Rapportens syfte är att undersöka huruvida trossamfund har hanterat corona-pandemin under april 2020och om det finns några skillnader mellan olika trossamfunds hantering. Rapporten ämnar ävenundersöka vilka faktorer som kan ligga bakom eventuella skillnader i hanteringen. Genom struktureradeintervjuer av 29 olika samfund i Karlstad, ämnas följande frågeställningar besvaras; Hur hanterar deolika samfunden corona-pandemin? Finns det skillnader mellan samfundens hantering av coronapandemin?Vad finns det för skillnader mellan samfundens hantering av corona-pandemin? Samt; Vilkafaktorer orsakar skillnader mellan samfundens hantering av corona-pandemin?Studiens resultat visar att samtliga trossamfund som intervjuats i någon utsträckning har ställt inoch/eller anpassat sin verksamhet för att hantera de begränsningar som den rådande pandemin inneburit.Skillnader mellan trossamfundens hantering av corona-pandemin har synliggjorts på sådant vis att dettydligt visar skillnader kring i vilken utsträckning trossamfunden har stängt ner aktiviteter och offentligasammankomster. Graden av anpassningar och hantering av pandemin grundas på faktorer så somförutsättningar i form av ekonomiska resurser, lokaler och tidigare erfarenheter.

The aim of this qualitative study is to examine how teachers comprehend and interpret the subject of Religious Studies in Sweden; and how these interpretations manifest themselves practically in their teachings.

The theoretical framework of the subject Religious Studies can be perceived and interpreted in different ways. This interpretation, as well as its practical implementation, is a process that is largely determined by a teacher’s knowledge of: pedagogical content knowledge, subject matter knowledge and curricular knowledge. The examination is based on eight semi-struc-tured interviews with Religious Studies teachers. Perceptions and methods were explored with each of them, the output of which has been analysed and themed.

The result of the study clearly demonstrated that the main purpose of Religious Studies teaching was to increase the acceptance and tolerance of its students. It also revealed that due to the breadth and complexity of subject matter, the practical implementation of their teaching approaches varied significantly. Furthermore, its effectiveness is not only influence by the teaching approach itself, but also by individual’s own personal development.

Uppsatsen bygger på en fältstudie utförd bland 10 gifta, brahminska kvinnor i området Assi i Benares (Varanasi)i Indien. Avsikten med fältstudien var att ta reda på om och i sådana fall vad, hur och varför kvinnorna i undersökningsgruppen utför några dagliga religiösa handlingar. Varje kvinna har intervjuats vid två tillfällen. Intervjuerna har skett med hjälp av tolk som översatt från engelska till hindi och hindi till engelska.

Uppsatsen besvarar tre inledande frågeställningar:

1. Utför kvinnorna i undersökningsgruppen några dagliga religiösa handlingar?

2. (I sådana fall) Vilka religiösa handlingar utför de dagligen? (Tillvägagångssätt? Finns det några likheter/olikheter?)

3. Varför utför kvinnorna dessa handlingar? (Hur förklarar de ritualerna de utför?)

Resultatet av undersökningen visar att alla kvinnor i gruppen varje dag utför en puja ("gudstjänst") på morgonen och att en majoritet även utför en puja varje kväll. Fokus kom därmed att hamna på just pujan och dess utförande.

Vissa små skillnader finns i de olika kvinnornas tillvägagångssätt när de utför sina pujor, men det finns också en tydlig stomme, eller kärna, som återfinns hos alla. När det gäller morgonens puja består denna stomme av sex steg, upacaras, och hos kvällens puja, som

oftast är mindre, hittas en stomme av två steg. Stegen redovisas och diskuteras utförligt i uppsatsen.

Kvinnorna förklarar sitt tillvägagångssätt med att de olika stegen utförs för att ta hand om gud och göra gud nöjd. För att förstå detta resonemang bör man ha kunskap om det hinduiska gudsbegreppet, synen på gud som personlig och närvarande. Synen på gud diskuteras ingående i uppsatsen. Kvinnornas tillvägagångssätt är också ett resultat av traditionsförmedling. Ingen i undersökningsgruppen har läst sig till hur hon ska göra utan har lärt sig av sina föräldrar och svärföräldrar och ibland har hon också lagt till egna inslag.

För kvinnorna i undersökningsgruppen är det viktigt att varje dag utföra sina pujor. Den vanligaste förklaringen till detta är att pujorna skänker dem frid i sinnet, "mann ki shanti".

