Religion in Norway
NORINT 0500 Norwegian life and society
18.02.2013
Anne Hege Grung
In this lecture:
• Religion in Norway in a historical perspective:
State and Church
• Religion in contemporary Norway: Religious
pluralism, inter-religious interaction and
current developments
The king and queen appointed by the
presiding Bishop of the Church of
Norway (1991)
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."
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 Norway
• 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 speech
And still …
The official symbol of the Church of
Norway
2013: Suggestions for a new profile in
official policy towards faith- and life-stance
communities
• A committe 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)
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 just stated
that the existing formulation should be ’protected’
(Helga Pedersen, Vårt Land 12 February)
Religion in Norway - statistics
• Based on membership numbers
Church 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 819
Life-stance communities: The
Norwegian Humanist Organisation
80 000 (2008)
The mosque in Åkebergveien, Oslo
Mosque in Tromsø, Norway
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
The council for faith and life stance
communities
• 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.
Member communities:
•
The Bahá’í Community of Norway
•
The Buddhist Community of Norway
•
The Catholic Church in Norway
•
The Christian Community
•
Christian 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)
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)
Examples of interreligious
dialogue/diapraxis in Norway
A Church minister and an imam
together at the funeral of Bano
Rashid– after Utøya 2011
Current developments:
• Secularization
• Pluralization
• Polarization and dialogue – identity politics vs.
shared community values
• Religious affiliation as an identity marker in
Norway today?
• Being a Lutheran Christian and a Norwegian is
not equivalent anymore