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The year 2000: for many, a magically charged temporal threshold. But for others, New Year's celebrations are observed at different times, depending upon the diverse calendars of the great world religions, viz. 1420... 1700... 2056... 5760.
There are almost a million people living in Sweden today whose daily lives are strongly affected by religion. Almost every day of the calendar is related to some religious celebration: John the Baptist, who baptized Jesus, is celebrated by the church on Midsummer's Day. On Easter Day, the resurrection of Christ and the victory of life over death are celebrated. Diwali introduces the Hindu New Year, which is one of many religious festivals of light. Sri Guru Granth Sahib is a festival which is celebrated in honor of the sacred scripture of the Sikhs. Katina is one of the main Buddhist festivals and concludes the monks' three-month meditation and lengthy fast. The list of religious celebrations could go on and on. Yet Sweden is one of the world's most secularized countries. How should we learn to live together with our different world-views? How do we exchange conflict and mistrust for dialogue and mutual respect? |
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