Uppsatsen är beskrivande och den är fokuserad på den empiriska undersökningen. Resultatet av fältstudien diskuteras och fördjupas av litteratur med anknytning till innehållet.

Denna rapport är en del av projektet Religion i samhällskris och undersöker hur livscykelritualer som dop, konfirmation och bröllop har påverkats bland Karlstads församlingar och organisationer under rådande pandemi Covid-19. Pandemin medförde restriktioner om social distansering och att undvika samlas i grupper vilket påverkar ritualernas utförande under både ceremoni och firande. Undersökningen belyser tidigare forskning passageriter och vilken betydelse de kan utgöra för människor. Rapporten utgår från tidigare forskning och intervjuer som gjorts bland Karlstads religiösa samfund för att komma att diskutera betydelsen av de åtgärder och förändringar som gjorts. Undersökningen visar på att de olika samfunden och organisationerna har hanterat restriktionerna på olika vis och med varierad.

This paper examines if the wedding rite today can be considered as a rite of consumption rather than a rite of passage, with base in the wedding gown. The method used is a qualitative text and content analysis, this method has been applied to three articles and one book whom discuss the wedding and consumption related to the bride gown. To analyze this material Arnold Van Gennep´s definition of rites of passage is applied. Weddings are in our time strongly influenced by consumption with a strong focus on materiality rather than on religion. The wedding gown can be considered to be one of the most important artefacts today concerning the bride adapting to her new identity and social role. 

The purpose of this study is to lay a foundation to be able to examine if textbooks can be used to teach about lived religion. The study used a qualitative content analysis to examine whether lived religion could be identified in textbooks, within religious education, for the higher grades of compulsory school and in the curriculum with its commentary notes. The results were then analyzed in relation to each other to find out which aspects of lived religion coincided when interpreting the different sources. Using a coding scheme as an analysis tool, the content of the sources was interpreted based on the study's theoretical starting point and through a lived religion perspective. The theoretical starting point was based on Enstedt and Plank's (2018) seven themes- and Ammerman's (2016) three dimensions of lived religion. The results showed that lived religion could be identified in both textbooks and the curriculum, and that all aspects of lived religion that could be identified in the curriculum, also could be identified in all three textbooks. As previous research has shown a significant use of textbooks among teachers and that the lived religion perspective can contribute to a more inclusive religious education, the conclusions of this study show that textbooks contain material identified as lived religion. Thus, this study lays the foundation for further examinations into the use of textbooks in teaching about lived religion.

This study focuses on the portrayal of Zen buddhism according to the counterculture icon Alan Watts; to see how he distinguishes the relationship between east and west, what differences Zen has in its character compared to other schools of buddhism, and how Zen could be of use for the western world. To acquire relevant and important information the chosen method is therefore a qualitative content analysis to decode the content of two books. Mentioned books are: The way of Zen and Talking Zen Reflection on Mind, Myth, and the Magic of life.

The relationship between east and west has been, and still is, a complex phenomenon. Therefore, to ensure a clear picture the study has chosen to proceed with orientalism as its theoretical standpoint. More specifically; Richard King's use of the term orientalism and the mystic east. With orientalism as a ‘tool’ the inquiry could more easily proceed to show the importance of why religion should be seen in light of the cultural context. This due to the common occurrence of how westerners put the label religion on eastern peoples way of living without regards to their culture. 

The results show that even though Alan Watts had immense knowledge of Zen and the orient, he still saw it through the lens of orientalism. Watts paints a picture of eastern cultures such as Zen, as peaceful and living in harmony with nature, whilst the west is plagued by problems. One solution according to Watts, is to embrace the way of Zen, and experience true freedom. 

The purpose of this study is to investigate The Church of Sweden’s role in the society of Årjängs municipality and to make visible if and how new spiritual phenomena occurs in Nordmarken Parish. Previous research suggests that more research is needed regarding new spirtual phenomena (Frisk 2015). Previous research also shows that new spiritual related thoughts is rising in Sweden which in turn warrants more studies in the area (Löwendahl 2002). The methods used in this study will consist of participant observations and content analysis where the observations will be used for gathering data and content analysis to interpret said data. The results of the study show that new spiritual related elements do exist in Nordmarken Parish although not to any great extent. One reason for this seem to be the influence of the Corona virus leading to fewer new spiritual related activities than previous years. The study also shows that The Church of Sweden in Nordmarken Parish has a relatively prominent and visible role in the society of Årjängs municipality. The result in relation to previous studies does match with Jarnkvists (2017) presentation that The Church of Sweden play a large role in the life of many Swedes.

