Officials Block Man's Request To Put 'Christ' on License Plate, Fearing It May Offend Someone
Swedish officials rejected a Christian man’s application for a license plate that would express his religious beliefs because it could be offensive to others.
According to the European news outlet The Local, the Swedish Transport Agency blocked Cesar Kisangani Makombe’s request that the word “Christ,” or “Kristus” in Swedish, be included on his car registration plate.
“We deny any words that we believe can cause offense. Among other things, we say ‘no’ to everything that has any religious connotations, no matter which connotations,” Mikael Andersson, press officer for the Transport Agency, told Swedish newswire TT, The Local reported.
Makombe had previously tried to change his license plate letters to the name “Jesus,” but it was already blocked, according to The Local.
The agency reportedly rejected 94 license plate requests last year in total.
Swedish plates in the past have normally had three letters and three numbers, with personalized plates offered as an option.
However, as non-personalized combinations are running out, this month new Swedish cars will start using a new pattern: three letters, two numbers and another letter.
Makombe told the Swedish newspaper Göteborg Direkt that he didn’t understand the Swedish officials’ decision.
“All Western countries say they are Christians. In Sweden there are many churches and we even have a cross on the flag. But when you want to show that you are Christian, they say ‘no’ because it is offensive,” Makombe said, according to an English translation.
However, he didn’t plan on making another license plate request again.
“As a Christian you should not make war on those who make decisions in this country, instead we must pray for them,” Makombe said.
According to one 2015 Gallup poll, only 19 percent of Swedes claimed to be religious, making Sweden one of the least religious countries in the world. (Though it does have a growing Islamic population.)
However, other polls, like the 2016 the International Social Survey Programme, declared that about 70 percent of Swedes belonged to Christian denominations.
One reason for this disparity may be that until 1996, all children born to at least one parent who belonged to the Lutheran Church of Sweden were also registered as members of the church.
But statistics from the Church of Sweden say that membership is dropping every year. According to a computer translation, church membership statistics from 2016 showed that 90,000 people, or around 1.5 percent of the members, chose to leave the Swedish Church that year alone.
About 40 percent of responders cited their reason for leaving as being that they didn’t believe in God.
Many Swedes may still be members of Christian churches in support of the churches’ social and charitable work, rather than due to belief in their theological teachings. This could be a reason Makombe’s license plate was deemed “offensive” by Swedish officials.
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