<div dir="ltr"><div><h1 style="padding-top:0px;padding-bottom:0px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:5px">Sweden: Who Do Christian Leaders Serve?</h1>
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<p style="margin:10px 0px 0px"><b>
by <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/author/Nima+Gholam+Ali+Pour" target="_blank"><span>Nima Gholam Ali Pour</span></a><br>
<time datetime="2016-09-13T05:30:00">September 13, 2016 at 5:30 am</time></b></p>
<p style="margin:0px 0px 10px"><b><a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8920/sweden-church-immigration" target="_blank">https://www.<wbr>gatestoneinstitute.org/8920/<wbr>sweden-church-immigration</a></b></p>
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<ul><li><p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>In Swedish Christianity,</b></span>
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>Jesus </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>has been reduced</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>from being the son of God,</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>to an activist
fighting for multiculturalism and open borders. According to Archbishop
Antje Jackelén of the Church of Sweden, Jesus has clear political
positions on both migration and integration policies.</b></span></p></li><li><p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>According to a senior official in the Church of Sweden<span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)">,</span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b> the call
to wear a cross to show solidarity with persecuted Christians<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>is
"un-Christian".</b></span></p></li><li><p>One might describe <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the Swedish Christianity as a new religion that worships multiculturalism and leftist values in general.</b></span></p></li><li><p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>"The leadership of the Church of Sweden no longer wants to</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>lead a
Christian community</b></span>; <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>they want to lead a general ethical association
for humanistic values." </b></span>— Ann Heberlein, doctor of theology and lecturer
at Lund University.</p></li><li><p>One can have different interpretations of what <span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>Jesus</b> </span>did or what
opinions he had, but we can all agree that he <span style="background-color:rgb(255,229,153)"><b>did not serve</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the Emperor
or other earthly rulers</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Too many Christian leaders in Sweden have
become the servants of earthly rulers by conveying the message of the
political establishment in Sweden.</b></span></p></li></ul>
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<p>Christianity is a universal religion, therefore Christianity in
Sweden should have many similarities with Christianity in other
countries.</p>
<p>If Christianity in Sweden begins to embrace a doctrine that has
nothing to do with the universal world religion of Christianity, Sweden
has then invented a new religion.</p>
<p>If you look at how Christianity has developed in Sweden today, it seems that this is what Sweden is about to get.</p>
<p>Stefan Swärd is an influential Christian pastor in Sweden with a
background in the Evangelical Free Church in Sweden. In an op-ed from
September 2014, Swärd <a href="http://www.dagen.se/debatt/kristna-hor-inte-hemma-i-akessons-hejarklack-1.269905" target="_blank">describes</a> Christianity the following way:</p>
<blockquote><p>"When congregations in Sweden meet in diversity and
integration and integrate Africans, Chinese and Latin Americans, they
express the very essence of the Christian community's being."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>He continues,</p>
<blockquote><p>"As Christians, we should work for a generous refugee
policy. We will work so our churches and congregations become good
examples of functioning integration, where people of different
backgrounds can come together in a common life."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In December 2014, he gathered 380 Swedish ministers from the
Pentecostal movement, the Evangelical Free Church in Sweden, the Uniting
Church in Sweden, the Salvation Army, Word of Faith Movement and the
Swedish Alliance Mission, as well as several other churches, to sign a <a href="http://www.dagen.se/debatt/380-pastorer-flyktingpolitiken-inte-for-generos-1.306400" target="_blank">petition</a><u>,</u>
which declared, among other things, that these denominations do not
believe that Sweden applies a refugee policy that is too generous. This
was written before the migration crisis in 2015, when Sweden already had
the most liberal immigration policy in Europe and gave all Syrians
permanent residence in Sweden.</p>
<p>To those concerned about the future of Sweden, where many new
migrants might not be able to be assimilated or might not want to be
assimilated, Swärd is regarded as misusing Christianity to argue for a
liberal immigration policy.</p>
<p>In his recent book, <i>Jesus Was Also a Refugee</i> (<a href="http://www.xpmedia.org/bocker/samhallsanalys/jesus-var-ocksa-flykting" target="_blank"><i>Jesus var också flykting</i></a>),
Swärd and his co-author, Micael Grenholm, try to answer the following
question: "What does God think about the global refugee crisis and
Swedish migration policy?" The answer that the book gives is that there
should be no immigration restrictions at all and that rich countries
have to open their borders simply because they are rich countries.</p>
<p>Swärd and his coalition of ministers are not an anomaly in Swedish
Christianity. They represent the norm for what much of Swedish
Christianity preaches nowadays. Antje Jackelén, the archbishop of
Sweden's largest denomination, the Church of Sweden, said in an <a href="http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=6341477" target="_blank">interview from January 9, 2016</a>
that Jesus would not approve of the Swedish government's new
restrictive migration policies, which the government was forced to
implement because of the migration crisis. Archbishop Jackelén stated:</p>
<blockquote><p>"The Bible is full of stories of refugees. Jesus himself
was a refugee in his infancy. To protect the stranger, the one who is
not protected, runs like a thread through the Old and New Testament.
