How to Survive the Swedish Church
SWEDEN. The Swedish title of this book is Konsten att överlevaSvenska kyrkan and it’s written by Helena Edlund who worked as a priest for 12 years.
It’s well known that the Swedish Church is heavily left leaning and that it’s a very unhealthy workplace. And Helena gives the reader a look behind the scenes. It all started when Helena wrote a debate article in the churchs newspaper about the lack of discussion about the problems with Islam. An example she used was the churchs commitment to LGBT and Pride, but that they never said a word about the crimes that very group suffered in Islamic countries. All hell broke loose and it was the beginning of years of bullying, lies, exclusion and threaths.
A couple of years later Helena started the FB group #mycross (#mittkors) with priests Annika Borg and Johanna Andersson to show solidarity with persecuted Christians around the world. And also to celebrate our Christian heritage (why is it wrong for us to enjoy our culture when we are supposed be in awe when other groups do the same?). People took pictures of their crosses and shared the stories behind them. But it was interpreted by powerful priests as a racist reaction towards Muslims, an insane conclusion. So all hell broke loose. Again. Judging by the discussions on Twitter the treatment of Helena, Annika and Johanna prompted many people leave the church.
I must admit that I was shocked by how these priests acted towards a colleague. How can one justify causing somebody, somebody who was your friend, such pain and at the same time believe that you’re being a good Christian? Didn’t anyone ask themselves what Jesus would do? There were many well known who played a part in what happened to Helena. “Rightous” people like Antje Jackélen (archbishop, has the motto God is most great aka Allahu Akbar), Eva Brunne (bishop, gay, cultural marxist), Anna Karin Hammar (priest, gay, pro-Palestine activist, BDS-activist, wanted to remove Christian symbols in a church to make it more inviting for Muslims) and Kent Wisti (The Rebel Priest, called the Holy Spirit the Giver of Life using a female semantic genus) condemned and turned their back on her.
The Swedish Church of today has strict hierarchies, are involved in politics (politicians are elected and have the power to change things. The Social Democrats are in majority) and political correctness is important. Speaking out can end your career while they look the other way when priests have “relationships” with 14-year olds or get caught with child pornography. It’s was really enlightening to read about that and the churchs connections to communism. Basic Christian theology is frowned upon and Helena describes a situation where another young priest was praised by a senior priest for dismissing the baptism. I once attended a wedding where the female priest urged us to cheer on the bridal couple and then she took a selfie with them at the chancel.
Unfortunately this book isn’t translated to English which is a shame as I want this information to be accessible to everyone. It is a warning to other churches what happens when the left are given the possibility to influence. Helena is no longer a priest.
Originally published at http://alwaysbringabook.home.blog on January 12, 2020.
