This is a collection of blog posts in English, usually previously published on the multilingual Kalles kyrkliga kommentarer. I do not allow anonymity on my blogs, since those who are legitimate should have no problem in showing their face (or at least, their pseudonyms). Neither do I, for that matter, allow disrespectful comments. All of these will remain unpublished.
Dom Helder Camara on reform
Instead of being so eager to reform others, let us first make a serious effort to bring about out own revival.
- Dom Helder Camara Brazilian archbishop as quoted on God's Politics
Finland should separate church and state. It's ridiculous that in the 21st century your church gets government funding and extra legal recognition. It's a relic of the middle ages.
Your premise is wrong, however. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) gets no government funding. The government pays the ELCF to do some things that the State otherwise would have to do, e.g. keeping cemeteries or registries of cetizens. The ELCF collects its membership fees in the form of a Church Tax, a service that it pays the State for.
Church and State have common interests in some areas, and therefore cooperate. That is only natural for two organisations of almost equal size. But the State does not rule the Church, nor the Church the State. They are, in fact, separate, and have been so since the Church Law of 1869.
2 comments:
Finland should separate church and state. It's ridiculous that in the 21st century your church gets government funding and extra legal recognition. It's a relic of the middle ages.
Well... There is some truth to that.
Your premise is wrong, however. The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (ELCF) gets no government funding. The government pays the ELCF to do some things that the State otherwise would have to do, e.g. keeping cemeteries or registries of cetizens. The ELCF collects its membership fees in the form of a Church Tax, a service that it pays the State for.
Church and State have common interests in some areas, and therefore cooperate. That is only natural for two organisations of almost equal size. But the State does not rule the Church, nor the Church the State. They are, in fact, separate, and have been so since the Church Law of 1869.
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