In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

128 7 Dorthe, Laura, and Johanne I f I w e r e to give the impression that there are no religious people in Denmark and Sweden today, or that the only religious people are the elderly—such as Kirsten’s grandmother—I would be presenting a very false impression indeed. There most certainly are men and women of all ages in Denmark and Sweden who can be readily characterized as religious—or if not religious, then certainly spiritual.1 These individuals are people who believe in God, or who find solace in religious or spiritual teachings, or who consider Jesus a holy man, or who believe that the Bible is full of sacred wisdom, or who think that it is important to teach their children the basic tenets of Christianity, or who enjoy a nice church service now and then, or who simply see a religious or spiritual orientation to the world as good, sound, and fulfilling. I spoke with many such individuals over the course of my year of research. I would say that about one-fourth of the people that I interviewed were either religious or spiritual, in varying degrees. Of course, most of these people were not Christian fundamentalists of the American variety.2 That is, most did not believe that the Bible was the actual divine word of God, and very few believed that Jesus was literally born of a virgin and that he actually rose from the dead, or that when we die we will either go to heaven or hell. Unlike strongly religious Americans, the vast majority of religious or spiritual people that I spoke with in Scandinavia did not consider homosexuality a sin, had no objections to abortion, believed in evolution as a more plausible explanation of human origins than the Genesis creation story, and often spoke of God and other basic religious concepts in metaphorical or idiosyncratic terms. And yet, they weren’t exactly without any form of religion or spirituality, either. This chapter is devoted to recognizing the many people in Denmark and Sweden who are definitely not secular, but rather, find religion or spirituality to be a meaningful part of their identities. For example, there was Jesper, a 38-year-old psychiatrist who was raised in northern Jutland. A few months after he was married, he found out that his wife was having dorthe, laura, and Johanne 129 an affair. This discovery was devastating, and he found solace by turning to religion. I was so desperate. I was so far out mentally that I think the only hope I could cling to was to like pray to God, you know, that he would help me through. So often when I felt very depressed and sad and frustrated and in despair , I prayed . . . often I pray when I go to bed. And I still do that because I think—well, I don’t really know if God has answered my prayers—but I feel that life has really embraced me quite a lot. So I kind of feel grateful now. It has really been comforting for me to pray . . . I think, for me, God has to do with love and with order, you know. That we should try to treat each other nice, otherwise we would be barbarian. I think for me, God is like order founded on love. There was also Dag, a 36-year-old Swedish military recruitment officer who lives in southern Sweden. Although he never attends church, thinks that Jesus was just a human being, and believes in evolution, his orientation is not completely secular. He explained to me that the time he spent as a peacekeeper in Bosnia and Lebanon helped to solidify his beliefs in a higher power: I believe there must be some kind of purpose and meaning and something behind it, and whether you call it a God or something—another force—I don’t know, but there must be something because strange things happen . . . I’ve seen totally unbelievable things—very much kindness. And there must be some kind of—somebody must—if you look at human functioning and nature— there must be some purpose, somebody behind something . . . it is not just a coincidence. Jarl, who lives in Stockholm, is a member of the Swedish navy. He is 41 years old and serves as a submarine officer. Although he never goes to church and thinks that there is “nothing” after death, he does have his personal beliefs: I believe in a...

Share