Here in Finland about 75% of people are members of the finnish evangelical lutheran church. It has no official status as a state church, but is often referred to as the peoples church, and has some privileges that other religious institutions don´t, for example gathering taxes from its members, ability to marry couples officially and in taking care of public records and cemetaries it´s considered as a public institution. Before year 1923 the only way to separate oneself from this church was to join another prothestant church.
Oh, how the times have changed. Nowadays, resigning from this community is done by couple of clicks on the internet, and the popularity of the ev-luth church is crashing. In face of this unpleasant reality, the church has made quite a few non-trivial compromises. For example, church has allowed women into priesthood and right now gay marriages are being legalized (until now, gays have been allowed to marry, but the name for it has been "registered relationship", not marriage.) Also, the church has given up all its doctrines on hell or damnation. It´s simply not good publicity to tell people the loving father is going to torture them for eternity for their human errors. Now, the church doesn´t take any stand on whether hell exists or not, or is the damnation simply a biological death.
[/size][/font]Interesting development. At some point there must come a state in this evolution of secularism, in which the church will no longer even be a church. I wouldn´t be surprised to see in my lifetime the church becoming just a club for people to gather in, and talk about how everyone agrees to have no opinions or doctrines of anything.
Have others noticed this "only way to stay on top is complete secularism"-development in other places?
Sorry if there are flaws in my english, it´s not my first language.
Oh, how the times have changed. Nowadays, resigning from this community is done by couple of clicks on the internet, and the popularity of the ev-luth church is crashing. In face of this unpleasant reality, the church has made quite a few non-trivial compromises. For example, church has allowed women into priesthood and right now gay marriages are being legalized (until now, gays have been allowed to marry, but the name for it has been "registered relationship", not marriage.) Also, the church has given up all its doctrines on hell or damnation. It´s simply not good publicity to tell people the loving father is going to torture them for eternity for their human errors. Now, the church doesn´t take any stand on whether hell exists or not, or is the damnation simply a biological death.
[/size][/font]Interesting development. At some point there must come a state in this evolution of secularism, in which the church will no longer even be a church. I wouldn´t be surprised to see in my lifetime the church becoming just a club for people to gather in, and talk about how everyone agrees to have no opinions or doctrines of anything.
Have others noticed this "only way to stay on top is complete secularism"-development in other places?
Sorry if there are flaws in my english, it´s not my first language.
