Vatican vs Sweden

Secularism in Sweden

Where Irreligious Trends Lead After Decades

By Edward Pentin

ROME, JAN. 12, 2012 (Zenit.org).- To see how disturbing a secularist and increasingly irreligious society can become, one need only look to Sweden.

Abortion has been free on demand and available without parental consent in the country since 1975, resulting in the Nordic nation having the highest teenage abortion rate in Europe (22.5 per 1,000 girls aged 15-19 in 2009).

Swedish law does not in any way recognize the right to conscientious objection for health care workers (last year, the Swedish parliament overwhelmingly passed an order instructing Swedish politicians to fight against the rights of doctors to refuse to participate in abortion).

Meanwhile, sex education is graphic and compulsory, beginning at the age of six, and children from kindergarten age are taught cross-dressing and that whatever feels good sexually is OK. The age of consent is 15.

"We have so many violations of human dignity on so many levels, and so many problems when it comes to social engineering," explained Johan Lundell, secretary-general of the Swedish pro-life group Ja till Livet. "This has been going on for the past 70 years."

Lundell was a guest of ours recently at the Dignitatis Humanae Institute (Institute for Human Dignity) where he laid out a catalogue of offenses against human dignity in Swedish society. "We have the highest teenage abortion rate in Europe. Why? Because we say abortion is a human right, it doesn't kill anything, just takes away a pregnancy," he said. "And after 20 years of this, young people don't care any more. Why should they? For 10 to 15 years no one has even said abortion should be legal but rare."

Its sex education program, seen by some social liberals as groundbreaking but others as far too explicit, has been given by some as the principal reason for a low teenage pregnancy rate. But the high number of abortions among that age group are rarely discussed, nor are the figures disclosed. "No one talks about child abortions," said Lundell. "They're ashamed of them. Yet we're the only country in Europe where there's abortion on demand, there are no formal procedures, no parental consent, no informed consent."

Nor are the number of rapes in Sweden widely known or advertised. Yet according to Lundell, over the past 50 years -- during this era of loose sexual mores -- they have risen by "1,000 percent."

Lundell further noted that all other countries want to reduce the number of abortions, yet despite having 550 different government departments in Sweden, none has a mission to lower the number of terminations. "Children can see this is wrong, parents can see it's wrong, and as a society we don't want it and yet no one talks about it," Lundell added. "It's absurd."

He said that Sweden should "definitely" be taken as a warning to other countries pursuing secularist, socially liberal policies "because then you can see what the agenda is for people, and how the European Union and the United Nations are copying these Scandinavian ideas."

Returning to the subject of sex education, Lundell said Swedes generally don't bother any more trying to argue that homosexuality is genetic-- a common argument used to promote the same-sex agenda -- because the movement is now so fully accepted that it no longer needs this argument as a support. "In sex education books, they don't talk about someone being heterosexual or homosexual -- there are no such things because for them everyone is homosexual," he said.

Lundell referred to a brochure for children published by same-sex associations, and printed with the help of financing by the state. "They write positively about all kinds of sexuality, every kind, even the most depraved sexual acts, and it goes into all schools," he explained. "The information is put on Web sites, and school children are told about the Web sites so they can see it." Teachers, he said, are encouraged to ask students "What turns you on?" yet Lundell pointed out that if the chief executive of a company asked that at a business meeting, he'd be fired. "It would be sexual harassment," he said. "And yet you train people to do this to children?"

Some parents have made formal complaints, branding it as carnal knowledge, too candid for the classroom and labeling the lessons as "vulgar" and "too advanced." But the majority acquiesce to the curriculum, while the option to homeschool children is almost forbidden.

Yet to many outsiders, Sweden's popular image is of a fair, ordered, just and harmonious society -- the model example of a functioning welfare state. In many cases this is true if one looks at infant mortality rates, life expectancy, standard of health care and access to education. The level of poverty is also relatively low.

"It's long been said that if it is not possible to bring about a socialist world in Sweden, then it's not possible anywhere," said Lundell. "That's why some have tried to make it into a socialist paradise. But unlike in, say, Italy or Greece, in Sweden it's not about the socialism of finances but rather the socialism of families -- social engineering, which has been much more visible here than in southern Europe."

Per Bylund, a Swedish fellow at the Von Mises Institute, once described the all encompassing power of the state thus: "A significant difference between my generation and the preceding one is that most of us were not raised by our parents at all. We were raised by the authorities in state daycare centers from the time of infancy; then pushed on to public schools, public high schools, and public universities; and later to employment in the public sector and more education via the powerful labor unions and their educational associations. The state is ever-present and is to many the only means of survival -- and its welfare benefits the only possible way to gain independence."

Yet this social engineering has had dire consequences. Few European countries have witnessed such a rapid decline in the institution of marriage, nor such an expeditious rise in abortion. During the 1950s and first half of the 1960s, the marriage rate in Sweden was historically at its peak. Suddenly, the rate started dropping so quickly that it saw a decrease of about 50% in less than 10 years. No other country experienced such a rapid change.

Between 2000 and 2010, when the rest of Europe was showing signs of a reduction in annual abortion rates, the Swedish government says the rate increased from 30,980 to 37,693. The proportion of repeat abortions rose from 38.1% to 40.4% -- the highest level ever -- while the number of women having at least four previous abortions increased from 521 to approximately 750.

With the exception of a few stalwart campaigners such as Lundell, most Swedish Christians -- and particularly Christian politicians -- remain silent in the face of the countless social violations against human dignity. Little resistance is also given to attacks on religious freedom for Christians, with priority increasingly being given to Sharia law.

Judging by the figures, it could almost be said the faith has packed up altogether. At the end of 2009, 71.3% of Swedes belonged to the Lutheran Church of Sweden -- a number that has been decreasing by about one percentage point a year for the last two decades. Of them, only around 2% regularly attend Sunday services. Indeed, some studies have found Swedes to be one of the least religious people in the world and a country with one of the highest numbers of atheists. According to different studies carried out in the early 2000s, between 46% and 85% of Swedes do not believe in God.

Lundell said that although small, the Catholic Church has a good bishop and is helped by immigrants from Poland and Latin America. But Catholics are generally seen as outsiders with little influence and they are wary of overtly campaigning or being seen as "too tough," he said. Even Pentecostals are reticent to raise objections. "They are probably the only Pentecostal church in the world that doesn't," he added.

But despite all this, Lundell, whose organization is attracting a growing number of young people, remains hopeful -- and he remains ultimately loyal to his home country. "I'm so proud of Sweden I can't imagine moving away," he said. "But I am ashamed of the politics when it comes to the family, sexual politics and restrictions on freedom of religion."

"Whole parts of society aren't Sweden any more," he added. "So we will fight, and we will do so with more eagerness than ever."

Edward Pentin is a freelance journalist and Communications Director at the Dignitatis Humanae Institute. He can be reached at epentin@zenit.org.