The article treats the place of the body in thecultural criticism of Viktor Rydberg, not only as a central theme but also as an image with the potential to figuratively describe societal and even cosmic relationships. Rydberg’s idealof the symmetrical and athletic body is seen inthe perspective of his dependence on German neo-humanism and the gymnastic movement.The ideal of bodily symmetry figures as an image of universal man who defies the division of labor, while the deformed body inversely figures as an image of the lack of wholeness in a stratified bourgeois society. This is further elucidated by an analysis of Rydberg’s view of Darwinism and his fear of degeneration .In the final section, special attention is given to Rydberg’s broodings on the “Future of theWhite Race”. In this text, the body is a figure of the collectivity (the body politic) and its diseases signify political and moral crisis, while the remedy for this state of affairs lies in recognizing the unity of the living, the deadand the unborn in the body of Christ.

It has recently been argued that the Special Theory of Relativity entails that shapes are not intrinsic properties of objects. Rather, they are properties an object has only relative to an inertial frame. In this discussion note I argue that this position, while correct, is incomplete. Objects have frame-dependent shapes because they have an intrinsic property that is the same in all inertial frames.

According to John McDowell, representational perceptual content is conceptual through and through. This paper criticizes this view by claiming that there is a certain kind of representational and non-conceptual perceptual content that is sensitive to bodily skills. After a brief introduction to McDowell's position, Merleau-Ponty's notion of body schema and Gibson's notion of affordance are presented. It is argued that affordances are constitutive of representational perceptual content, and that at least some affordances, the so-called 'conditional affordances', are essentially related to the body schema. This means that the perceptual content depends upon the nature of the body schema. Since the body schema does not pertain to the domain that our conceptual faculties operate upon, it is argued that this kind of perceptual content cannot be conceptual. At least some of that content is representational, yet it cannot feature as non-demonstrative conceptual content. It is argued that if it features as demonstrative conceptual content, it has to be captured by private concepts. Since McDowell's theory does not allow for the existence of a private language, it is concluded that at least some representational perceptual content is non-conceptual.

The topic of this paper is the perception of properties. It is argued that the perception of properties allows for a distinction between the sense of the identity and the sense of the qualitative nature of a property. So, for example, we might perceive a property as being identical over time even though it is presented as more and more determinate. Thus, you might see an object first as red and then as crimson red. In this case, the property is perceived as identical over time, even though the sense of the qualitative nature ( the redness, the crimson redness) of the property is changing. The distinction between the sense of identity and the sense of quality is explicated in terms of perceiving a particular property, a trope, and perceiving it as an instance of a universal. It is subsequently argued that the perceived tropes cannot constitute the phenomenal character of the perceptual experience.

David Chalmers has recently argued that Relativity Theory supports the notion that shapes are Twin-Earthable. In this paper this argument is challenged. I reconstruct the argument in five steps where the last step is the conclusion. I proceed to argue that one step in the argument can be interpreted in two different ways. The problem is that on the first interpretation of the step, the conclusion does not follow. And on the second interpretation of the step, it contradicts a previous step in the argument. I conclude that Relativity Theory does not entail that phenomenal and functional twins could represent different shapes.

This paper presents a framework for analysing perceptual Twin Earth thought experiments. Visual content normally has an analogue character, and it is argued in this paper that this sets certain constraints on the extent to which Twin Earth thought experiments can be successful. The argumentation in the paper is developed by using examples from visual spatial content. It is argued that visual spatial content can only be "twin-earthed" in a very limited way. Whereas the metrics of space can be twin-earthed, visual experience has a structure that means that it can only be the vehicle for representing entities with geometrical structures.

