Definitely. And the fact that
Ryokan noted, "Norway removed the law against blasphemy recently" makes me seriously question my beliefs about Scandinavia. Blasphemy laws? Seriously? Aren't those people like, seriously atheists over there?
Scandinavia used to be extremely religious. Sweden had a state church until the turn of the millenium, Norway has sort of, halfway, kind of, seperated church and state, but not really. Denmark still has a state church.
Secularization rose with an increase in wealth and welfare, with Norway, as the poorest of the three Scandinavian countries, lagging a bit behind.
When the oil started flowing, welfare and secularization in Norway skyrocketed. It really has gone fast. I was born in 1976, and at that time it had just become legal to rent apartments to couples who were not married. My parents were not married, and they still had a lot of trouble finding a place to live. So the generation of my grandparents were very religious, my parents not so much, and my generation and after couldn't really care less about religion.
There's still a lot of things around to remind us how religious Norway used to be. Most of them have now been deemed 'tradition' and quite a few people will fight tooth and nail for them to stay, even if they're not religious themselves.
This could really be a thread of its own, but on the outside Norway could look extremely religious - until you visit a church on sunday, and find it practically empty.
As for the blasphemy law, here it has been a sleeping law. The last time it was used, as I said, was in 1933, though unsuccessfully, and the last time someone was actually sentenced for it was in 1912.
Denmark has usually been ahead of us when it comes to social progress, so I had assumed it would be a sleeping law there as well. I'm actually very sad to see it isn't.
" And then it is removed.
).
