Sweden opens first atheist cemetery to cater to growing non-religious population

Founder insists believers are welcome as well as long as they don't have religious symbols on their headstones

Caroline Mortimer
16 hours ago

A graveyard free of any religious symbols has been opened in Sweden to cater to the country’s growing number of atheists.

Josef Erdem, a teacher from Borlänge in central Sweden, first proposed the idea because he wanted people to “decide for themselves what their graves should look like”.

He said he had grown up in Kurdistan and as a result his worldview had been shaped by having friends from all walks of life.

He sent in the formal application for the ground after negotiating with local representatives of the Church of Sweden.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/sweden-atheist-cemetery-opens-religion-church-of-sweden-a7371006.html