This paper delves into the realm of Lovecraftian cosmic horror, seeking to unravel its profound philosophical implications. Traditionally, Lovecraft’s works have been analyzed within the framework of gothic literature, primarily drawing upon Edmund Burke’s concept of the sublime. However, this study argues that to fully grasp the essence of cosmic horror, an alternative theoretical lens is required. By integrating Martin Heidegger’s existential philosophy, particularly his notions of Angst and Unheimlich, this paper offers a fresh perspective on Lovecraft’s cosmic horror. Lovecraft’s essays Supernatural Horror in Literature and Notes on Writing Weird Fiction provides comprehensive insights into the nature of cosmic horror. By interpreting Lovecraft’s essays through the lens of Heidegger’s concept of Unheimlich and Angst, this paper illuminates new dimensions and latent meanings within Lovecraft’s literary works and mythos. This paper argues that Lovecraft’s tales and mythology are imbued with existential philosophy, mirroring the parallel development of Heidegger’s ideas during the same period. This philosophical interpretation of Lovecraft’s cosmic horror not only enriches the reading experience but also underscores its significance as a literary genre intertwined with profound philosophical concepts and the existential questions that lie at the heart of cosmic horror. 

Syftet med denna rapport är att undersöka om kristna församlingar tvingats göra kompromisser eller anpassa sina begravningsritualer under corona-pandemin. Tidigare forskning om hur begravningar har hanterats vid andra epidemier, så som aids-epidemin på 80- och 90-talet och kolera-epidemin i Guinea-Bissau 1994, samt hur begravningstraditionen har utvecklats i slutet av 1900-talet har fungerat som inspiration för vad som ska undersökas i denna rapport. För att få ett svar på rapportens syfte har en kvalitativ insamlingsmetod bestående av strukturerade intervjuer av religiösa samfund och begravningsbyråer använts för att sammanställa ett empiriskt material i form av en databas. Med hjälp av en kvalitativ innehållsanalys har dessa intervjuer analyserats för att ge ett svar på rapportens frågeställning. Genom denna analys av intervjuer med fem kristna församlingar och två begravningsbyråer så går det att konstatera att anpassningar och kompromisser har varit nödvändiga när det kommer till hantering av avlidna och planering samt genomförande av begravningar. Rapporten visar att under pågående pandemi har man lyckats hitta lösningar för att kunna genomföra begravningar, utan att ritualerna påverkas nämnvärt.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the didactic potential, and applicability of fiction in religious education. The subject I wanted to examine was J.R.R. Tolkiens The Fellowship of the Ring and whether it could be enriching for religious studies in upper secondary school, focusing on normative ethics.The study used a qualitative research method and the empirical material consisted of J.R.R. Tolkiens The Fellowship of the Ring. The book was read several times and sorted and reduced using focused coding searching for ethical dilemmas and different thematic units. The result was analyzed with the help of the high school’s curriculum, previous research, and selected theoretical concepts, normative ethics and didactic potential.The results showed that the book contained a large number of ethical dilemmas and several thematic units wich could help realize its didactic potential. The book’s usefullnes and didactic potential, focusing on normative ethics in religious studies, could then be proven on the basis of the upper secondary school’s and religious studies curriculum, as well as using previous research. The ethical dilemmas and thematic units found throughout the book make it highly usefull for discussing issues of normative ethics in the classroom.

In Sweden and in the West, interest in Buddhism has increased and many have a more positive view of Buddhism than other religions. Other studies have been able to discern this positive view of Buddhism, but I have not yet found a study that has examined how students view Buddhism.At secondary school, Religionskunskap 1 is a compulsory course that all-school students read regardless of program, and thus all studentshave been taught about Buddhism.In this thesis, I try to find out how secondary school students who recently took the course view Buddhism and how well the orientalist mindset and postcolonial perspective appear in the students ́ statements.Students from three upper secondary schools participated in the survey and at each interview 5 -6 students were interviewed. The result showed that the students had a very positiveimageof Buddhism.The view of religion, prayer and ruleswas not as good and therefore the students had difficulty defining Buddhism as a religion. Two imagesappeared clearly and the first was that Buddhism is a kind of philosophy of life and the other that it is a religion but without a god and that it is a good religion.The students meant thatBuddhismcan be definiteas areligion because there is a founder, Buddha, belief in some supernatural powers like "samsara" and "nirvana", but somestudents object by saying that a religion must have some kind of God, and they understand that Buddhism doesn’t have a God. In the conversation about Buddhism, it is clear that the students are talking about a form of Buddhism. The leek's rites are notmentioned. The only ritual associated with Buddhism is meditation seen as a tool for reaching the "truth" or nirvana. There are monks, the Dalai Lama and the Buddha who can represent the Buddhists, the laymen, on the other hand, get little place in student conversations.The conclusion that can be drawn from the results is that the students' view of Buddhism is largely in line with the image found in previous research. The result that was extra interesting was that the students questioned Buddhism as a religion, something that seems to be public perceptions both within the academy and the public.

