Anti-Christian Nationalism Success Worldwide
There have been some recent positive developments for the advocates of anti-Christian Nationalism.
Finland
Finland’s departure from Christian Nationalism has been a rather complex and slow march. It is technically still a Christian Nation with both national Lutheran and Orthodox churches with special legal privileges. But its Christian Nationalism is essentially in name only, having been steadily diminished in the 20th century, and continuing to the present.
The 1919 Constitution and the 1923 Freedom of Religion Act moved Finland in a direction away from Christian Nationalism. The Lutheran Church of Finland began to “ordain” women in the 1980s. While in 1950, Finland was 95.7% Lutheran (with 2.7% claiming no religious affiliation), the number calling themselves Lutheran dropped to 62.2% (with 34.9% unaffiliated in 2024). As the church diminished, so did the Christian culture. And as is often said, “politics is downstream from culture.”
Abortion was legalized in some cases in 1950, and was liberalized in subsequent legal changes in 1970, 1979, and 2023. Finland adopted homosexual “marriage” in 2017.
Only two years later, in 2019, a Lutheran pastor’s wife, medical doctor, and member of Parliament, Päivi Räsänen, along with the Rev. (and later Bishop) Juhana Pohjola, were charged with a hate crime for their roles in writing and distributing this 2004 booklet (Räsänen as author, Pohjola as publisher). After seven years of interrogation (which included being questioned for hours in a police station with a Bible on the table), tedious legal arguments, a unanimous acquittal, and a unanimous victory on appeal - the Supreme Court of the once Christian Nation of Finland recently convicted Dr. Räsänen and Bishop Pohjola of “hate crimes” in the criminal code under the rubric of “crimes against humanity” for insulting homosexuals. Here is the latest on the case.
This is a landmark in Finland’s leaving behind their old Christian Nationalism to embrace the diversity of Post-Christian Nationalism. We have members of LCMS churches, including pastors, who criticize the LCMS for not being hospitable enough to what they euphemistically call the “LGBTQ community,” in some cases even referring to men’s “husbands,” calling for “pronoun hospitality,” and expressing a desire that we accept gay “married” couples as communicants.
This latest retreat from national Christianity in Finland - which is a relative latecomer among the Nordic nations in the move to post-Christian Nationalism - is a resounding victory for those who oppose Christian Nationalism everywhere.
Iceland
The tiny Nordic island nation of Iceland is also a nominal Christian nation. The state’s “Lutheran” church (which “ordained” its first woman in 1974, and its first woman “bishop” in 2012) still receives state funds, and as of 2025, retained - at least nominally - 57% of the population (down from 90% in 1998). Iceland legalized abortion in 1935, and subsequently liberalized its abortion laws in 1975 and 2019. Same sex “marriage” was legalized in Iceland in 2010.
Opponents of Christian Nationalism will be gratified to see the diminution of Christianity and the rise of pluralism and diversity - even in this relatively isolated nation - paying huge dividends. A Roman Catholic priest who serves in Reykjavik, the Rev. Jakob Rolland, was threatened with arrest for advocating “conversion.” He was not arrested, but he was the subject of a debate in parliament. This is the kind of thing that would have been unthinkable when Iceland was a truly functional Christian nation.
Sweden
Sweden has been a leader in the move away from Christian Nationalism. Sweden became Roman Catholic in the 11th century, which became a Lutheran state church in the 16th century. After decades of liberalization and a decisive move away from Christian Nationalism, Sweden’s state church was disestablished in 2000. The first woman was “ordained” in 1960. The first woman “bishop” was “consecrated” in 1997. The first lesbian “bishop” was “consecrated” in 2009, and served for a decade. In 2015, she famously ordered the removal of crosses in a Christian chapel so as to accommodate Muslims.
Sweden legalized same sex “marriage” in 2009. Abortion was first legalized in 1938, and then liberalized in 1946, 1963, 1975 (when abortion on demand was legalized), and 1996.
Swedish anti-Christian Nationalism received a boost in 2022, when the Samson family had two of their daughters taken from them for being “religious extremists.” The cause of post-Christian Nationalism was further bolstered last month, when the EU - citing a legal technicality - refused to intervene in the Samsons’ ongoing legal crisis.
The charge of extremism stems from their three-times a week church attendance - cited by the government as the reason for not giving the children back to the parents, in spite of their finding that there was no abuse in the home. Of course, such families would have been permitted to attend church services three times a week in the old Christian Nationalist regime. In today’s post-Christian Nationalist Sweden, this is no longer the case.
Canada
Closer to home for Americans in our neighbor to the north.
Up until confederation in the 1860s, the Anglican Church was essentially the state church of English Canada, while the Roman Catholic Church held privileged status in Quebec. By 1893, the Anglican Church was completely separated from the government. By the 1960s, it had lost most of its cultural relevance.
Canada legalized abortion in 1988, and legalized same sex “marriage” in 2005. But where Canada has really been a pioneer in post-Christian Nationalism has been in its euthanasia laws. The euphemistically called MAID (Medical Assistance In Dying) was legalized in 2016, was expanded to non-terminal illnesses in 2021, and is scheduled to be expanded to the mentally ill in 2027. This has been a significant victory for those who oppose Christian Nationalism, and MAID has become a routine part of Canada’s “healthcare” system.
In fact, in 2024, twice as many people were euthanized than were dogs in shelters (16,499 vs. 7,644). As a bonus, 96% of those euthanized (the humans, not the dogs) were white - in a country where only 70% of the population is burdened by whiteness. “It is unclear what caused this disparity.” But it certainly helps “our greatest strength” from a mathematical point of view. Being “put to sleep” now constitutes 4.7% of deaths in Canada - something that would have been unthinkable when Canada was still a Christian nation.
Canada has also made rapid advances in its post-Christian Nationalism with regard to religious practices being protected under the law. Bill C-9 - which removed a religious exception in its so-called “hate crime” laws, has passed the House of Commons and is now headed to the Senate.
Which Way, America?
As the old Christian Nationalism breaks down, as formerly Christian nations are becoming more and more secular, we are seeing a post-Christian Nationalism rising all over the world, usually anchored in a diverse and secular worldview that moves away from the old Western idea of the imago Dei as formerly taken for granted in Christendom, a revisiting of laws that reflected this Christian worldview.
Those who oppose Christian Nationalism have a lot of reason for celebration, though it does seem that a lot of younger and more conservatively-minded people here in America are not yet onboard with the new paradigm. One watchdog group is alarmed to report that some 30% of Americans either support Christian Nationalism, or are sympathetic to it.
It will be interesting to see how this trend develops given the looming generational demographic changes that are already well underway.