Author: Jan M. Olsen, Associated
Press Writer
Publication: The Guardian
Date: November 5, 2003
The government of Denmark just approved
an Astaru-like religion as one of the religions that they officially recognize.
Big day for pagans in Denmark!
Home to the Vikings of yore, Denmark
said Wednesday it will let a group that worships Thor, Odin and other Norse
gods conduct legally-recognized marriages.
"To me, it would be wrong if the
indigenous religion of this country wasn't recognized," Tove Fergo, the
minister for Ecclesiastic Affairs and a Lutheran priest, told The Associated
Press.
Under Danish law, the state Evangelical
Lutheran Church has sole authority to recognize other religious communities.
The 240-member Forn Sidr, which
worships Odin, Thor, Freya and the other members of the Norse pantheon,
sought recognition in 1999, said Tissel Jacobsen, the group's president.
Last year, an Ecclesiastic Affairs
panel of scholars recommended that Forn Sidr, whose name mean "Old Custom"
in old Norse, be approved, but only if their rituals were clearly detailed
in its bylaws.
"At a general assembly, we added
and described our four annual heathen rituals - spring and fall equinoxes,
and the summer and winter solstices, and our marriage ceremony," Jacobsen
told the AP. "We then returned our application and the panel approved it."
Fergo said she would give her final
approval "in a few days."
About 1,000 people worship the ancient
gods in Denmark, Jacobsen said.
Since 1998, the panel of theology,
law and history scholars have advised the government on which groups seeking
to become religious communities, should be recognized.
"It was not up to me to evaluate
whether they are telling the truth or the quality of their religion," Fergo
said. "Based on the commission's evaluation and what I have read, I consider
it a good religion."
Officially recognized religious
communities can marry people and exempt their members from the 1 percent
income tax that is imposed on members of the state church.
People born in Denmark are automatically
made members of the state church, but can choose to leave it if they want.
Members of other recognized religious communities, such Catholics, Muslims
and Jews, are also exempt from the tax.