Traditions matter, and denying or downplaying their significance is a profoundly misguided position. When the media fills with arguments about cancelled Saint Lucia celebrations and banned gingerbread costumes, the resulting concern reflects something genuine: a fear that important values are being lost. That concern deserves to be taken seriously.
The script is almost painfully predictable. It begins with reports that a school has restricted or cancelled some aspect of a traditional celebration. The familiar cast of characters soon appears: the outraged parent, the upset child, and the teacher who explains and defends the decision. In the next act, a senior manager arrives to declare that the entire affair is simply a misunderstanding. Whether it truly was a misunderstanding or merely a rapid retreat is rarely established.
Loud voices then rush in to interpret events according to their preferred narrative. On one side are those crying “fake news” and accusing newspapers of serving the interests of racists. They know the parents are lying or confused. On the other side are those convinced that Swedish traditions are under attack in the name of multicultural nihilism. They know the manager is lying and that the school has backtracked only because of media pressure.
A careful reading of the evidence, rather than an ideological one, reveals that a small number of schools have indeed chosen not to hold Saint Lucia celebrations. It is also true that one can observe more “subversive” changes, such as boys playing Lucia and girls dressing as gingerbread figures.
The Swedish Christmas tradition—with its blend of pagan, Christian and secular influences—continues to evolve, as all traditions do. Yet these changes are more likely to be a condition for its survival than a threat to it. And the fact that a handful of schools choose not to participate hardly suggests that the Lucia tradition is disappearing. If anything, it is more popular than ever.
That does not mean public concern can simply be dismissed as ignorance tinged with racism. Traditions matter. Together with cultural heritage and shared values, they form part of the social glue that binds society together. For individuals, Christmas and the weeks leading up to it—with their rituals, preparations, anticipation and sense of community—provide continuity, meaning and reassurance.
To dismiss people’s fears that important values are being lost is simply arrogant.
Attempting to associate those concerns with people who spread hatred is equally arrogant. From a behavioural perspective, strong reactions to changes in tradition are entirely understandable. Even more so when people feel that politicians or cultural elites are actively attempting to impose those changes.
How else should one interpret claims that there is no indigenous Swedish culture, or that barbarism is the only thing that is truly Swedish? How should one interpret public figures expressing hopes that Lucia processions might disappear altogether? Or the repeated insistence that Swedish Christmas traditions are largely mythical because “a real Swedish Christmas has a German Christmas tree, Dutch saffron buns and a Turkish Father Christmas”?
I assume the intentions behind such arguments are good. Yet claiming that Swedish culture or Swedish traditions do not exist is not merely false and historically illiterate. It deprives people of the continuity, security and sense of belonging that traditions provide. It severs a connection to previous generations, to history and to culture itself—connections that become all the more important in a rapidly changing world. Ironically, it also makes inclusion more difficult for people from other cultural backgrounds. Without culture and tradition, there is nothing into which anyone can be included.
Failing to recognise the importance of tradition—denying it or diminishing it—is therefore an attitude that is both extreme and harmful. Those who persist in doing so display not merely ignorance, but a profound failure of judgement and moral perspective.
This article was first published in Smedjan on 20 December 2018.
