Danish Law Requires Submission of Sermons for Government Approval
Shocking news coming out of Denmark, the government has announced that it is considering a law which would require the transcription and prior approval of the manuscripts of all sermons preached in Denmark and translated by anyone speaking a language other than Danish into Danish. This is a law that is clearly intended to crackdown on Islamic extremists within their country but tramples on the religious liberties of English speaking Anglicans and German speaking Lutherans in Denmark. Most of the "shock and awe" concerning this law is coming from outside of Denmark itself. It seems that the Danish denominations biggest complaint is the added cost and inconvenience of complying with the proposed law.
The population of Denmark is about 5.8 million souls, the vast majority 75%, belong to the state Lutheran church , but only 3% attend regular Sunday services. About 20% of the population are not religious at all. So what we have there is really a secular state. The state Lutheran church is very liberal and recognized same sex marriages in 2012. The vast majority of people in Denmark don't seem to think much of religious liberty or for that matter, of religion at all.
Americans should take note of this, one of the founding principles of our government was religious liberty and freedom. Could we lose it? Elton Trueblood a Quaker theologian said that the United States was becoming a cut flower civilization. It had been cut off from its Christian roots, but the flower is still there. As he said, "When you cut a flower off from its root, it can look beautiful on the table for some time, but it's destined to die. Cut off from its roots, it will eventually wilt and fade." The metaphor here is very clear, and I appreciate it but what Trueblood fails to take into account is that God always has a remnant of the faithful left.