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oa Religion In Norway Between National Legislation and Local Politics
- Amsterdam University Press
- Source: European Journal of Theology, Volume 31, Issue 1, Feb 2022, p. 92 - 113
Abstract
This article discusses the relationship between national legislation and local politics in Norway with regard to religious freedom and religious policies. The material investigated consists of a new (1 January 2021) Norwegian law on religious and life stance communities, and the ongoing public discourse which followed it. The first part of the article introduces the historical development of Norwegian religiosity and religious policy. The second part analyses the new Norwegian legislation and gives four examples of how this is being received in local politics. The third part of the article investigates the differences between the various responses in view of theories on religious freedom and religious policies. The article argues that the national legislation and the local politics operate with common terms to describe their ideals and that the tensions between both are the result of different understandings of these ideals. The observations made in this investigation are likely to have clear relevance for other European countries.