Hello from Finland

[Fennia]

Hello everybody, and greetings from Finland! :brick: ). It has been in our constitution since 1922 that an individual has the freedom to believe and practice whichever faith (or lack of) they see fit. I find it contradictory, that the Evangelic Lutheran Church is held as the official “state church”, courtesy of the constitution.    

I was about five (we start school at 7 in case you wonder) when I started attending a play-group organized by the Church (the only part time activity available at the time). One day, we’d had a color-in-picture of a Jesus to do, accompanied by a biblical story. 25 years later I still remember vividly how I felt, coloring the picture of someone who, judging by the ridiculous story, must be just a weird fairy-tale man, or something on the lines. I was only five, but the whole thing smelled fishy to me. Every other picture I took home proudly, hopping all the way. This one I had carried at an arm’s length, with a look of disdain on my face.

So, ironically, in a country full of “non-believing church members”, I have at times been made to feel an outsider and not accepted for being openly non-believing non-church-member, and it’s nice to find a place like HAF with so many like-minded people and good conversation.
 

[pinkocommie]

I had no idea Finland started school at 7.  Thanks for sharing your story!  Welcome to the forum.  

[Tank]

Welcome Fennia

Cecile is a Norwegian neighbour of yours. I saw you looking around yesterday and it's nice to see you join in today.


Useful links for new members
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Forum Rules More of a set of guidelines really, upset Whitney (She who must be obeyed) and you'll find the exit door very quickly!
How do I use the quote feature? If you are new to forums this is an important feature to understand. The maximum number of nested quotes is 3.
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What's on your mind today? The general chit chat thread.
Somewhere to discuss the fear of dying. Many ex-theists have to come to terms with death, this is a place to discuss this issue.
How to tell your family you are an atheist. Some suggestions about how to deal with this thorny issue.
Parenting Beyond Belief. The forum for discussing how to raise your children 'Faith Free'.
.

[The Black Jester]

Welcome, and thanks for the introduction!

[Cecilie]

Hey neighbour. Welcome!  

[Fennia]

Thanks for the welcome   I proof read the above post and didn't notice anything wrong, but after submitting I looked at the post and realised the title read "Hell from Finland"  lol

Cecile, neighbour, ever been to Finland?

[_7654_]

And Tadaa you are an atheist, and you are here. Congratulations and welcome to the forum

[Cecilie]

Cecile, neighbour, ever been to Finland?

No, I haven't, but I have been around finnish people before. Fascinating language you have. Ever been to Norway?

And by the way, why does everybody spell my name wrong? You too Tank.  

[Tank]

Because there is no second 'i' in th English version  

[Fennia]

ooops, sorry Cecilie  

Swedish  is our second official language, so everyone has to study a bit of that in school . Our silly-old-teacher used to define the difference between Swedish and Norwegian / Danish, by saying that the latter are like speaking Swedish but with hot potato/porridge in your mouth  :crazy: Good grief, the things stuck in our minds in the name of education!

[Cecilie]

Because there is no second 'i' in th English version  

Have you ever heard of anybody named Cecile? Cecil perhaps. And Cecilia, yes.

[Cecilie]

ooops, sorry Cecilie  

Swedish  is our second official language, so everyone has to study a bit of that in school . Our silly-old-teacher used to define the difference between Swedish and Norwegian / Danish, by saying that the latter are like speaking Swedish but with hot potato/porridge in your mouth  :crazy: Good grief, the things stuck in our minds in the name of education!

I find it odd that they teach you Swedish instead of Norwegian (maybe it's easier to learn) since the Norwegian language is similar to both Swedish and Danish while Swedish is not similar at all (as I see it) to Danish... If that makes sense.

[Fennia]

Have you ever heard of anybody named Cecile? Cecil perhaps. And Cecilia, yes.

Then there is also Cecelia, as in Cecelia Ahern, the Irish writer. . See, the way we were taught to think was that Swedish is the simplest to learn, but that basically all the scandinavian languages are the same (apart from Islandic, which is in a league of it's own) and with a bit of extra effort we could master Norwegian and Danish too, if need be. I doubt. strongly.

[Cecilie]

But I think your viewpoint of Norwegian as "a middle-language" and thus more useful/practical interesting. Just goes to show such issues are not considered when nations are formed  

Even I have serious trouble understanding Danish (when spoken) so I don't get how a Finnish person who knows Swedish but it not being their first language is going to understand Danish at all. Aaaanyways...

[Cecilie]

Have you ever heard of anybody named Cecile?.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9cile

Apparently there has been quite a few people names Cecile. Nevermind then.