Finland

The Republic of Finland is a Nordic country with a population of just less than 5.5 million people.  Finland was once part of Sweden and then the Russian Empire until it declared independence in 1917 in the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution. The country is a constitutional republic with a largely non-executive president acting as head of state.

Constitution and government Education and children’s rights Family, community, society, religious courts and tribunals Freedom of expression advocacy of humanist values
‘Blasphemy’ is outlawed or criticism of religion (including de facto ‘blasphemy’ laws) is restricted and punishable with a prison sentence
There is systematic religious privilege
Preferential treatment is given to a religion or religion in general
There is an established church or state religion
There is a religious tax or tithing which is compulsory, or which is state-administered and discriminates by precluding non-religious groups
State-funding of religious institutions or salaries, or discriminatory tax exemptions
There is state funding of at least some religious schools
Religious schools have powers to discriminate in admissions or employment
Discriminatory prominence is given to religious bodies, traditions or leaders
Blasphemy or criticism of religion is restricted in law and is punishable by a fine
Official symbolic deference to religion
State-funded schools offer religious or ideological instruction with no secular or humanist alternative, but it is optional
State-funded schools provide religious education which may be nominally comprehensive but is substantively biased or borderline confessional
Constitution and government
There is systematic religious privilege
Preferential treatment is given to a religion or religion in general
There is an established church or state religion
There is a religious tax or tithing which is compulsory, or which is state-administered and discriminates by precluding non-religious groups
State-funding of religious institutions or salaries, or discriminatory tax exemptions
Official symbolic deference to religion
Education and children’s rights
There is state funding of at least some religious schools
Religious schools have powers to discriminate in admissions or employment
State-funded schools offer religious or ideological instruction with no secular or humanist alternative, but it is optional
State-funded schools provide religious education which may be nominally comprehensive but is substantively biased or borderline confessional
Family, community, society, religious courts and tribunals
Discriminatory prominence is given to religious bodies, traditions or leaders
Freedom of expression advocacy of humanist values
‘Blasphemy’ is outlawed or criticism of religion (including de facto ‘blasphemy’ laws) is restricted and punishable with a prison sentence
Blasphemy or criticism of religion is restricted in law and is punishable by a fine
Use of Conscientious Objection clauses resulting in the denial of lawful services to women and LGBTI+ people
Religious or ideological instruction is mandatory in all or most state-funded schools with no secular or humanist alternative
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report

Countries: Kazakhstan

The state is secular, with separation of religious and political authorities, not discriminating against any religion or belief
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report
No fundamental restrictions on freedom of expression or advocacy of humanist values
Insufficient information or detail not included in this report

Countries: no countries relate to this boundary condition

No condition holds in this strand
No condition holds in this strand

Countries: Andorra

No condition holds in this strand
Religious courts or tribunals rule directly on some family or ‘moral’ matters; it is legally an opt-in system, but the possibility of social coercion is very clear
No condition holds in this strand

Countries: no countries relate to this boundary condition

Localised or infrequent but recurring and widespread social marginalisation or prejudice against the non-religious

This condition is unusual in that it is applied in cases where there is some social discrimination, but it is not pervasive or nationwide. This condition is applied when there is sufficient background evidence to warrant the assertion that discrimination is not anomalous but widespread, and this condition may be applied for example even where if there is no legislative discrimination or where the non-religious may have legal recourse against such discrimination. However, societal discrimination (i.e. discrimination by peers, as opposed to state or legal discrimination) is not easily measured, and for this reason the Report does not currently have similar more severe boundary conditions to capture higher levels of social discrimination per se. In principle these may be introduced in future. However, we consider that countries with actual higher levels of social discrimination against the non-religious will generally already meet other higher level (more severe) boundary conditions under this thematic strand.

Countries: Botswana, Greece, Serbia, United States of America

The dominant influence of religion in public life undermines the right to equality and/or non-discrimination

Applied when the influence of religion on public life undermines others’ rights, such as SRHR, women’s rights, LGBTI+ rights.

May be applied when the influence is overt (i.e. when religious laws are applied to undermine others’ rights) or covert (i.e. where religious pressure groups exert influence to affect policy)

Countries: Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Brunei Darussalam, Congo, Democratic Republic of, Croatia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eswatini, Fiji, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan, Liberia, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Oman, Paraguay, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, Zambia

The non-religious are persecuted socially or there are prohibitive social taboos against atheism, humanism or secularism
Complete tyranny precludes all freedoms of expression and thought, religion or belief

Applied when overriding acts of oppression by the State are extreme, to the extent that the question of freedom of thought and expression is almost redundant, because all human rights and freedoms are quashed by authorities.

