Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I investigate the use-value (or lack thereof) of religious language in debates on abortion and transgender rights in the highly secularized context of Finnish politics in the 2020s. I discuss the far-right, religious language, and Christian identity-building in general.

Paper long abstract:

Abortion and transgender rights have recently been debated in several countries, such as the United States. Christian language often features, and far-right actors frequently participate. In Europe, many have noted that religious language, which refers to national Christian identity, has been used regularly by many far-right parties, including in highly secularized countries such as the Nordics. However, the far-right parties often have a difficult relationship with Christian actors, such as the churches. Also, they do not necessarily emphasize Christianity content-wise as, for example, the Christian democratic parties do. This begs the question: what is the use-value of religious language for the far-right and others when other Christian interests – beliefs and values – are at play in addition to or beside the ones related to the national identity? I investigate the Finnish debates on abortion and transgender rights in the 2020s from this perspective. While explicitly Christian politicians might use Christian language in social media and other venues, parliamentary uses are infrequent. In other words, even religious interests are primarily argued for using secular discourses. Furthermore, religion appears to be a troublesome political resource for the conservative side in parliamentary politics, as some MPs and their constituencies are simply less religious than others. Its main use-value in coalition building and politics, in general, appears to revolve around nationalistic identity claims. However, topics such as abortion or transgender rights offer very little space to present them.