Jenny’s Pennies

Why do this debate always seem to pop up around this time of the year? (For non-Swedish readers: the subject is whether the end-of-the-school-year celebration for our public schools should take place in a church or not. And not just any church, it’s always the Church of Sweden. Which was separated from the state eight years ago, but still holds a special position and has all kinds of influence, even though it legally should be considered as any other religious association.)

I’m too tired to even repeat the obvious arguments as to why compulsory school activities should not take place in a religious context. Study visits and such is totally ok of course, but anything resembling worship is out. Many people seem to think that it is so important that their children go to church on their last day of school, even if they themselves probably haven’t set foot in a church since their aunt’s funeral or the mandatory once-a-year Christmas visit. If church attendance is so important to them, well then they should take their kids themselves and not expect the school to provide them with hymns and prayer. And then there are those who say that it isn’t about the religious message (if there is any); that it is the atmosphere and feeling that matters. Do you know what I, a pretty convinced atheist, think about using other people’s sacred rooms to get some kind of atmosphere and feeling and tell them to please keep that being in the sky out of it? I think that’s pretty damn disrespectful! Either you use the church with the priest and blessing and the whole deal and then you have overstepped the boundaries of the non-denominational and freedom of religion-adhering public school. Or you tell the minister to please skip the God-references and just use the church as a cosy little gathering place because “it is supposed to be that way” and then you disrespect the people for whom the church isn’t just any other building. Both is wrong. (Kind of like getting married in a church when you’re not religious, just because it’s “such a beautiful place”. One of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever been in is the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem - a Muslim mosque. I wouldn’t dream about getting married there, and ask the imam to “please keep the Allah references to a minimum”. But I’ve heard people asking that of the Church of Sweden-minister officiating their wedding. Geez, how selfish is that?! But I digress.)

So for the ones who think that going to church is really important for their kids: take them yourself! I’m sure it’s open when the non-religious, inclusive school celebration is over. And for the ones saying that a church is just like any other room, then moving the celebration elsewhere can’t be a big deal, right?

PS. I don’t know where this so-called “tradition” of having the end of the school year ceremonies in church comes from - I went to school in the 80s and early 90s and we never went to a church for ours. Neither did my parents, born in the early 40s and 50s, I think. Actually I don’t think my grandmother did either. So it can’t be that all-encompassing and ancient as some “traditionalists” are making it out to be.

Some awesomeness for International Woman’s Day (sorry, in Swedish). My rough translation, which in no way makes it justice, after the fold.

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