There would probably be no approval from Jesus for the government
policy."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>On the basis of what many Christian leaders in Sweden say, Jesus
seems to have been interested in migration policies, and he seems to
have thought that they should be liberal.</p>
<p>According to the Church of Sweden, there are even clear political
positions that God has on how immigrants should integrate into a new
country. Archbishop Antje Jackelén, for instance, said in an <a href="http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/val2014/jackelen-strider-mot-kristen-manniskosyn/" target="_blank">interview</a>
from September 2014 that if one requires that immigrants assimilate
into the country after their arrival, it is contrary to a Christian view
of humanity. Is that statement based on the Bible, or is it based on
the political agenda of the Swedish liberal establishment? Antje
Jackelén leads the church in which 63% of Sweden's population are
members. Her message is that Jesus has clear political positions on both
migration and integration policies.</p>
<table style="margin-bottom:5px;max-width:600px" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody><tr>
<td style="max-width:600px;border-width:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:black"><img src="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/pics/1864.jpg" border="0" height="362" width="600"><p style="font-size:82%;margin:4px 6px">Christian
leaders in Sweden have re-made Christianity into a religion that serves
the political agenda of an establishment whose extreme liberal ideology
lacks popular support. Left: Sweden's Crown Princess, King, Archbishop
Antje Jackelén, and the Queen pose after the archiepiscopal ordination
of Jackelén on June 15, 2014 (Image source: Church of Sweden). Right:
Influential Swedish Christian pastor Stefan Swärd co-wrote the book <i>Jesus Was Also a Refugee</i>,
which advocates for a policy of no immigration restrictions; rich
countries have to open their borders simply because they are rich
countries.</p></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<p>After the June 2016 terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida, in which
ISIS sympathizer Omar Mateen murdered 49 people at a gay nightclub,
another influential Christian pastor in Sweden, Stanley Sjöberg, <a href="http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/hbtq-personer-borde-vara-mer-lagmalda/" target="_blank">wrote</a>
on his Facebook page that homosexuals should be more low-key, not to
provoke Muslims. After his statement about the Orlando massacre, Sjöberg
<a href="http://www.dagen.se/stanley-sjobergs-facebooksida-stangd-efter-orlandoinlagg-1.739304" target="_blank">told</a> a Christian magazine:</p>
<blockquote><p>"But I believe that we must adapt to the multicultural
way when we've brought several hundred thousand Muslims here. I believe
that politicians and serious thinkers agree with me that we cannot just
continue with our culture, with Pride festivals, or to drink in public.
We in Europe are forced to step back to show a little more considerate
attitude to the environment."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Church of Sweden has actively tried to influence Swedish
politicians to support a liberal immigration policy. When the Swedish
parliament was going to vote on restrictive migration policies in June
2016, a bishop of the Church of Sweden in the Diocese of Västerås
pleaded with MPs to vote against the proposal. When the media asked him
why he should interfere in political matters he <a href="http://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/vastmanland/biskopens-tarar-for-barnen" target="_blank">responded</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>"It is obvious to me. Otherwise I would not carry out my duties as bishop unless I committed myself to the vulnerable."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>There are lot of vulnerable people in Sweden. 225,000 retirees in Sweden lived in <a href="http://www.svt.se/nyheter/inrikes/fattigpensionarer-en-vaxande-grupp" target="_blank">poverty</a>
in 2014, and all estimates shows that this number is going to grow
rapidly. So why is the Church of Sweden obsessed with vulnerable people
who come from other countries?</p>
<p>It seems to have become part of Church of Sweden's mission -- and
Christianity in Sweden generally -- to make the country implement a
liberal immigration policy.</p>
<p>But is this really the mission of the Church and Christianity? What
happened with spreading the Word and letting people know that Jesus is
the truth, the way and the life?</p>
<p>It is not even certain that Christian leaders in Sweden care so much
about Jesus and his opinions. After a French priest, Jacques Hamel, was <a href="https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/8561/france-chuch-martyrdom-pope" target="_blank">murdered by ISIS sympathizers</a>
in Rouen, France, on July 26, 2016, an initiative started in Sweden
where Swedish Christians took "selfies" with a cross to show solidarity
with persecuted Christians. The initiative, called "Mitt kors"("My
cross"), was <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/1746487298941396/" target="_blank">started</a>
by three priests from the Church of Sweden. The Church of Sweden,
however, criticized it. Gunnar Sjöberg, Head of Communications for the
Church of Sweden, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154614119237638&set=a.458494267637.243328.695717637&type=3&theater" target="_blank">wrote</a> on his Facebook page:</p>
<blockquote><p>"I really do not know about that. This thing about
Christians suddenly wearing a cross as a sign for or against something.
