Swedish government makes file-sharing religion official

6 January 2012

In today’s episode of We Couldn’t Make This Up If We Tried, the Swedish government has officially recognised a religion that worships file-sharing, löl.

According to a report over on the BBC, the Swedish government agency Kammarkollegiet finally obliged and registered the Church of Kopimism last month because they just wouldn’t take no for an answer.

“We had to apply three times,” said Gustav Nipe, chairman of the organisation.

The church was originally founded by 19-year old philosophy student Isak Gerson, and considers the copy-paste shortcuts CRTL+C and CTRL+V as sacred symbols. The church’s doctrine also gets around the issue of copyright infringement by playing the altruism card.

“For the Church of Kopimism, information is holy and copying is a sacrament. Information holds a value, in itself and in what it contains and the value multiplies through copying. Therefore copying is central for the organisation and its members,” Gerson said in a statement.

“Being recognised by the state of Sweden is a large step for all of Kopimi. Hopefully this is one step towards the day when we can live out our faith without fear of persecution.”

I buy all of my games, music, and DVDs. Does that mean I’m going to hell?

Source: BBC
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