The aim of this study has been to investigate how religious beliefs are met in the classroom inreligious studies. The study has also sought to answer if there are any methods to use in orderto create the best education in religious studies. One of the questions asked in the study is; howreligious persuasion is dealt with in the classroom of religious studies? Furthermore, a questionasked is: what didactic methods are there for teachers to use in religious studies education? Inorder to answer these questions, previous research regarding interviews with both teachers andstudents and classroom observations has been taken into consideration. The material has beenanalysed through a content analysis and an encoding process. The result shows a differencebetween how students view religion and religious studies, based on their own religious beliefs.Students with religious beliefs experience that the demands in religious studies are too lowwhile students with no religious beliefs often have a one-sided and quite negative image ofreligion. Furthermore, the result shows how teachers are working in religious studies and whatdidactic methods that can be used in order for students to find the subject educational. The resultof the study highlights the importance of allowing the students to learn about the differentreligions in dept. Last, the result shows that the relationship between the teacher and the student,with respect for the individual, is the key for a successful education in religious studies. 

Den här rapporten avser att undersöka hur religiösa samfund i Karlstads kommun har hanteratdöd och begravning under april månad 2020. Utifrån källmaterial som är framtaget avstudenter som deltagit i ett forskningsprojekt vid Karlstads Universitet framställs ett resultatöver hur de deltagande religiösa samfunden har hanterat död och begravning. Resultatet harvisat att de olika religiösa samfunden har fått förändra sina verksamheter utefter den pågåendecoronapandemin. Det som går att utläsa är att de religiösa samfunden har hanterat död ochbegravning snarlikt varandra. Skillnaderna som påvisats har skett på individuell nivå ochsåledes fått anpassas för det enskilda samfundet. Utöver detta kommer rapporten även att visavilka anpassningar de religiösa samfunden har gjort, med en bakgrund kopplad till derestriktioner och direktiv som Folkhälsomyndigheten har angivit. Undersökningen visar attanpassningar har gjorts och dessa har gjorts individuellt för att vara väl anpassade förverksamheten.2

The purpose of the study is to see how congregations and pastorates within the Church ofSweden in Värmland adapt their activities to be able to carry out a Christmas celebration andstill meet the requirements of the social distancing. The study also intends to see howpreparations and implementation differ between Easter and the Christmas celebrations duringa pandemic. The purpose of this study is based on the assumption that the church does notcancel a holiday, they are instead adapting the celebration to meet the social distancingrequirements. The study seeks to answer how and what the churches do to adjust the holidaycelebrations to meet these requirements. The three questions this study seeks to answer isfirst, what adjustments are made by congregations and pastorates to be able to carry out aChristmas celebration. Secondly, how preparations and implementation of the Christmascelebration differentiate from the Easter celebration in April 2020 and third, is it possible thatthe current pandemic affects the way of how the Christmas celebrations work and creates newrituals which could be viable for the future celebrations. In order to achieve the purpose ofthe study and to be able to answer the study's three research questions, qualitative interviewsand observation have been the study's methods. These have been used to provide the studywith a large amount of data that gives the study wider and deeper answers. The results showthat it is possible to carry out a Christmas celebration in the current situation we are in, evenif it has not turned out as planned from the beginning. The difference between the Easter andChristmas celebrations is substantial, but with the Easter celebrations as an experience,people had begun to understand how to work and think in order to be able to carry out aChristmas celebration.

Since 2007 the American sitcom the Big Bang Theory has spread throughout the world. With its twenty million watchers it is one of the most popular sitcoms of our time. The starting point for this essay is that the humourus series with the more or less geeky main characters is more than just entertainment - it is a part of the mediatization of religion. This means that media is affecting the recipients’ view on religion in general and the personal religion. As we watch TV, we get socialized into how to act in our every day life. In this case, it is about religion depicted as entertainment. Through a film analysis of a number of selected scenes from the first three seasons of the series, this essay stresses the representation of the religious traditions Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and religion in general. On the basis of etnocentrism, exitocism and a differentiation between religious praxis and religious beliefs my conclution is that Jews are portrayed in a very ”modern” and secular way, Christians are narrow-minded and quite stupid and Hindus are doing strange rituals and believe in very unreasonable phenomena. Religion in general is portrayed as something accepted but it should be rational and religous practice has its own time and place. 

