscate and even overwrite the laws and teachings of the original book. Could this be why in so many Christian churches in Europe, so few people can be seen carrying Bibles into church? I still stick with Marx’ claim that religion is the opiate of the people. However, I disagree with my fellow-atheist, the American Michael Newdow, who is waging a futile battle against the U.S. government motto, “In God we trust.” Does he really fear that millions of Americans will return to the faith of their nation’s founding fathers? I say be tolerant and let the people worship whom or what they will. So what’s all this fuss here in Finland? Is the archbishop afraid that the church and the state will separate, as it already has in enlightened Sweden? Probably the priests (men and women) are more concerned about their jobs. Then why don’t the archbishop and the president simply make a deal (behind closed doors if they want) to allow an out-flowing trickle of members from the Lutheran church? As long as they show tolerance and are given the chance to demonstrate to the rest of the world the magnanimity of Scandinavian statism, the church could simply be subsumed under social services. Many priests would be given free training to become social workers and psychologists. Then it won’t matter so much if the doors of the churches are closed. It would certainly save the government lots of money. As for me, unless it’s a warm day and I want a feel-good mystical experience, I’ll stay out of any church and stick to my books. Now where did I put my copy of La Chute?
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