Greta Thunberg, 16, is revered as the icon of the climate movement by some and seen as a morbid cult figure by others. Fittingly, she has become part of a digital course about religion in her native Sweden.

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has earmarked a special place in a digital course for grades 7-9 in Swedish schools, the news outlet Samhällsnytt reported.

Remarkably, it is a course on religious knowledge and philosophy. The chapter she is featured in is called “Climate”, and, as the outlet put it, is “basically about Greta Thunberg”.

The course offers a sympathetic description of Thunberg, stressing her childhood in a family, where “creation has been at the centre”. The climate strike that Thunberg inspired and encourages schoolchildren to walk away from school to demand a more strenuous climate policy from their respective governments, is mentioned in a positive tone. Greta, it is claimed, is an “alarm clock” that “allows us to discuss, talk, and reflect on what is happening to our world”.

“Greta is practically painted as a saint”, a student told Samhällsnytt, suggesting that Thunberg's depiction was deeply biased.

The students are trained, among other things, in disproving criticism against Greta and creating memes to mock her opponents. In one task, they are asked to find a picture to illustrate the sentence “One simply doesn't mess with Greta”, a nod to an outdated Boromir meme from “Lord of the Rings”.

Publisher Liber, which is one of Sweden's largest for textbooks and teaching materials, said that the initiative to offer cross-curricular teaching material is “especially appreciated by teachers”. “For us, it is important to constantly offer materials and teaching materials that reflect the contemporary”, the company told Samhällsnytt.

Greta's rise to prominence has been rapid. In the course of a single year, she's appeared on many magazine covers, toured the world with her climate message, had numerous murals devoted to herself, amassed a plethora of prizes, and just missed out on the Nobel Peace Prize.

The almost universal adoration she enjoys among mainstream media and politicians alike has sparked accusations of a cult, where Thunberg is seen as some kind of Messiah who will come to save the world from its climate issues. Others believe that Thunberg, who has a medical record that includes Asperger's, depression, and eating disorders, is being exploited for financial or ideological gain.

Incidentally, the 16-year-old has been compared to Biblical prophets by none other than Antje Jackelén, the Archbishop of Sweden. At one point the Church of Sweden even proclaimed her “Jesus's Successor”.

“The Cult of Greta Thunberg is becoming more and more creepy. The green movement has turned her into an eco-messiah who has apparently come to save humankind from its sinfulness and stupidity. It is so backward. It has all the trappings of a cult".



Brendan O’Neill on @NewstalkFM pic.twitter.com/tE6DZZntuA — spiked (@spikedonline) 30 августа 2019 г.

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