1. Comment #389365 by ingar on June 19, 2009 at 1:25 pm

Nice one.

(Norwegian who doesn't think Norway is secular enough)

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2. Comment #389366 by Tezcatlipoca on June 19, 2009 at 1:27 pm

Does Oystein know about this?

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3. Comment #389367 by donL on June 19, 2009 at 1:33 pm

I'm glad that norwegian is closely related to german - so I'm going to learn it very fast IN HELL.

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4. Comment #389368 by FaithInReason on June 19, 2009 at 1:34 pm

wow.. What a headline for a Norwegian to see at the top of the webpage!

(And yeah, Norway isn't secular enough)

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5. Comment #389373 by Oystein Elgaroy on June 19, 2009 at 1:49 pm

I agree: Norway is not secular enough. We have a state church, and children spend more time learning about religion than about science during their first seven years in school.

Edited for spelling.

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6. Comment #389378 by thnp on June 19, 2009 at 1:58 pm

Agree ... I rather see Norway turn quite a bit more secular during my lifetime. I do though think we're moving - slowly - in the right direction :-)

Kind regards from quite happy Norwegian

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7. Comment #389381 by zeroangel on June 19, 2009 at 2:03 pm

Read every single comic on that site just now. Took about an hour. Funny stuff.

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8. Comment #389385 by stevenLagnew on June 19, 2009 at 2:20 pm

NORWAY FTW

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9. Comment #389386 by Elles on June 19, 2009 at 2:22 pm

"Norway is ranked first in life expectancy, literacy, education, and standard of living."

Erm... life expectancy is up there, yeah, at 70.78, but that actually puts it at number 19 according to the CIA world fact book.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2102.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

Literacy, at 99.0% is good and all, but Cuba, Estonia, and Poland still has first at 99.8%.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_literacy_rate

I mean, yeah. You can still say that's pretty damned good. It is damned good... but it's not honest saying that it's ranked "first" is it?

Either way, I laughed pretty darn hard at "I hope they speak Norwegian in HELL!"

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10. Comment #389388 by Synchronium on June 19, 2009 at 2:29 pm

I wish I lived in Norway.

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11. Comment #389410 by ComradePorkie on June 19, 2009 at 3:42 pm

Added 'learn Norwegian' to my list of long-term ambitions. Sounds like a good place to live, and I would assume it's not too hot there either.

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12. Comment #389413 by orpheus on June 19, 2009 at 5:22 pm

And another thing: much of Norway is also shockingly beautiful.

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13. Comment #389418 by NormanDoering on June 19, 2009 at 6:04 pm

Oystein wrote:
"Norwegian is not secular enough. We have a state church, and children spend more time learning about religion than about science during their first seven years in school."

Be careful what you wish for. Your state church and religious education might be the very things that make so many Norwegians atheists.

It depends on how stupid the preachers in the state church are:
http://normdoering.blogspot.com/2009/06/youtube-creationist-geerup-and-question.html

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14. Comment #389420 by j.mills on June 19, 2009 at 6:08 pm

Yeah, but they kill whales and jump naked into freezing cold lakes. That's naked without any clothes on. And all they eat is blubber and herring and their language is all hurdy-gurdy and they only have one kind of tree and that's dead pine. And they can't even take credit for the fjords 'cos that was Slartibartfast. The capital city is Helsinkjavik.

(I haven't had time to check all these facts, but I am sure they are reliable.)

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15. Comment #389457 by DamnDirtyApe on June 20, 2009 at 12:46 am

Eh, they probably wouldn't say they were an 'atheist nation' par say. More like 'we're too busy with more useful stuff than that sort of thing'.

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16. Comment #389461 by Vaal on June 20, 2009 at 1:01 am

5. Comment #389373 by Oystein Elgaroy

We have a state church, and children spend more time learning about religion than about science during their first seven years in school.

Norse Gods, I hope, not that Abrahamic monster :)

EDIT: Have to say, according to the criteria for going to hell, it must be an infinitely more interesting place than Heaven.

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17. Comment #389462 by Buchner on June 20, 2009 at 1:06 am

Comment #389457 by DamnDirtyApe on June 20, 2009 at 12:46 am


"Eh, they probably wouldn't say they were an 'atheist nation' par say."

PAR SAY ????

I don't get it. Is that a joke?

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18. Comment #389463 by flying goose on June 20, 2009 at 1:10 am

Hell is of course a Germanic word, Hela I think was the Norse equivalent of Hades, in terms of diety and place. She was a goddess of course not a god. Hell of course translates two NT words, Hades, the abode of the dead ( hence 'he (Jesus) descended to hell' in the apostle's creed)and gehenna, from Hinnom the rubbish tip out side Jerusalem where things got burnt, a metaphor for hell fire.

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19. Comment #389464 by flying goose on June 20, 2009 at 1:12 am

Vaal I am afraid Hell, in the gehenna sense spoken of by the cartoon, is annihilation.

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20. Comment #389481 by Roger Stanyard on June 20, 2009 at 2:27 am

I hope they speak Norwegian in Hell

They do indeed - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Norway

Strange, that there are only about 350 Norwegian speakers in Hell.

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21. Comment #389483 by Communist on June 20, 2009 at 2:49 am

Ha ha. I am Norwegian, and I have been in Hell several times. My grandparents were living close to Hell (in Limbo so to speak). I have made journey straight to the center of Hell, and my experience was less colorful than Dante's. But it's true. They do speak Norwegian there.

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22. Comment #389485 by GBile on June 20, 2009 at 2:53 am

With all these nice people going there, we might rename hell into 'heaven'. And should the place where pope Innocentius I, Jerry Falwell, and all those suicidebombers are, not be renamed to HELL ?

