The Finnish weekly newspaper Sunnuntaisuomalainen had Taloustutkimus do a survey asking,
* The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Sweden is going to start marrying same-sex couples. Do you think the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland should marry homosexual couples? *
The survey was made in late October. 1.003 Finns over 15 years of age from the whole country except the Åland Islands were interviewed.
The results - published here: http://korta.nu/e090 - show that 44% are positive and 39% negative to same-sex marriages within the ELCF. The number of positive answers are higher in the south (i.e., the big cities), among people with higher education, women and young people, and among people who voted Green, Left or Swedish in the last general elections.
One interesting statistic was left out, since church membership wasn't recorded. The questions were put to the whole population, not just church members. This is, however, more of a principle than a practical problem, since about 81% of the population belong to the ELCF.
Archbishop Jukka Paarma (who is retiring next year) is surprised by the high number of positive answers (and so am I, a little), but he affirms that the ELCF won't even discuss the matter if the State doesn't pass a gender neutral marriage law. One such law is, however, being prepared.
