Greetings from Sweden

[oscarc]

Hi,

or, the title is actually a not true, as I really live in Germany now, but anyway I will move back to Sweden shortly.

I can now almost call myself an atheist now since about last week. Until then, I have either or both been a combination
of an agnostic and apatheist. However, as I recently gave religion (or lack of) a thought, I realised that the reason for me
to have been agnostic was through bruteless coercesion from old fairytales. Therefore, I thought that I would "make up my
mind", I thought it might help in some way..

I am also "part" of the swedish protestantic church. I have many times flirted with the thought of leaving the church.
By leaving, I will pay less taxes, with the downside that a possible marriage would cost me more. Although a non-religious
matrimony would be nice, my would be wife might or might not feel the same.

Anyway, nice meeting you guys here!

[Asmodean]

Fra Sverige, er du?

[Chimera]

Welcome to the forum

[Will]

Fra Sverige, er du?

You scandinavian stinker! You beat me to exhausting all of my linguistic skills!

Welcome to the forum, Osarc!

[curiosityandthecat]

You scandinavian stinker!

Boy, there's something you don't hear every day.  

[Asmodean]

You scandinavian stinker! You beat me to exhausting all of my linguistic skills!

LOL! You still can - my reply was in Norwegian, not Swedish.  

[myleviathan]

By leaving, I will pay less taxes, with the downside that a possible marriage would cost me more. Although a non-religious matrimony would be nice, my would be wife might or might not feel the same.  

In Sweden you pay less tax if you don't go to church?? I'd like to see what would happen if they did that in the US. There would definitely be less church attendance. Anyway - welcome to the forum.

[Evolved]

Welcome to the forum, Oscarc!  I hope that you have a great time here.

[Tom62]

Welcome Oscarc. If you are living now in Germany, why do you still have to pay (church)taxes in Sweden? Are you taxed in Sweden instead of in Germany? When I moved to Germany I registered myself as an non-believer, which saves me thousands of Euro's every year. When my wife and I got married, she insisted as well on a religious service. We just rented the chapel and a trained theologian for that purpose.

[SteveS]

Hey oscarc, welcome to the board!  That tax policy sounds cool --- I wish I could officially declare my atheism at the benefit of saving some tax money.  Wouldn't take me long to make up my mind about that....  

[Tom62]

We just rented the chapel and a trained theologian for that purpose.

Tom, this struck me as funny - I have to wonder, what are the qualifications to become a "trained theologian"?  Hehe...

I'm quite sure that she was trained in something   . I wrote this before I had my first cup of coffee, which means that my mind was still running on autopilot.

[crocofish]

I have many times flirted with the thought of leaving the church.  By leaving, I will pay less taxes, with the downside that a possible marriage would cost me more.

That would be a great idea in the U.S.  I'm tired of subsidizing the megachurches, and churches in general, who get tax exemptions.  Of course, it probably wouldn't happen any time in the near future in the U.S.

Welcome to the forum, oscarc.  I will be visiting Germany and Sweden for the first time in late September.