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23. Comment #389511 by RichardofYork on June 20, 2009 at 5:18 am

I went to Norway last winter , I was stunned by its natural beauty I saw a frozen waterfall near lillehammer , and that is when I realised ;its bleeding cold in Norway

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24. Comment #389514 by Stewart Cowan on June 20, 2009 at 5:38 am

Wasn't it the same in Iceland - until last year!

Stewart Cowan (realstreet.co.uk)

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25. Comment #389517 by steveroot on June 20, 2009 at 5:53 am

21. Comment #389481 by Roger Stanyard on June 20, 2009 at 2:27 am

They don't speak Norwegian in *this* Hell:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/301/22/2331
Well, maybe a few do...

Can there be multiple hells? Is this like a multi-verse?
Steve

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26. Comment #389620 by Philster61 on June 20, 2009 at 11:55 am

Øystein is correct when he mentions Norway isnt secular enough.I work here. Hej Øystein.Har du det bra? I think the perception by the rest of the world that Norway is completely secular is a little misleading.Norway does indeed have quite a strict Lutheran religious influence in its society. Up until september 2005,Norways PM was a Lutheran Pastor. (Kjell Magne Bondivik.)
And the Philadelphian church is a fast growing community with ever increasing amounts of young people joining its ranks.

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27. Comment #389623 by Philster61 on June 20, 2009 at 11:57 am

Hi Communist.And I have a Picture of the signpost at Trondheim Værnes that leads to Hell. Ill try to upload it.

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28. Comment #389628 by Oystein Elgaroy on June 20, 2009 at 12:11 pm

Comment #389620 by Philster61

Takk, jeg har det bare bra, Philster! Håper du trives i Norge.

You are right to point out the strong Lutheran influence. And thanks for don't mentioning Snåsamannen and that our princess talks to angels and horses.

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29. Comment #389665 by Mr DArcy on June 20, 2009 at 1:23 pm

Whenever 1 inch of snow falls on London, and chaos reigns for a day or so, the Norwegians have a good laugh at the unpreparedness of the Brits. No wonder, their climate is so much worse than Britain's, which is not great, in many ways. The great Norwegian footballer Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/2320013/Ole-Gunnar-Solskjaer-leaves-golden-memories.html , must have thought Manchester, England, a veritable tropical paradise compared with where he grew up. (Manchester is renowned for its high rainfall, and at least one good football team). Maybe the preachers in Norway are too lazy to counter the geography and climate. Or maybe the Norwegians are just too sensible to worry about religion; life is already difficult and short.

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30. Comment #389676 by bluebird on June 20, 2009 at 1:56 pm

Hell, Norway?!? That's my cool fact bite find for the day. Unusual town names in the U.S.:
http://www.accuracyproject.org/towns.html

Norwegian meatball recipe was mentioned in a movie I just watched... sounds good!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Norwegian-Meatballs/Detail.aspx

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31. Comment #389700 by dochmbi on June 20, 2009 at 3:06 pm

I've read all those comics a long time ago.

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32. Comment #389712 by Philster61 on June 20, 2009 at 3:39 pm

Wont mention anything about that Øystein.Although I will mention that she (Martha Louise)was very gracious after I had managed to accidentally spill a beer on her at Akerbrygge years ago.lol.
TBH.I think Norway has achieved the right balance of religion and secularism that other countries could and should have. Its no big deal with the average Norwegian whether or not you believe in God. Its a system that many societies could learn from.
Heja Norge

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33. Comment #389718 by GoGo_Gorilla on June 20, 2009 at 4:02 pm

Let's all go to Hell!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Norway

^^

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34. Comment #389826 by Roland_F on June 21, 2009 at 10:40 pm

Now Norway should replace Sweden as atheist model state ?
The wealth is coming from Oil exports not from atheist lifestyle or not from worshipping Thor instead of Yahweh.
Most of the Viking (Scandinavian) nations are not very religious but still behave like Vikings anyway, instead of sailing boats they use the Viking line, instead of raiding Germany to take woman as booty now they plunder the Alco shops and take Spirits as booty from there.

Other Comments by Roland_F

35. Comment #389842 by mostraum on June 22, 2009 at 1:04 am

At least I now know what to leave as an forwarding address when I die. Me, who just thought my mail would sit there uncollected forever.

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36. Comment #389990 by barg on June 22, 2009 at 6:37 am

hehe great comic...

although, here's some information:
our GDP is that high purely due to the fact that we have an enormous supply of natural resources like oil and gas. we have a low unemployment rate simply because a large part of the country is on social welfare, many on it for reasons that are either fraudulent or which in other countries would not get you any social welfare. something which the IMF pointed out in their latest report on norway. of the remaining work force, something like 40% are employed by the state. it's a great place to live, but in the end, we don't produce a whole lot other than oil.

we also have a state church in place, and our previous prime minister was a priest. which is only comparable to Iran...

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37. Comment #389994 by Roger Stanyard on June 22, 2009 at 6:48 am

With all these nice people going there, we might rename hell into 'heaven'. And should the place where pope Innocentius I, Jerry Falwell, and all those suicidebombers are, not be renamed to HELL ?

Well one town in the Bible Belt has attempted to ban the use of the word "Hello" because it contains the four letters "hell". They've decided to replace "Hello" with "HeavenO". I jest not.

See http://unreasonablefaith.com/2009/06/18/texas-town-changes-greeting-to-heaven-o/

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38. Comment #389995 by Quetzalcoatl on June 22, 2009 at 6:50 am

Roger Stanyard-

Have they also banned the word "shell" and variants thereof?

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