Countries: North Korea

Expression of core Humanist principles on democracy, freedom and human rights is brutally repressed
Expression of non-religious views is severely persecuted, or is rendered almost impossible by severe social stigma, or is highly likely to be met with hatred or violence
There is significant social marginalisation of the non-religious or stigma associated with expressing atheism, humanism or secularism
Religious or ideological indoctrination is utterly pervasive in schools
There is a nominal state church with few privileges or progress is being made toward disestablishment

Countries: Bulgaria, Norway, Peru, Rwanda

The non-religious are barred from some government offices (including posts reserved for particular religions or sects)
‘Apostasy’ is outlawed and punishable with a prison sentence

Countries: Bahrain, Comoros, Jordan, Kuwait

‘Apostasy’ or conversion from a specific religion is outlawed and punishable by death
Some religious courts rule in civil or family matters on a coercive or discriminatory basis
Religious authorities have supreme authority over the state

Countries: Iran

State legislation is partly derived from religious law or by religious authorities
Preferential treatment is given to a religion or religion in general

This condition is applied where there are miscellaneous indicators that organs of the state offer various forms of support for a religion, or to religion in general over non-religious worldviews, suggesting a preference for those beliefs, or that the organs of that religion are privileged.

Countries: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burundi, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Montenegro, Mozambique, Nepal, New Zealand, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Rwanda, San Marino, Serbia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste (East Timor), Tunisia, Turkey, Tuvalu, United Kingdom, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Zimbabwe

There is a pattern of impunity or collusion in violence by non-state actors against the nonreligious
State-funded schools provide religious education which may be nominally comprehensive but is substantively biased or borderline confessional
Religious or ideological instruction in a significant number of schools is of a coercive fundamentalist or extremist variety

This condition highlights countries where schools subject children to fundamentalist religious instruction with no real opportunity to question fundamentalist tenets, or where lessons routinely encourage hatred (for example religious or ethnic hatred). The wording “significant number of schools” is not given a rigid quantification (sometimes the worst-offending schools are unregistered, illegal, or otherwise uncounted); however the condition is not applied in cases where only a small number of schools meet the description and may be anomalous, as opposed to being indicative of a widespread problem.

Countries: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia

State legislation is largely or entirely derived from religious law or by religious authorities
Anomalous discrimination by local or provincial authorities, or overseas territories
Religious or ideological instruction is mandatory in at least some public schools (without secular or humanist alternatives)
‘Blasphemy’ or criticism of religion is outlawed and punishable by death
Government figures or state agencies openly marginalize, harass, or incite hatred or violence against the non-religious
Government authorities push a socially conservative, religiously or ideologically inspired agenda, without regard to the rights of those with progressive views
It is illegal to advocate secularism or church-state separation, or such advocacy is suppressed
Prohibitive interreligious social control (including interreligious marriage bans)
Quasi-divine veneration of a ruling elite is enforced, or a single-party regime holds uncontested power, subject to severe punishment
Legal or constitutional provisions exclude non-religious views from freedom of belief
It is illegal to register an explicitly Humanist, atheist, secularist or other non-religious NGO or other human rights organization, or such groups are persecuted by authorities
There is a religious tax or tithing which is compulsory, or which is state-administered and discriminates by precluding non-religious groups
The non-religious are barred from holding government office
Some concerns about children's right to specifically religious freedom

This condition may apply if specifically religious education, religious materials, or specific religious denominations are so tightly controlled that children are in fact over-protected from exposure to religion and are likely unable to explore or construct their own worldview in accordance with their evolving capacities. This condition helps us to classify states (perhaps with secular constitutions) which have criminalized specifically religious beliefs or practices. This condition is not applied if the restricted beliefs or practices are found to be outlawed due to their being of an extremist variety. While this condition does not directly reflect discrimination against non-religious persons or non-religious ideas, it does represent an overall threat to freedom of thought, conscience, religion or belief; such restrictions could spill over to affect non-religious beliefs later; and they pose a risk of backlash against over-zealous secular authorities or even against non-religious individuals by association.

Countries: China, Congo, Democratic Republic of, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Guyana, Italy, Kazakhstan, Laos, Madagascar, Mexico, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Tajikistan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe

It is illegal or unrecognised to identify as an atheist or as non-religious
It is made difficult to register or operate an explicitly Humanist, atheist, secularist or other non-religious NGO or other human rights organization
Legend
 
Severe Discrimination
Systemic Discrimination
Mostly Satisfactory
More information about rating table

Constitution and government

There are strong protections in the Constitution of Finland[ref]finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/1999/en19990731.pdf[/ref] for the non-religious with Section 11 stating:

“Freedom of religion and conscience entails the right to profess and practice a religion, the right to express one’s convictions and the right to be a member of or decline to be a member of a religious community. No one is under the obligation, against his or her conscience, to participate in the practice of a religion”.

Section 6, on the subject of equality, guarantees that “No one shall, without an acceptable reason, be treated differently” on the ground, among other things, “religion” and “conviction”.

However, Section 76 of the constitution, “The Church Act”, formalises the establishment of the state church (see below).

Belief Demographics

According to the most recent Finnish government statistics, the largest belief group in Finland belongs to the Evangelical-Lutheran State Church, with 68.6% of the population as members.[ref]https://evl.fi/tietoa-kirkosta/tilastotietoa/jasenet[/ref] 1.1% of the population identify with the second state religion, the Christian Orthodox Church. By far the second largest bloc are those who don’t identify with any religion, at 27%.

