Hello everyone. Nerdy, animal-loving viking here :D

[drunkenshoe]

Hello LadyDay. Welcome to the forum. 

[jonb]

Never having been a member of a church, I personally just don't get why anyone would want the christard heaven every vision of it fills me with horror. Maybe that view is inherited from my Danelaw ancestors.
I have posted this cartoon before here, but I do like it and it say something about the after life that many seek.

https://youtu.be/MV5w262XvCU

[SGOS]

Never having been a member of a church, I personally just don't get why anyone would want the christard heaven every vision of it fills me with horror.

Good question.  When my grandmother first explained Heaven and Hell at the beginning of my indoctrination, Hell seemed terrifying to me.  On the other hand, her description of Heaven, was not at all appealing to me either.  When you're three years old, what's the big deal about sitting on benches of gold with angels?  I mean really why would that be appealing?  For me it wasn't that Heaven was so great, it was just the lesser of two evils.  Of course other Christians describe Heaven as something else, and why not?  That's the advantage of unsupported make believe.  You get to make stuff up.

[Mike Cl]

LadyDay, I'm curious about how religious Denmark is.  What is the percentage of people who are Christian and what is the major denomination?

My grandfather was a first generation Swedish/American--he entered the US around 1900 by jumping ship (fishing boat) in Seattle and then rode the rails for a few years.  Anyway, he was raised Lutheran but hated the church--any church.  He was fond of saying that a local (I don't know where this was exactly, but he was raised in Petia--in the north of Sweden) Lutheran church was destroyed and that many bodies of women and babies were dug up in its basement.  He was not fond of hypocrisy.   That comment always stuck with me and caused me to question religion in general from a fairly young age.  When I looked into for Sweden, I was surprised to discover how many were Lutheran.

[drunkenshoe]

I personally think Denmark is a very intersting country about religion. And also it could be a bit tricky to discuss it in American terms of secularism.

Denmark doesn't have a laicist state. The religion of state is specified and if I am not mistaken there is even some sort of a ministry of religious affairs. But it is probably one of the most secular countries on the planet. Among the actual few, I mean. Not the usual bullshit.

I'll bet on that it has a VERY low count on church attendence.

[LadyDay]

Even after I realized how intellectually silly the Bible was, and had mostly discarded the idea of eternal torment, on occasion, it would give me the creeps.   That doesn't happen anymore since I have embraced the idea of letting go of unsupportable religious nonsense.  And I can't think of a better description than "nonsense".

It also took me a while to get rid of the fear of Hell. The power of indoctrination I guess. Funny how you can realize that it's silly, yet still get anxious about it. What do you think made you get rid of it? Just spending enough time thinking about how ridiculous the concept was?

[LadyDay]

Good question.  When my grandmother first explained Heaven and Hell at the beginning of my indoctrination, Hell seemed terrifying to me.  On the other hand, her description of Heaven, was not at all appealing to me either.  When you're three years old, what's the big deal about sitting on benches of gold with angels?  I mean really why would that be appealing?  For me it wasn't that Heaven was so great, it was just the lesser of two evils.  Of course other Christians describe Heaven as something else, and why not?  That's the advantage of unsupported make believe.  You get to make stuff up.

I got a very different description of Heaven. Growing up I was always taught that was "a new heaven and a new earth", meaning that god would basically create an Earth all over again, but without the sin and suffering, without the bad stuff that this earth have. And then it would be eternal and we'd live forever on it. So that was appealing enough to me. But I always wondered why the Bible said that we'd be spending eternity in a choir, singing gods praises. Seemed strange to me.

[Baruch]

LadyDay, I'm curious about how religious Denmark is.  What is the percentage of people who are Christian and what is the major denomination?

My grandfather was a first generation Swedish/American--he entered the US around 1900 by jumping ship (fishing boat) in Seattle and then rode the rails for a few years.  Anyway, he was raised Lutheran but hated the church--any church.  He was fond of saying that a local (I don't know where this was exactly, but he was raised in Petia--in the north of Sweden) Lutheran church was destroyed and that many bodies of women and babies were dug up in its basement.  He was not fond of hypocrisy.   That comment always stuck with me and caused me to question religion in general from a fairly young age.  When I looked into for Sweden, I was surprised to discover how many were Lutheran.

