Religion in Denmark
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Of the religions in Denmark, the most prominent is the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark which is the official state religion. However, pockets of virtually all faiths can be found among the popluation. The second largest faith is Islam due to mass-imigration in the 1980 and 90s.
In general, Danes are not very religious, with church attendance being generally low. According to a 2005 study by Zuckerman[1], Denmark has the third-highest proportion of atheists and agnostics in the world, estimated to be between 43% and 80%, as many do not practice their faith. Though Christmas is considered to be Denmark's most celebrated holiday, this is mostly due to cultural, rather than religious, reasons.
In a 1999 EVS poll,[1] Danes were asked to identify the nature of their belief in God.
- 21% said "A personal God"
- 31% said "A spiritual force"
- 19% said "I don't know what to believe"
- 23% said "I don't believe there is a God"
- 6% did not respond
By the end of 2007 82.1%[2] of the Danish population were members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church which dropped to 81.5 % in 2008 [3]. However, similar to the rest of Scandinavia, North-west Europe and Britain, only a small minority (less than 10 % of the total population) attends churches for sunday mass. In Copenhagen, membership of the Danish state church dropped to 65 % in 2008.
With the exception of the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs (and only some of them), you will not generally find politicians using religious rhetoric and arguments, especially not government ministers. The Christian Democrats is the only major political party which regularly uses religious rhetoric and arguments and their influence is very low with only around 2% of voters backing them.
According to Danish Jørn Borup, (Department of the Study of Religion at the University of Aarhus, Denmark), there are also around 20.000 followers of Buddhism in Denmark.[4]
- Buddhists: >0.5%
Also, there are about 500 registered heathens (0.01% of the population) belonging to the old Norse beliefs.
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[edit] Religion in the Danish Constitution
The Constitution of Denmark contains a number of paragraphs related to religion.
- Paragraph 4 establishes the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark as the state church of Denmark.
- Paragraph 6 requires the Danish monarch (currently Margrethe II of Denmark) to be a member of the state church.
- Paragraph 67 grants freedom of worship.
- Paragraph 68 states that no one is required to personally contribute to any form of religion other than his own. As state subsidies are not considered personal contributions[5] the Church of Denmark receives subsidies - according to Paragraph 4 - beyond the church tax paid by the members of the church. The Church of Denmark is the only religious group to receive direct financial support from the state. Other religious groups can receive indirect support through tax deductions on contributions.[6]
- Paragraph 70 grants freedom of religion by ensuring civil and political rights can not be revoked due to race or religious beliefs. It further states race and religious beliefs can not be used to be exempt from civil duties.
- Paragraph 71 ensures no one can be imprisoned due to religious beliefs.
[edit] See also
- Rescue of the Danish Jews
- Muhammad Drawings
- Constitution of Denmark
- Reformed Synod of Denmark
- Roman Catholicism in Denmark
- Evangelical Lutheran Church of Denmark
- Islam in Denmark
- History of the Jews in Denmark
- Bahá'í Faith in Denmark
- Religion by country
- Buddhism in Denmark
[edit] References
- ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2005 - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, US Department of State
- ^ http://www.km.dk/folkekirken.html
- ^ http://www.km.dk/folkekirken/statistik-og-oekonomi/kirkestatistik/folkekirkens-medlemstal.html
- ^ Journal of Global Buddhism, Article by Jørn Borup, Department of Study of Religion at University of Aarhus, Denmark. 2008, based on research from 2005
- ^ Grundloven på let dansk, Folketinget, 2001
- ^ Kirkeministeriet
[edit] External links
- Religion in Denmark
- Religion in Denmark - From the Danish Foreign Ministry.
- Eurel: sociological and legal data on religions in Europe