Decision making in an ever changing world is shown to be harder than ever when the outcomes of climate change are not known. Research has shown that the decisions taken where outcomes are uncertain are influenced by psychological background variables.

Economic risk research has since the 1960s evolved to be linked with psychological and behavioral research and shows to a great degree how these two fields are related. Prospect theory has evolved from this and shows how attitudes affect the perception of gains and losses, which is what investors handles daily. The psychological factors that are underlying investor when making a decision are many. They show high confidence in decisions, are affected by mood swings and show an overestimation of their own knowledge.

With the climate changing questions are being raised with regards to climate- and restructional risks. The worlds economy will be affected by this. The financial sector is trying to find out how the global political systems will manage these risks and what changes this implies. This also applies to investors - when even they must have this in mind.

A survey was carried out to get a picture of how a Swedish investor might look at climate risks when investing in a few selected sectors and what underlying influences can affect a decision taken under uncertainty. One can then be able to analyze and compare a Swedish investors risk picture with international reports on risks in the world.

The analysis concluded that Swedish investors have a greater focus on climate risks in the energy / power companies, engineering industry and transport but do not see any major increase in the focus on climate change risks within a decade. Underlying factors that influence investors' decision making under uncertainty is how information is designed, personality, self-confidence, social situation, and group membership.

Uppsatsens ansats är att undersöka hur den kvinnliga karaktären Eleven kan tolkas som en kristusgestalt. Med hjälp av en narrativ analys av utvalda scener i säsong ett av tv-serien Stranger Things där karaktären Eleven figurerar, analyseras både Elevens handlingar och hennes karaktäristiska drag med hjälp av bland annat Tomas Axelsons förståelse av en kristusgestalt och dess rötter, samt Lloyds Baughs åtta kriterier för kristusgestalter. Resultatet visar att Elevens karaktäristiska drag och handlingar är till stor del förenliga med en kristusgestalts, men är inte oproblematiskt. Många av Elevens handlingar, även de som genomförs med ett beskyddande syfte, genomsyras av våld, vilket inte är kristuslikt alls. Tidigare forskning menar att våld är vanligt förekommande bland dagens kristusgestalter, men frågan kan ställas huruvida detta så vitt skiljande drag bör påverka tolkning av karaktärer som kristusgestalter.

This thesis addresses devil beliefs in Karlstad diocese during the years ca. 1870-1950. The aim of thethesis is to shed light on devil tales that were told during the above-mentioned timeframe with thetheoretical framework of Ulrika Wolf-Knuts’s devil genres. Moreover, the thesis attempts todistinguish a folklore-devil affected by the Christian revival in Sweden during the 19th century. Thethesis thus contributes to a deeper understanding of devil tales in Karlstad diocese, the revival’ssignificance over folklore and comprehension of the Värmlandic and Dalslandic peoples’ culturalhistorical heritage.

A hermeneutic as well as comparative methodology was used to navigate the source materialwhich consists of 20th century records of folk belief from The Institute for Language and Folklore(Isof) archives; these consists of stories told by people born during the second half of the 19th century.Furthermore, the records are complimented by a printed work by Carl-Martin Bergstrand,Värmlandssägner, wherein additional stories where analysed.

The analysis shows that the source material fits well together with Wolf-Knuts’s devil genres,moreover, four new genres could be identified within Karlstad diocese. These contain mostlyinformative storytelling but are also complementary to Wolf-Knuts’s non-necessary devil genres.Wolf-Knuts’s theoretical framework can thereby receive an update considering these findings.Furthermore, the results determine that the peoples’ understanding of the devil is uniform in itsmultifaceted nature. The thesis puts out a hypothesis; the terminology when referring to the dark lorddiffers in places wherein the Christian revival had a greater hold. There, it was commonplace to usebiblical names for the devil. If the Christian revival is definitively responsible for this occurrence ornot could not be determined.

School is a place for identity formation. When gender and religion are studied pupils tend to perceive religion, especially non-Christian religions, as traditional and patriarchal. Female oppression in religion is also used as a way of “othering”. Religious education is rarely presenting the women’s perspective. The purpose of this study is to analyze and compare the construction of Hindu women in Swedish and Indian school textbooks. The study was conducted through discourse analysis, using Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’ “toolbox” for identifying group identity. As a theoretical framework postcolonial theory and postcolonial feminism were used. A total of eight textbooks were examined. The results showed that the discourse of Hindu women in Swedish textbooks was not hegemonic, instead, it consisted of four different discourse. Some of them were colonial in character. Only one textbook showed Hindu women as religious agents. Women in Indian textbooks were constructed in a different way, often described as agents, working for change in a traditional society. By studying how group identity and agency are constructed in textbooks religious education can become better equipped to enable gender and religious identities in a multicultural society. Hence this thesis claims that the research between gender, religious education and multiculturalism need further inquiry.

