Atheist campaign urges to quit church membership

Why believe in a god?
Why does faith cost you money?
Did Jesus and Muhammad talk to a god?

These slogans decorated busses in Aarhus in March. The campaign was launched by The Atheist Society and aimed at making people “think for themselves” and quit their membership of the Danish Lutheran Church (ELCD). During the first three months of 2016, 4,425 people withdrew their membership of the ELCD,  a much higher number than usual. The Atheist Society claims that 3,000 left via their website where people can fill in a form and resign from the ELCD online. 

Membership, church taxes, baptism
However, a number of resignations were sent by people who were not members to begin with, but who for some reason or other decided to fill in the form. One reason could be simple ignorance. In the ELCD, baptism is the entrance ticket to church membership. Only persons baptised in the ELCD, or baptised persons who have actively joined the ELCD, and who have not withdrawn their membership, pay church taxes. However, since the ELCD is the established church by law and supported by the state, it is a widely held myth that all citizens pay church taxes and that you become a church member by birth.

Who is leaving – and how many?
So far, it seems to be mainly young men between 18 and 25 who decide to leave the church.
“It is probable that the campaign has poked some of those who had considered leaving already in a direction to actually doing it,” religious sociologist Brian Arly Jacobsen says to the Christian Daily. “And the effect may be even more evident in the second quarter of the year as the debate about the atheist campaign only really started in April. So these numbers show that the Atheist Society can gain a lot of attention for little money and they also show some effect in the membership statistics, “ he says. 

When the church receives a resignation letter, the pastor has to have the resignation verified by the person in question. Oftentimes, this is done by the pastor who calls the person by telephone. Other pastors send a letter back to make sure it is the right person. Often they explain what the consequences of non-membership will be. This is important because one consequence is that the person cannot be buried from church and that the family will have to arrange their own ceremony. Many times, people leave the church without telling their relatives. 

Membership numbers in the ELCD have been decreasing for years. In the months to come we will see if the atheist campaign will have a long-term effect.

By Rebekka Højmark Svenningsen