Religious Freedom and Diverting the Narrative
This is a translation of an opinion piece I wrote, published in Kymen Sanomat on the 4th of June 2021 (3rd of June on the website). Link to the original here: https://www.kymensanomat.fi/paakirjoitus-mielipide/4170575 For context: Suvivirsi (Den blomstertid nu kommer in Swedish) is a popular church hymn in Finland and Sweden. Due to its lyrics which celebrate the coming of Summer, it has become a popular songs in end of the year celebrations in schools. As you might guess, singing a blatantly religious song schools is something that many people oppose and as a result, Suvivirsi, while a time honored tradition, has become a topic of intense debate, which unfortunately seems to derail the wider discussion on the role of religion in general. Facebook recently brought up memories from three years ago, when I had an argument on Twitter about Suvivirsi. Now that the school year is about to end I think it's the perfect time to talk about it again. Due to the religious nature of it’s lyric...