Prioritising Community Spirit over Freedom of Religion During the Pandemic: The Case of Denmark

Abstract

The handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by the Danish state and society has generally received praise. The actions taken by the Danish authorities efficiently curbed the death rates and the population generally accepted the restrictions put on public and collective aspects of their lives as they were performing what in Danish was named samfundssind (community spirit/civic consciousness). The practice of samfundssind also prevailed among religious communities, who adhered with very few complaints to the complete closing of all places of worship for the public during the first lockdown and the extremely bureaucratic rules of limitations during the later lockdowns. In this analysis of the pandemic’s impact on religious life in Denmark, we present three key findings: (a) we present how minority groups struggled with achieving a positive public perception, (b) we show that the usual privileged position of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark (ELCD) was more or less nullified by the strict restrictions of the government, and (c) we argue that ELCD was therefore subjected to the same restrictions as the minority religious groups. It was also clear that many of these restrictions were formulated on the basis of an understanding of the ELCD as the default form of religion in Denmark.