It is actually nothing new, but the call seems seditious and
un-Christian in the conflicts that already exist."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So now, according to a senior official in the Church of Sweden, the
call to wear a cross to show solidarity with persecuted Christians is
"un-Christian".</p>
<p>That the Church of Sweden distances itself from people who carry the
cross caused Ann Heberlein, a doctor of theology and lecturer at Lund
University, to <a href="http://www.expressen.se/debatt/kyrkan-vill-inte-leda-ett-kristet-samfund/" target="_blank">write</a>,</p>
<blockquote><p>"The leadership of the Church of Sweden no longer wants
to lead a Christian community; they want to lead a general ethical
association for humanistic values of the most vulgar kind."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Church of Sweden's attacks on the "My cross" initiative continued
until one of the priests who had started it publicly left the Church of
Sweden. In an article, Johanna Andersson, the priest who is resigning, <a href="http://www.expressen.se/debatt/prasten-darfor-lamnar-jag-svenska-kyrkan/" target="_blank">writes</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>"Church leadership has for several weeks been running a
campaign against us who started the group 'My cross.' In this campaign, I
have been discredited, called 'questionable', 'unclean', 'agitator',
'un-Christian' and attributed xenophobic hidden agendas."</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The question, therefore, is whether some Christian leaders in Sweden
really care about Jesus and Christianity or whether they are using Jesus
to convey a political agenda which includes a liberal immigration
policy and multiculturalism.</p>
<p>While the Church of Sweden opposed a campaign that tried to use the
cross to show solidarity with the persecuted Christians, Archbishop
Antje Jackelén co-authored an <a href="http://www.dn.se/debatt/odesdigert-mota-terrorhot-med-upprop-till-kulturkamp/" target="_blank">op-ed</a>
in one of Sweden's largest newspapers with four other Swedish religious
leaders, including Mahmoud Khalfi, chairman of the Swedish Imam
Council, who has <a href="http://www.svd.se/muslimska-brodraskapet-ett-udda-val-av-kyrkan" target="_blank">connections</a> to the Muslim Brotherhood.</p>
<p>There are many examples of how Christianity in Sweden has gone astray
and become something else. One might describe Swedish Christianity as a
new religion that worships multiculturalism and leftist values in
general. In Swedish Christianity, Jesus has been reduced from being the
son of God, to an activist fighting for multiculturalism and open
borders.</p>
<p>In 2013, the Swedish Social Democratic Youth League had an <a href="https://youtu.be/FvY17KEOAvg" target="_blank">advertisement</a>
for elections in the Church of Sweden, in which they declared that
"Jesus was a Social Democrat." Meanwhile, there are Christian leaders
who claim to know exactly what Jesus thought about the current
government's immigration policy.</p>
<p>This is the state of Swedish Christianity today, and it is not
certain that Christians around the world would recognize the religion in
Sweden called Christianity. Christian leaders in Sweden have taken
Christianity and made it into a religion that serves the political
agenda of an establishment whose extreme liberal ideology lacks popular
support among the Swedish people.</p>
<p>If the Swedish establishment wants multiculturalism, then Christian
leaders will declare that God says multiculturalism is good. If the
Swedish establishment wants a liberal immigration policy, Jesus says
that he has always been for a liberal immigration policy, despite the
fact that he was born more than 2000 years ago. Swedish Christianity has
become a mixture of madness and deception.</p>
<p>In Malmö the Church of Sweden publishes a local magazine called <i>Trovärdigt</i>. In the <a href="http://issuu.com/trovardigt/docs/trovardigt_2_2016" target="_blank">latest issue</a>, you can read that a priest, who serves at St. Peters church in Malmö, said,</p>
<blockquote><p>"The rainbow in the Pride Flag is also a sign of the promise between God and man".</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Really? Not even the most radical gay activists believe that the
rainbow in the gay pride flag is a sign of the promise between God and
man. For many influential Christian leaders in Sweden, it does not
matter what it says in the Bible anymore. In fact, if you take a step
back and look at the overall picture, it is clear that many Christian
leaders in Sweden do not worship God; they worship the romanticized,
multicultural utopia they want Sweden to become. These Christian leaders
betray not only the Swedish people, but they also betray the God that
they promised to serve, by making Christianity into a bullhorn for the
liberal elite who hold political power in Sweden.</p>
<p>One can have different interpretations of what Jesus did or what
opinions he had, but we can all agree that he did not serve the Emperor
or other earthly rulers. Too many Christian leaders in Sweden have
become the servants of earthly rulers by conveying the message of the
political establishment in Sweden.</p>
<blockquote><p><i>Nima Gholam Ali Pour is a member of the board of
education in the Swedish city of Malmö and is engaged in several Swedish
think tanks concerned with the Middle East. He is also editor for the
social conservative website Situation Malmö. Gholam Ali Pour is the
author of the Swedish book "</i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/9163794454" target="_blank"><i>Därför är mångkultur förtryck</i></a><i>"("Why multiculturalism is oppression").</i></p>
</blockquote>
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