Notwithstanding these data, and despite the majority of people identifying as a being members of the two State Churches, there are some polls that suggest that Finland is one of the least religious countries in the world with as many as 60% describing themselves as atheist, agnostic or non-religious, suggesting that a significant portion of the church membership is nominal or cultural.[ref]http://www.stat.fi/tup/suoluk/suoluk_vaesto_en.html; http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html[/ref]

State Churches

The majority Evangelical-Lutheran Church and the much smaller Orthodox Church have a “special relationship” with the Finnish state and could be considered de facto state religions.  However, unlike other state churches, they have a high level of autonomy from the government.  Everyone has the right to belong, or to decline to belong, to a religion, and the constitution prohibits discrimination based on religion or belief.  All citizens who belong to either of these churches pay a church tax set at 1 to 2 percent of income. Those who do not want to pay the church tax must terminate their congregation membership. Membership can be terminated by contacting the official congregation, the local government registration office or using the internet service (eroakirkosta.fi), which was created by a secular organization. Church and municipal taxes help defray the cost of running the churches. Parents may determine, by their common decision, the religious affiliation of their children under 12 years of age. Parents may determine the religious affiliation of children between the ages of 12 and 14, with the approval of the child. While children between the ages of 15 and 17 have the right to change or terminate religious affiliation, though the approval of both parents is needed.

The Church plays a central ceremonial role within government with the Opening and Closing of parliament being marked by an act of worship in Helsingin Cathedral.

The special relationship of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church with the state is codified in “the Church Act” and which is itself protected by the Constitution.  Disestablishment would require the support of the synod of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church, ratification by the Parliament of Finland and a change in the Constitution.  The close relationship of church and state is of great concern to those who do not share either of the state religions.

The Evangelical-Lutheran Church and the Orthodox Church may use direct income taxation for its members through the tax authorities. Other religious organizations and secular groups may not. The Evangelical-Lutheran State Church has a monopoly on services of undertaking for funerals, maintained by a national tax.

Additionally, Finnish legislation contains copious minor ties between the State and religious communities. For example, the Archbishop of the vangelical-Lutheran Church has the right to use a diplomatic passport, or the exemption of registered religious communities from real estate transfer tax. Developments related to these matters has in recent years been slow yet positive; for example, alcohol tax exemption for communion wine ended in 2018.

Education and children’s rights

The majority of schools in Finland are state-run schools with a comprehensive education. The education system is often praised for being inclusive and, although the country has a standardized national curriculum, teachers are given a great deal of autonomy when it comes to teaching.  There are a small number of private schools the majority of which are religious or Steiner schools, but these schools still receive state funding based on the per pupil funding received by state run schools.

Religious Education (RE) is compulsory in Finland. Under the 2003 Freedom of Religion act, each pupil is given the right to “instruction in one’s own religion”.  This was a compromise between those wishing to remove RE as a subject altogether and those who wished for it to remain dominated by the Evangelical-Lutheran Church. The “instruction in one’s own religion” is available if the religion is registered with the government and there are at least three pupils sharing the same belief.  Non-religious pupils are taught a subject called Life Perspective Studies (Ethics) which includes ethics and comparative religion. According to 2018 statistics, in an average class, 93% of the pupils receive instruction in the Lutheran religion, 8% study life perspectives (Ethics), whilst the rest study other minority religions such as Islam and Orthodox Christianity. Though under this system the non-religious have the same rights as the religious, there are concerns that this causes divisions in schools as pupils are separated during these lessons. This is of particular concern when some pupils are part of a small minority.

Those children who are registered with either the Evangelical Lutheran or the Orthodox church are obliged to attend the subject teaching of their assumed religion. There is in Finnish schools also a religiously neutral Life Perspective Studies subject, but its availability is not symmetric with the religious courses: Life Perspective Studies is not available to children who are classed as members of the two churches, and parents cannot choose this subject for their children, nor can children opt in in accordance with their developing capacities. Parents of children who are not church members, can choose between the Evangelical Lutheran religion and the Life Perspective Studies as a subject.

The school legislation and curricula have developed in Finland such that church services and religious morning assemblies are no longer the task of schools, and education in schools should not be religiously instructional, however many schools still hold some confessional church services and religious morning assemblies during the school year. The National Body of Education gives permission and instructions to arrange these religious ceremonies and even grace before lunch. Schools can also decide not to arrange any religious ceremonies. 

Freedom of expression, advocacy of humanist values

Blasphemy

Chapter 10 Section 17 of the Criminal Code of Finland calls for imprisonment or a fine for any person who would “breach of the sanctity of religion”. The section criminalizes anyone who:

“(1) publicly blasphemes against God or, for the purpose of offending, publicly defames or desecrates what is otherwise held to be sacred by a church or religious community, as referred to in the Act on the Freedom of Religion (267/1922)…”

The last successful prosecution under this section was in 2009, when right-wing politician Jussi Kristian Halla-aho was ordered to pay a fine of €330 under Section 10 of the Criminal Code of “Disturbing Worship” for posting remarks on his blog linking the Prophet Mohammed and Islam with paedophillia.