The Conservative Laestadianism is one of the most prominent religious group in Finland. It is a very normative religious community having a strick code for religious but also non-religious aspects of life. This code and the social pressure to live by it have been reasons for many struggles and conflicts, both within the movement as well as between the world “outside”. The 1970s saw a puritan regime being enforced by some Conservative Laestadians that aimed to conceive a social and religious identity to the Laestadian faith. So called meetings of pastoral care were introduced with aggressive and mentally oppressive practices, which are commonly understood as a religious violence. The social consequences of these meetings have been far-reaching, not only among the Laestadians but with respect to the non-Laestadian communities. It is only now, almost thirty years later, that an open discussion about the 1970s is possible. The aim of presentation is to analyze the emotional responses to these meetings; how the meetings were experienced by those who were forced to participate in them. Theoretically, the theme of emotions will be elaborated; how emotions could help in understanding and analyzing spiritually and religiously motivated violence and pressure. Empirically the presentation relies on collected narratives, internet material, interviews as well as documents, newspapers and official material provided by the Laestadian community. In the analysis, especially the emotions of fear, anger, relief, shame and guiltyness are examined in order to understand consequences and processes of religious violence.
