Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - First part - III. Constitution and Administration - 4. Church and Religion. By G. Fr. Lundin, Ph. D., Uppsala - 5. Social Movements - The Woman Question, by Miss Gertrud Adelborg, Stockholm
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
272
iii. constitution and administration of sweden.
Their fundamental conviction — that truth wins its triumphs solely by inward
means — has kept Svedenborgians from all crude forms of propaganda, and this
will explain to a considerable extent the comparatively small number of those
who have openly joined the body. In Sweden the bodies organized as such
have a membership at present of rather over 200. In England 7,348 is the
number of registered members, and in the United States 7.376; scattered
congregations are to be found in all parts of the world.
5. SOCIAL MOVEMENTS.
In pretty nearly all civilized countries, our time is characterized
by deep currents affecting the reformation (or revolution) of society —
different to those of other periods inasmuch as they have forced their
way down to the very masses. In Sweden, with its high standard of
popular education and its old political freedom, these movements have
gained great strength, even if in this domain, just as often in others,
peculiar features are conspicuous, testifying that the development of our
people continues to follow its own course in very many respects.
A movement, which in other countries (hardly as yet, with us) is the most
noticeable of these social currents, is the Labour movement. For an account of
its phases in our country the reader is referred to another section at the end of
this work. Amongst other similar phenomena, the religious movement, the woman
question, and the temperance agitation have attracted the greatest attention in Sweden.
Concerning the religious movement, some data have already been given
above under the head Church and Religion. It must be borne in mind that this
mighty popular movement has exercised its influence on many departments of our
social life. For the first time — at least since the days of Engelbrekt (the 14th
century) — a national reformatory movement of wide scope has arisen from the
very depth of the masses themselves. It is peculiar to Sweden that this happened,
neither on political nor social ground, but on religious. But once awakened, the
new life is certain also to acquire other forms than religious ones, — which,
moreover, has already proved to be the case.
The educational power of such a movement is very evident. Even from
an economic point of view the movement has been a very important one, through
its encouragement of industry, saving, and thoughtfulness in money matters. In
the religious elements of the community a very high standard of prosperity is
nowadays prevailing.
Concerning the Woman question and the Temperance agitation, an account
of each will be given below — a short one because of the limited space.
The Woman Question.
As far as efforts to improve the position of woman are concerned,
Sweden stands among the foremost of European countries. If the
reason of this be sought, it may be discovered in the fact that, in
Sweden, woman even from remotest times has enjoyed greater respect
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
