Finns Back Religion in Public Schools

Four out of five people interviewed want to keep religion in schools, while 16 percent say it should be discontinued in its current form. The results were published on Sunday by Satakunnan Kansa and Etelä-Suomen Sanomat.

Meanwhile, 55 percent of those polled approved the current tax system whereby the state-supported Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church gets a share of corporate tax revenues. Just over a quarter of respondents wanted to end that arrangement.

The Lutheran Church receives about 100 million euros worth of such tax funds annually. The money goes to social services such as assistance to the destitute, programmes for children and youth, maintaining population records, taking care of burials and cemeteries, as well as the upkeep of historic buildings.

The pollster Taloustutkimus interviewed more than 1000 people for the survey.

Last year, about 83 percent of the population of Finland belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran Church, according to Statistics Finland. Just over one percent belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church, which is also state-supported. Almost 15 percent had no religious affiliation.