There have been mass graves in the US associated with unofficial abortion clinics or contrariwise ... birthing centers ... that existed for girls who got pregnant, couldn't go home, and didn't want to enter prostitution .... which was pretty much all a girl could do before women had support outside the home, if she got pregnant outside of proper society or was otherwise abandoned by her family.  This may have happened to my grandmother's oldest sister here in the US.

Many bodies of people were dug up in he basement of Benjamin Franklin's London residence ... presumably because he had a medical student lodging with him ... and dissection was illegal.  Or do you want to believe that Benjamin Franklin was a serial killer perhaps?  Not saying that your grandfather may have misinterpreted the evidence.

[LadyDay]

LadyDay, I'm curious about how religious Denmark is.  What is the percentage of people who are Christian and what is the major denomination?

My grandfather was a first generation Swedish/American--he entered the US around 1900 by jumping ship (fishing boat) in Seattle and then rode the rails for a few years.  Anyway, he was raised Lutheran but hated the church--any church.  He was fond of saying that a local (I don't know where this was exactly, but he was raised in Petia--in the north of Sweden) Lutheran church was destroyed and that many bodies of women and babies were dug up in its basement.  He was not fond of hypocrisy.   That comment always stuck with me and caused me to question religion in general from a fairly young age.  When I looked into for Sweden, I was surprised to discover how many were Lutheran.

It's a question that doesn't have a simple answer :-) It's very similar to Sweden. On one hand, Denmark is among the least religious countries on the planet. Very few people have religion as part of their day to day life. Very few people pray or read the Bible or attend a church for anything other than weddings and funerals. But on the other hand Denmark has an official state church (protestantic lutheran christian) and 78% of the danish population are official members of the state church. A majority of the population, while not having religion as part of their everyday lives, would not necessarily describe themselves as atheists either. Most danes have a relaxed believe along the lines of "there's probably some sort of god and some sort of heaven after we die, but nobody goes to hell, that's ridiculous". More and more people are signing out of the state church though. In 2009 membership was 85.5%. The 78% is the number as of January 2015. This, I believe, means more and more Danes call themselves "atheists", rather than having this casual religious belief. Personally I was raised in another, small lutheran christian community, not just the state church. This community consists of more serious, hardcore, fundamentalist christians, so I was indoctrinated with way intense religion that was part of the everyday life (I also went to a religious private school and such). There are several of these small, hardcore religious communities in the country, but they represent a very small part of the population.
By the way, the fact that Denmark has an official state church does not really mean anything. Religion never plays any part in politics or official state business, because so few people, also among politicians, are significantly religious. If a party tried to include religion in politics, there'd be a huge outcry and protest, and that party would never get re-elected!
So yeah, religiosity in Denmark is way lower than in the USA and people who have religion as part of their daily life are rare and generally considered weird. And being an atheist is not controversial or unusual, like it's my impression it is in the US.
So we're lucky over here! However it does have one disadvantage... It's basically impossible to find other people over here who have left serious, fundamentalist religion and thereby know what I've been through. That's so incredibly rare in this part of the world! Hence why I'm using, and very grateful for, American, atheist internet-forums. You lot understand my past and get the struggle and pain. Means a lot to me! So *hugs all around*

[LadyDay]

I personally think Denmark is a very intersting country about religion. And also it could be a bit tricky to discuss it in American terms of secularism.

Denmark doesn't have a laicist state. The religion of state is specified and if I am not mistaken there is even some sort of a ministry of religious affairs. But it is probably one of the most secular countries on the planet. Among the actual few, I mean. Not the usual bullshit.

I'll bet on that it has a VERY low count on church attendence.

You've got it completely right! Funny enough, while Denmark is way less religious than USA, we do not have the official church, state separation  that you guys have. And we do have a church ministry/ministry of church affairs. However, as described above, religion doesn't actually play much part in politics in Denmark. If anything, I imagine it plays a bigger part in American politics.
You are very right that church attendance is VERY low. By far most people only attend church for weddings and funerals. The churches are also reasonably full for the christmas service and the majority of the population get their children baptised, so they become members of the church and thereby can get married in the church when the time comes. Otherwise, on normal Sundays, churches are close to empty!
I'm impressed you know so much about Denmark when it comes to religion! :-) I've come across loads of Americans who don't actually have any idea where or what Denmark is! I've, on several occasions, gotten comments along the lines of "Denmark? That's in Minnesota right?" Once even right after we'd just talked about the time-difference! *face-palm* But Denmark IS a teeny, tiny country, so I guess it's understandable :-)

[Hydra009]

If a party tried to include religion in politics, there'd be a huge outcry and protest, and that party would never get re-elected!

