A queer atheist in church

As a queer atheist I'm wary of organised religion, but in recent weeks I've been wondering, 'should I become a member of the Swedish Church?'

The Swedish Church ('Svenska Kyrkan') is weird. For one, it seems tightly integrated with the government. They're also supporting queer rights, have rainbow tapestries in their churches and join pride parades. But what's been most peculiar to me is the democratic nature of their organisation, and for the past week or so they had their four-yearly elections. I won't pretend to understand exactly how their organisation functions, but each four years it's members get to vote who represents them in the organisations governing institutions.

Why should I become a member?

As a fellow active member of the left party in Sweden (Vänsterpartiet) once put it, 'if there's a school shooting or something like that in our village, who is going to support our kids?' Like, for example, not too long ago when a right-wing nutter with a hunting license took his gun to a school for immigrants and opened fire. I'm no fan of having religion be forced upon people, and I don't know if they do in such situations, but fact of the matter is that no-one else will offer that support.

The Swedish Church is one of the largest owners of forest. In case you didn't know, a lot of Sweden is covered in forest but a lot of that forest is production forest. Trees are planted and every 60 to 80 years they're cut down to feed the paper industry, as well as being burnt to heat Swedish homes. Traditionally, many square kilometres of forest would be cut down at once, leaving a bare and death landscape behind. This has a big ecological and societal impact. Not only does wildlife disappear and soil erode, which is devastating for biological diversity, but the barren areas aren't resistant to the torrential rains that have and will become more prevalent as the climate heats up. Roads and railways are being swept away right now, and this will only become a bigger problem if we keep destroying our natural environment.

While more sustainable methods of forestry are catching on, the Swedish Church is hard set in clinging to the traditional strip-mining of forests, scouring the earth and leaving behind uninhabitable deserts. But, it's a democratic organisation and those chosen to be in their governing bodies can steer the organisation towards a better future. But to be able to vote for those governing bodies, one needs to be a member.

The right-wing extremists in Sweden know this, and they'd love to become more powerful in the church. Both so they can continue to rape the land and to reap the economical benefits for themselves, as well as to end the support for immigrants and queer rights. To further their fascist agenda through the Swedish Church, in other words.

And make no mistake. They sent out 5 million voting ballots this year, where the current population is around 10.5 million people. That means the church does have the power to bring forth societal change. Not being a member means I do not get to influence what societal change that will be. Whether they will revert back to their bigoted and evil nature, or will continue their development into a more progressive organisation that acts for the good.

So, what should I do?

I'm undecided. Supporting a religious organisation goes against the very grain of my being. I grew up as a catholic, but rejected religion at a relatively young age. I think it's harmful to make people believe that fiction is reality, and I will never forget all the bad things the church has done over the centuries. But as far as churches go, the Swedish Church seems relatively benign, and there are very good reasons to be a member. In fact, not being a member seems, on the balance, to be more harmful than being a member, as things stand right now.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering: the preliminary results show that the extreme-right parties are losing representation in the Swedish Church, while the social democrats have grown. One could argue that the social democrats aren't all they used to be and are shifting towards the right to appease voters. I still think they're infinitely better than the extreme-right parties and their friends.

Honestly, this morning, when I read the results, I let go sigh of relief. Perhaps there is hope after all?