The Swedish and Religious Education

         It came across Twitter today from the Suffolk Humanists & Secularists, that the Swedish where to make the teaching of Religion on the assumption that is factual, illegal.
Sadly this does not seem to be the case, it would be a great step forward for the human race if it was.
It was written originally in the Guardian newspaper from 2007.

I was certain I new someone from Sweden somewhere to ask if it was true or not, and asked Twitter, and the answer came from Sin Trenton.

I'm sure he wouldn't mind me cutting and pasting it here :-

As always, the answer is not a simple yes and no.
The new law for schools as of August 2010 basically states that undervisning (‘lecturing’, the actual classes) shall be neutral, utbildning (‘education’, programmes, the school’s general profile) doesn’t have to be.

Det står skolorna fritt att “anordna andakter, bönestunder eller annan form av religionsutövning till exempel fördjupning i den egna trosläran som konfirmationsläsning”. Men de “konfessionella inslagen ska liksom i fristående skolor vara frivilliga för barnen.”

Translated: The schools may decide to “hold worship, prayers or other form of religious practice such as deeper studies in the own dogma, as part of confirmation studies. ” But the “confessional parts, shall, also in private schools, be voluntary for the children.”

It is stressed that it must be voluntary for students to participate and that it should not take place within the frame of regular lectures.
So you need to be brave as a seven years old to refuse going into the chapel or to memorise Psalms, Bible verses, Qu’ran suras, etc.

Further; “…grundläggande demokratiska värderingar och de mänskliga rättigheterna som utgör utgångspunkten för skolans värdegrund måste omfattas utan inskränkningar även av skolor med konfessionell inriktning”.

Translated: “… fundamental democratic values and the human rights that make up the starting point for the school’s value foundation must be included without limitations even by schools with confessional profiles”.
But that’s about it, actually.
The basic problem is that the minister and his “People’s Party The Liberals” want to smack down on Islamic schools, while not alienating their Christian Democrat coalition buddies, who has a large group of various Christian sects with their confessional schools, I’d say.

I believe that religion should be totally separated from the state. That's not the way it is today, not even in Sweden. :- Bjorn Ulvaeus 

I love Sweden. The entire world should be like Sweden. They all like to drink and get naked, and the women are hot. I can't think of a better nation on the planet. :- Drew Curtis