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| Marble Church, Copenhagen - state funded |
It's all about the money.
A story in Christian
Today, dated Sunday, 10 April 2016, tells how a campaign by the
Danish Atheist Society to leave the Church of Denmark is having
remarkable success.
The move is
apparently causing 'concern' to the Danish state church, not least
because, gasp, the Danish Atheist Society – Ateistisk Selskab, as well
as having an advertising campaign, have had the nerve to set up a
website which automatically forwards the necessary paperwork to those
wishing to leave the church. How dare they!
Needless to say, the
faithful are up in arms about this story and it is being skewed to
make Ateistisk Selskab look like they are being anti-theist and are
openly pursuing an anti-Christian agenda. That is until you look a
little further into the story, and realise the logic of what they are
doing is a move against deeply unfair Danish legislation.
Under Danish Law
every child, EVERY child, has to have their birth recorded not in a
registry office, but rather in parish registers. This means that
every birth has to be registered in the parents local church. And it
matter not if the parents are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu,
atheist, couldn't-care-less, whateva – every birth is recorded in
the parish register, and as such automatically is also registered as
a member of the Church of Denmark.
So what? Some might
say. It's little different from does or has happened in many
countries, where the religion of the child (based upon that of the
parents) is stated on the birth certificate, so if you don't believe,
what should that matter? That's a fair point. I am a Scot and a
diehard atheist, yet my birth certificate clearly states
“Protestant”. Well, firstly Scotland has never imposed the
Christian faith on the birth certificates of children of other
faiths, but more importantly, neither I nor anyone else pays taxes to
the Church of Scotland (Oh, let them jist bluidy weel try).
Herein lies the rub;
the Church of Denmark is funded by state taxes, which are imposed on
each and every church member. Are you following me here? Read again
the bit above about every birth being recorded in parish registers.
This means that every Danish citizen, unless they apply to leave, is
automatically a member of the Church of Denmark, and as such, they
are liable to pay the church tax on their earnings, which are
collected by the Danish tax authorities.
THAT is what Ateistisk
Selskab are objecting to, highlighting to the Danish people, and
informing and empowering them to avoid this unfair tax.
As explained on the
Ateistisk Selskab website:
We have a ministry
for the Danish state church, paid for by all Danish taxpayers. The
church is funded by a church tax on its members, collected by the
Danish tax authority, and gets a large subsidy from the state.
Christians or not, everybody pays for the ministry, the tax
collection and the subsidy through ordinary taxes.
Registration of
births, deaths and changing names is still done in the parish
register, not in the city hall where peoples addresses and
cpr-numbers (sort of social security number) are kept. Atheist,
Muslim or Jew, you still have to go to the church when your child is
born (and sometimes get a book about the blessings of baptism).
Imagine looking at
your payslip one day and discovering a tax on it you weren't aware
of, and finding out that was to fund a religion you were neither a
member of, nor indeed agreed with. Imagine having a child and having
to register the birth with that faith against your wishes. Imagine
that religion having your personal details, including any change of
name (which of course would cover most marriages) and your social
security / National Insurance number.
For what is
supposedly an 'enlightened' and developed western democracy, these
laws smack of some sort of backwards theocracy.
So we now see just
why the Church of Denmark is crying foul – they are losing money
which they were never entitled to take in the first place. Anders
Stjernholm, a member of Ateistisk Selskab, told the Danish newspaper
Kristeligt Dagblad that the campaign which tells how each Dane
applying can save around 133,000 Kroner (UK£14,000 / US$20,000) in a
lifetime, has already been enormously successful, with approximately
3000 users visiting the website. And in a debate on thelogical.dk,
he stated;
"We are
satisfied with results so far. The bus campaign invites a discussion
about faith, while the [website] withdrawal campaign is aimed at the
many Danes who have long thought about leaving the church but have
not done so because it is too much trouble,"
Needless to say, not
everyone is happy. Thomas Frank, Dean of Viborg Diocese told
Kristeligt Dagblad, “Every single withdrawal means something for us
as a church. It is concerning that it is so easy these days to click
ourselves away from each other online... ...I have nothing against
campaigns that encourage discussions about faith, but providing tools
for withdrawal such as Atheist Society's website is, for me, wrong
and ill-mannered,"
Yes, Dean Frank, I
am quite sure it means something for you as a church – like several
million somethings with the word “Kroner” printed across them.
And if informing and empowering people to leave a church is “wrong
and ill-mannered”, just what is proselytising, preaching, and
shoving your faith in the face of others, whether they are interested
or not, or indeed downright opposed? Indeed, just how well-mannered
is it to register every child as a member of the Church of Denmark,
regardless of the beliefs of the parents? How right is it for the
church to demand the personal details, including change of name and
social security number, of every Danish citizen? How righteous and
well-mannered is it of the Church of Denmark to impose a state levy
upon every citizen, whether they be Christian, any other faith,
atheist, or could not care less?
Of course, in
their typical rhetoric of playing the martyr and crying persecution
against Christians, Christian Today try to skew the story by stating,
“A group of Danish atheists has gone beyond questioning the
existence of God by launching a campaign to encourage the faithful to
leave the Church of Denmark”. Ateist Selskad have not of course
done any such thing. Unlike fundamentalist Christians, they are not
encouraging nor enforcing anyone; they are merely making people
already interested in leaving the church and thereby avoiding an
unfair tax of their options. Informing people who do not identify as
Christian is going beyond questioning the existence of god(s). If
Christian Today or the Church of Denmark are so very sure of their
faith, then they should have nothing to fear. Just what would they
prefer? Having a smaller number of faithful believers being active
church members, or retaining members who have no faith or belief in
church teachings against their will? A word of advice; Europe has been down the latter road
before – it was called the Holy Roman Inquisition.
And in reporting
which any red top tabloid editor may be envious of, Christian Today
states “The Church of Denmark has already seen declining membership
over the years. During the first quarter of this year, it has less
than 4.4 million members or 76.9 percent of the population. Ten years
ago, the church had a membership of 83.1 percent of the Danish
population.” Firstly, if every child is registered as a member of
the Church of Denmark, then it automatically follows that church
membership is going to stay steady with every birth. Secondly, in a
country with a population of only 5.6 million, to have a church
membership of 4.4 million is remarkable to say the least. But then,
when it is enforced upon all, it should be.
And why are the 'unco righteous' of
Christian Today publishing stories on the Sabbath anyway?
"Something is rotten in the state of Denmark."
(William Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act I, Scene IV)
Link to the story in Christian Today:
Link to the Danish Atheist Society, Ateistisk Selskab:
http://www.ateist.dk/content/178-About-the-Danish-Atheist-Society
http://www.ateist.dk/content/178-About-the-Danish-Atheist-Society
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