Representatives of the Christian Church of Sweden have designated a cemetery which welcomes atheists where religious and nationalist symbols will be forbidden. The non-religious cemetery is located beside the Church of Sweden's nearly 550 year old Stora Tuna church in Borlänge, central Sweden. There is already an existing Christian cemetery beside the medieval edifice. Astonishingly, members of the Church of Sweden itself will maintain upkeep of both the Christian and non-religious graveyards. While on the atheist graveyard property attendants are proscribed from asserting any Church of Sweden core beliefs.

The creation of the cemetery was the result of teacher Josef Erdem's idea that people should have a neutral space in which to be buried. On website The Local, Mr. Erdem said he felt that people should have the right to “decide for themselves what their graves should look like.” Erdem formally applied to the Church of Sweden to designate a location that would be religion-free and nationalist-free for such burials. The neutral cemetery seems timely in view of the increasing numbers of Swedes who don't believe in religion or who are abandoning it.  Sweden has the second highest per capita number of non-religious citizens in the world, at 76-80 percent.

Also according to The Local, “...teacher Gunnar Lindgren told broadcaster SVT: 'I don't want a burial place with a stone that needs to be cared for. I also don't want a church burial because I'm not a believer so this suits me.'"

For families with differing religious views, burial in a cemetery where religious and nationalist symbolism are prohibited offers the opportunity to families to be buried together based on familial amity instead of religious affiliation.

Photo Credits: Expressen