Sweden allowed another Koran burning on Wednesday. Swedish Christians have mixed feelings about this. However, the protest may also have geopolitical implications.

If an occupier came to her hometown, Lotta Sjöström Becker would rather hide in a shelter than kill him. In her opinion, violence can never solve violence. Instead, she would resort to non-violent means, such as civil disobedience. "Violence and war are never justified", she says. Therefore, she sees joining military alliances, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), as the wrong way to go.

The leader of the Lutheran Church in Finland, bishop Seppo Häkkinen,has no opinion on whether or not Finland should join NATO. Also, the Church of Sweden does not want to interfere in the debate.

Never before Finland was part of a military alliance. The country never desired to be so either. But soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, the Finnish appetite changed. The Christian Democrats support that shift. “Joining NATO is the natural next step for us”, Peter Östman says.

Some years ago, I got hold of the letters my grandfather sent to my grandmother from the Winter War in 1939-1940. My grandfather was killed in action in the early stages of the Continuation War on 31 July 1941. The letters gave me some idea of my grandfather’s kind of person. The most significant discovery was his belief in God.