Till folkhemskristendomens försvar: 1963 års namninsamling och kristendomsämnets ställning i den nya gymnasieskolan

Abstract

In defence of Christianity: The 1963 petition and religious education in Sweden’s new upper secondary schools

This article challenges the idea that the 1960s marked a clear division in Sweden between the religious and secular worlds, using the example of the debate about religious education in upper secondary schools. In 1963 it was suggested less time be spent on religious education, whereupon a vocal Christian faction launched a petition against what they considered the de-Christianisation of society, gathering 2.1 million signatures in just over two months. The article examines the reaction of cultural radicals to the Christian opposition.

Using a range of national as well as local newspapers, including Church of Sweden and Free Church publications, and a Gramscian-inspired concept of hegemony, the article shows that despite differences within the Christian faction, there was a unified response when Christianity’s position in schools was threatened. Instead of infighting, they focused on their shared objective: affirming Christianity’s societal significance. They argued that knowledge of Christianity was a fundamental democratic right, crucial for religious freedom, and to further justify its place in the modern welfare state they pointed to the universality of Christian ethics, which they said were essential for a functioning democracy, as a counterweight counterbalance to the growing focus on utility maximisation.

Cultural radicals, meanwhile, questioned whether granting the monopoly in schools to a particular worldview could ever align with democratic values and freedom of religion. Some acknowledged Christianity’s cultural significance but rejected its ethical principles as universal or essential for human coexistence.

An analysis of the 1963 debate and the defence of Christianity during this period challenges the notion that the 1960s saw a clear break between the religious and secular worlds. Rather, the Christian faction sought to adapt Christianity to a changing society, hoping it would continue as the foundation of a common ethical language in modern democratic life.