Belief and Ritual near the Polar Circle: Anthropological Research on a Religious Minority in Sweden (Norrbotten)

Laestadianism was a Lutheran revival movement that began in the north of Sweden in the early-nineteenth century. To-day followers of the Lutheran, pietistic church administrator Lars Levi Laestadius (1800-1861) are strongly conservative Christians, who called themselves the Congregation of Firstborn. They are constantly struggling with modernity, have their own rites (especially regarding forgiveness of sins) and live without any luxury (going to the movies, dancing, watching television, using internet etc. are strictly forbidden). In the article these very conservative Laestadians are compared with the Amish and the Hutterites in the USA and Canada.