So yeah, religiosity in Denmark is way lower than in the USA and people who have religion as part of their daily life are rare and generally considered weird. And being an atheist is not controversial or unusual, like it's my impression it is in the US.

That sounds so great, almost the exact opposite of around here (SE USA).  I'm tempted to move there or at least visit.  How's the weather and food?  I assume all new arrivals get a handful of legos and a bicycle.

[LadyDay]

That sounds so great, almost the exact opposite of around here (SE USA).  I'm tempted to move there or at least visit.  How's the weather and food?  I assume all new arrivals get a handful of legos and a bicycle.

You're very welcome! I'll take you out for drinks and show you around :-)
The food is good. It's not italian, but it's solid comfort food, and we have plenty of excellent italian restaurants for variation. The weather SUCKS! We get a lot of rain, not very many proper, warm summer days and not very much snow (we get snow, but it's not exactly like Norway or Sweden). So don't come here for the weather! Haha. But there's loads of other good reasons to visit Denmark!
You can buy Lego at the airport 

[drunkenshoe]

You've got it completely right! Funny enough, while Denmark is way less religious than USA, we do not have the official church, state separation  that you guys have. And we do have a church ministry/ministry of church affairs. However, as described above, religion doesn't actually play much part in politics in Denmark. If anything, I imagine it plays a bigger part in American politics.
You are very right that church attendance is VERY low. By far most people only attend church for weddings and funerals. The churches are also reasonably full for the christmas service and the majority of the population get their children baptised, so they become members of the church and thereby can get married in the church when the time comes. Otherwise, on normal Sundays, churches are close to empty!
I'm impressed you know so much about Denmark when it comes to religion! :-) I've come across loads of Americans who don't actually have any idea where or what Denmark is! I've, on several occasions, gotten comments along the lines of "Denmark? That's in Minnesota right?" Once even right after we'd just talked about the time-difference! *face-palm* But Denmark IS a teeny, tiny country, so I guess it's understandable :-)

Once upon a time, I used to be a research assistant (art history, 10 years) in a univ in the country I live in. (Turkey) I'm not an American. I used Denmark as an example to explain the difference between laicism and secularism to the students several times. And how that just because there is laicism in a country that wouldn't automatically result in secularism as the general propaganda goes.

As I live in a muslim country, it has always been a hot topic.

Denmark is known at least in my community in Turkey. And in a good way.

[Hydra009]

The weather SUCKS! We get a lot of rain, not very many proper, warm summer days and not very much snow (we get snow, but it's not exactly like Norway or Sweden).

Even that sounds better.  In North Carolina, we get long, humid, buggy summers, a good chance of getting a hurricane during the fall, and winters that range from extremely mild to moderate - even snow storms on occasion.  A less erratic and malevolent climate would be a huge improvement.

[LadyDay]

Once upon a time, I used to be a research assistant (art history, 10 years) in a univ in the country I live in. (Turkey) I'm not an American. I used Denmark as an example to explain the difference between laicism and secularism to the students several times. And how that just because there is laicism in a country that wouldn't automatically result in secularism as the general propaganda goes.

As I live in a muslim country, it has always been a hot topic.

Denmark is known at least in my community in Turkey. And in a good way.

Aaaaaah. The profiles do not say which country people live in, so I assumed USA. Sorry about that.
Where in Turkey do you live? Istanbul is one of my very favourite places on earth! :-)
I'm pleased to hear my country has a good reputation out in the big world :-D
I'd love to hear more about religion in Turkey! It's my impression that Istanbul, Ankara and the western half of Turkey is not super religious, more like Denmark if anything, but that the eastern parts of the country are quite religious? Were you raised religious? Is it controversial to be an atheist in Turkey? Like it is in US for example. Most people here are from countries that are mainly christian, so I'm curious how being in a mainly muslim country differs, if at all :-)