We posted recently on the unofficial dark underworld of Sweden. Whilst this country has for decades triumphalistically paraded itself as a democratic socialist paradise, it would seem that the reality is far from the image.
Recent works of fiction (by Swedes) portray Sweden as living a double life: on the surface there is the Sweden most Swedes believe exists--the country of their experience. Beneath, there is the Sweden of criminal conspiracies run by the powerful and wealthy, with the complicity of the authorities. Ordinary Swedes, it would seem, prefer not to look.
Another facet of the Sweden's deformation is what has happened to the Church within its boundaries. It is a cautionary tale. The national church in Sweden, the Church of Sweden, since the time of the Reformation, has been state-established: its clergy were paid by the government, and the church was supported by taxation. This anti-biblical construct has meant that in principle the Swedish national church, since the time of the Reformation, has been in thrall to the state.
But in 2000, the Swedish government cut its ties with the national church. No longer would the state fund the clergy. Membership "dues" are still collected through the tax system, but it is up to the church to continue to attract members. Now, on the surface, this might have seemed a great boon to the Church of Sweden--since the former national church would now need to depend upon its own resources, which might have produced a revival of energy and commitment. It would be reasonable to expect that a return to a more biblical pattern of church government might have resulted in a spiritual revival amongst the flock.
Alas, this has not worked out. Why? The Swedish Social Democratic government feared an independent church. The apparatchiks feared that with the separation of the national church from state government, the more active church members (that is, true believers) would gain greater influence in the church. Thus, the government has moved to ensure that political parties still retain control of the church.
Parish councils have not been and are not elected simply by churchgoing people. The political parties mobilize voters and ensure that church government is not controlled by worshipers (sic) within the church. Many parish council members attend church rarely, if at all. Some consider themselves atheists or agnostics. Hunter Baker, The End of Secularism, (Wheaton, Crossway, 2009), p. 144.The Swedish state cannot tolerate dissent; consequently, it has retained soft--but extremely effective secular control over the Church of Sweden. As Baker narrates:
It appears that the church will be forced to live or die as a pale mirror of dominant attitudes and mores. The state secularizers prefer a church under their control to a free one and are loathe to see it change. . . . Some pastors have already drawn the obvious conclusion and have left the church. Anders Lindstrom, the former vicar of Munkedal and a fourth-generation Lutheran pastor, believes the modern period has left the church "unreservedly" handed over to the political parties. When he showed a pro-life video to teenagers at his church's youth meetings, he was attacked by the media and by the community's church politicians. Ultimately, he concluded the Church of Sweden can "no longer be called a Christian church" and resigned his pastorate. (Baker, p.145)The Church of Sweden was little more than the government's Department of God whilst it was the established church. Once it was severed from the State, the Swedish apparatchiks and power elites moved swiftly to ensure that the Church of Sweden remained under their control as an organ of state-propagated social democracy (aka, socialism).
The Church in Sweden will only prosper when the true believers within the moribund and "turned" Church of Sweden depart from their "father's house" and become sojourners once again. Meanwhile, Sweden continues to be a sinister place indeed.
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