The Norwegian Heathen Society ( or Hedningsamfunnet for short) is a non-partisan irreligious society that was established in 1974 and whose main focus is counteracting the Church of Norway

Church of Norway

The Church of Norway is the state church of Norway, established after the Lutheran reformation in Denmark-Norway in 1536-1537 broke the ties to the Holy See. The church confesses the Lutheran Christian faith...

 and Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 influence in Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

.

The Heathen Society calls itself a humanist

Humanism

Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, world view or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism....

 antireligious

Antireligion

Antireligion is opposition to religion. Antireligion is distinct from atheism and antitheism , although antireligionists may be atheists or antitheists...

 liberation movement

Liberation movement

A liberation movement is an organization leading a rebellion against a colonial power or national government, often seeking independence based on a nationalist identity and an anti-imperialist outlook.-See also:*Anti-imperialism...

. The organization advocates freedom of and, if need be, from religion

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

 and opposes Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 and Muslim

Islam

Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 influence.

From time to time it challenges the so-called "blasphemy

Blasphemy

Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...

 paragraph" in section 142 of the Norwegian Penal Code, which provides for punishment for anyone "who publicly insults or in an offensive manner shows contempt for any religious creed or for the doctrines or worship of any religious community lawfully existing [in Norway]". In 1982 it produced the cartoon Jesus Kristus & Co., depicting Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

, which stirred considerable controversy. Charges were filed by the women's branch of the Christian Democratic Party, but later dropped.

Another of its actions was its successful demand for the right to call "God does not exist" from the rooftops after Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

 City Council granted a mosque the right to broadcast Adhan

Adhan

The adhān is the Islamic call to prayer, recited by the muezzin at prescribed times of the day. The root of the word is meaning "to permit"; another derivative of this word is , meaning "ear"....

 (prayer calls).

The society also supports the separation of church and state

Separation of church and state

The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....

.

Purpose

"The Norwegian Heathens’ Society advocates man as the end and the togetherness of humans as the means of human society. We advocate liberation from authoritarian religions and from faiths belittling and dividing men, which rate the value of humankind according to man’s relation to a deity, and which use norms and dogmata to further inhibit human thoughts and emotions. We promote the freedom of confession and oppose any confession-based discrimination in general, and we oppose The Church of Norway and other religious institutions in particular."