Despite the fact that the percentage of Christians in Scandinavia’s largest country continues to shrink, four out of ten Swedes say they want a community based on Christian foundations, double the proportion reported only a few years ago, a new study from Linnaeus University has shown.
While admitting that Sweden has changed and the disappearance of traditional values is especially obvious in the suburbs, Swedish Christian Democrat leader Ebba Busch Thor has rejected the idea of cultural Islamisation in her country.
“And even though Sweden has problems with radical Islamism, no cultural Islamisation is going on, despite what the national populists have warned. I believe it is rather a lack of culture. With children who cannot cope with school, adults who do not dare to go out and businesses that cannot be opened,” Ebba Busch Thor wrote in her recent opinion piece published by Expressen daily.
At the same time, she stressed that the percentage of Swedes who would like a society built on Christian values has doubled in recent years, according to a study from Linnaeus University, despite the dwindling numbers of the Church of Sweden. Busch Thor linked this Christian revival to the migrant crisis.
“When immigration grew and exclusion with it, it became apparent that integration cannot occur without something permanent to be integrated into,” Busch Thor wrote. She also denounced the current integration politics, claiming that it hasn’t resulted in a “creative creole” liberals have dreamt of.
She argued that while Christian heritage is often seen as something imposed and old-fashioned, it has provided historical opportunities.
“All the rights and freedoms we cherish and safeguard in Sweden have their origins in Christianity. Not just freedom of expression, freedom of association, religious freedom, and the rule of law and democracy. Also individualism, equality and sexual liberation,” Ebba Busch Thor wrote.
She pointed out that countries based on Christian foundations offer the best opportunities for self-realisation, Likewise, Christian, especially Protestant countries, have achieved the strongest economic development, she noted.
Recent surveys suggest a spike in Swedes’ support for the Christian Democrats, with Busch Thor’s party polling its record number above 12 percent, almost doubling their numbers since 2014.