[quote=News24]Helsinki – More than 25 000 Finns quit the state church in the week following a televised debate on gay rights, in a spontaneous protest movement against the church's conservative stance.
"We only realised the next morning that 220 people had quit the Church during the television programme itself, which is double the number for an ordinary day," Petri Karisma, spokesperson for an online service that facilitates resignations from the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, told AFP.
The unprecedented exodus rapidly gained speed, with daily figures skyrocketing into the thousands.
The trigger for the wave of departures was a two-hour debate televised by national public broadcaster YLE on October 12, in which politicians, church officials, and advocates argued over gay rights, homosexual marriage and adoption rights.
According to Karisma, the opinions voiced by several church officials did not vary significantly from previous statements, "but the ordinary public probably heard this for the first time and thought: 'Holy cow! Can people seriously think like this?'."
For instance, Paevi Raesaenen, the chairperson of the Christian Democratic Party, insisted during the debate that "obviously a person knows that if they are in a homosexual relationship they are doing something wrong from the Christian viewpoint".
[B]Against the Bible[/B]
And while one outspoken minister said she supported gay marriage, others were far less open-minded, with Bishop of Tampere Matti Repo, for instance, saying he could never envisage blessing a homosexual union because it went against the Bible's teachings.
Finnish law allows for registered partnerships but not gay marriage, and homosexuals are only allowed to adopt the biological children of their partners.
Earlier this year, the Finnish public was also galvanised against the Church over a scandal surrounding paedophile church officials, but in that case daily resignation peaked at around 500.
Nearly 80% of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and pay a state-collected church tax.
One daily paper calculated that the past week's resignations will cost the Church more than €7m a year, and this figure will increase as the number of resignations continues to grow.
"We have no idea where it will end. Some people are estimating that 60 000 to 100 000 people will quit this year," said Karisma.[/quote]
Pretty awesome how one TV program can do so much.
Now over 30,000 people have quit the church.
I'm still technically a part of the church after that confirmation thing, time to correct that error.
Yay for idiots being self defeating now!
[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;25545728]I'm still technically a part of the church after that confirmation thing, time to correct that error.[/QUOTE]
Fix it asap
[QUOTE=Sgt Doom;25545728]I'm still technically a part of the church after that confirmation thing, time to correct that error.[/QUOTE]
I'm thinking about that too, but I'm a godfather of one child, been since I was 11, so I'm worried that the family of the child could have something against me quitting the church.
And they know I'm an atheist now, but I wasn't one when I was 11.
So you'd rather support homophobes than upset some of your family?
Wow, some people are still capable of rational thought.
Come to think of it - Finland looks nice.
People leaving organized religion in droves is a good thing.
[img]http://filesmelt.com/dl/dawkinsasplanned.jpg[/img]
[editline]21st October 2010[/editline]
say "just as planned" in your head 20 times and it stops making sense
[quote]Paevi Raesaenen[/quote]
:crossarms:
You mean Päivi Räsänen? :v:
But anyway, eh, might as well quit from the church and save money myself...
A gay debate?
[i]Gaybate[/i] :smug:
[editline]21st October 2010[/editline]
Wait, that doesn't sound right...
I quit church 2 weeks after I turned 18. My mom said I could have quit it sooner, but I just didn't bother.
On [url]www.eroakirkosta.fi[/url] (Finnish site used for quitting the church) there's a calculator that counts how much money you pay for church a year.
I would pay 206,45 € a year.
I can use 200€ more money a year on booze and stuff. Yay!
[editline]21st October 2010[/editline]
Haha. There's a counter how many have quit after the TV program:
[url]http://eroakirkosta.fi/static/ek-tilastot/ylea2.html[/url]
[QUOTE=Skorpy;25547320]I quit church 2 weeks after I turned 18. My mom said I could have quit it sooner, but I just didn't bother.[/QUOTE]
I quit 2 minutes after midnight when I turned 18 :smug:
not like church is trully important.
Waste of money.
It is pretty strange how back in the day, protestant churches formed to oppose the Catholic church's overly conservative and power-oriented policies and at that time they were the cool kids on the block fighting the power with new thoughts... Yet now, the protestant churches (Including, in this case, evangelicals and such) are the least capable of changing with the times.
The catholic church at least accepted the modern scientific theories on the forming of the universe and evolution... At least.
Those people have my respect.
[quote]Nearly 80% of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church and pay a state-collected church tax.[/quote]
[quote]state-collected church tax.[/quote]
Really Finland?
[QUOTE=Kade;25547810]Really Finland?[/QUOTE]
u can like, not join the church
[QUOTE=Kade;25547810]Really Finland?[/QUOTE]
It is like 1euro a year..
[editline]21st October 2010[/editline]
[QUOTE=The golden;25547934]I don't mean to sound like your typical atheist, but it's nice to see people are starting to actually think for themselves.[/QUOTE]
Lol I know "religious" people around here, yet everyone drinks alcohol, smokes weed, does idiotic shit sometimes and our most common hang-around place is around a church where we spit, drink, smoke, chill.
It's overrated
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;25547949]It is like 1euro a year..[/QUOTE]
It's 1 euro if your working consists of scratching your balls and sleeping in school
It was like estimated to be 50k€ in a persons lifetime
[QUOTE=sp00ks;25545978]So you'd rather support homophobes than upset some of your family?[/QUOTE]
Good lord you are a shit poster
I didn't get baptised or confirmed.
I am still agnostic though :v:
Gotta love being Finnish, can't believe we still don't have gay marriage though...
[QUOTE=evilking1;25548050]It's 1 euro if your working consists of scratching your balls and sleeping in school
It was like estimated to be 50k€ in a persons lifetime[/QUOTE]
anyway like 1% of your income, right? never been part of church here
[QUOTE=Bat-shit;25550153]anyway like 1% of your income, right? never been part of church here[/QUOTE]
yes, but do you make like 100€ a year?
1%? and its an opt out system rather than an opt in? That's a huge amount to be assigned to the church by default. I never realised that in Finland the church and state were this close.
[QUOTE=Kade;25550501]1%? and its an opt out system rather than an opt in? That's a huge amount to be assigned to the church by default. I never realised that in Finland the church and state were this close.[/QUOTE]
Parents decide whether you are member or not when the children are born - most just keep them members of the church.
What about orphans etc?
[QUOTE=Kade;25550606]What about orphans etc?[/QUOTE]
Everyone's taken care of, any troubles you come across here and there is always someone to help
Democracy!
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