This study focuses on how Asatrú movements in Sweden are depicted and discussed in digital news articles through two different lenses: How are these movements depicted and which aspects of these movements and their faith are brought up most frequently? The theoretical framework for the study consists of Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory, positive and negative Essentialism as well as Erving Goffman’s theory of Stigma. The method consists of a qualitative content analysis focusing on analyzing the ideas, ideologies and narratives presented in the studied articles, and the material consists of digital articles picked from various Swedish news publications such as Aftonbladet, Dagens Nyheter and Expressen, published between 2015 - 2021. The study shows that the discussion of these Asatrú movements is dominated by their perceived connections to racism and right wing extremist groups. On the other hand, the articles and their authors also make attempts to counterbalance this depiction by discussing aspects of the religion such as Blót, ritual sacrifices, as well as by interviewing members of these movements to show their thoughts and feelings about their religion.

Bachelor Thesis in Religious Science III, by Karin Angleborg.Karlstad University, 2013. Mentor: Sören DaleviOriginal Sin and the Child- In a Historical and Late Modern Swedish ContextThe purpose of this thesis is to analyze how the view of the child in relation to the Original Sin has developed during Christian history, and what the late modern Swedish debate has contributed with.Question formulation:1. What is the historical view on Original Sin and its relation to the child?2. Which voices has participated in the late modern Swedish debate about Original Sin and the relationship between Original Sin and the child?3. How can the late modern Swedish debate about the Original Sin and its relation to the child be understood in relation to the historical perspective?A qualitative textual analysis is used as a method to answer the purpose and questions of this thesis. Different theologians from both a historical and a late modern Swedish context are analyzed for the thesis in order to identify the tendencies that influence the Original Sin debate. The results of the analysis include identification of two common themes within the historical perspective, themes which are also present in the late modern Swedish debate.

The new traditionalist wave in ecumenical theology (for example Hauerwas, MacIntyre and Milbank) gives little and often even negative attention to Early Reformation thoughts. Lutheran theology is often depicted as a platonic ecclesiology where the ethics and politics of the “secular” society is accepted automatically also with-in the church. The article presents some of the main critical questions to Early Lutheran thinking from con-temporary theology. Then, a short historical investigation follows on some Lutheran concepts, like the “Two kingdoms doctrine” and "The three orders". I use a heavily discussed topics within Lutheran tradition, the "Table of duties” within the Catechism, to show that at least historically, Early Lutheranism can give a com-prehensive response to post-secular critics. The critique against Lutheranism in contemporary theology is not correct if the writings from Early Lutheranism (Martin Luther and the Book of Concord) are studied closely. Then, the hermeneutical question, how to deal with this historical knowledge today, remains. I claim for a middle-way between liberalism and communitarianism, that will make it possible for a wide range of interpre-tations concerning Christianity and culture in our multi-cultural society.

This article evaluates a research project on Lutheran theology and ethics in a post-Christian society supervised by professor emeritus Carl-Henric Grenholm, Uppsala University. The project has resulted in six books and the topics of the books are: (1) original sin, (2) spiritual training, (3) political aspects of Christian ethics, (4) human bodies, pleasure and passion, (5) vocation, and (6) law and sin in nineteenth-century revival movements. As a whole, the project puts focus on twentieth-century theology and gives only little attention to what Luther has actually written. Even less attention is paid to other early Lutheran writers. Present-day Christian globalism and ecumenism are not noted at all in the books of the project. Future Lutheran scholarship can learn a lot from the failures of this project. It is important to treat the sources from the sixteenth century carefully and contextualize them in order to translate them into present time. It also seems increasingly necessary to clarify previous research traditions on the topics that present-day scholars write about. As a last insight we can see that Luther scholars, instead of locking the early Lutheran sources into modernist categories, need to reevaluate the diverse Lutheran tradition from which they form their own theological agenda, thereby clarifying how they interpret the Biblical and ancient church traditions on the topic in dialogue with the Lutheran doctrinal formulations from the sixteenth century.

Rapporten undersöker synen på goda och onda moraliska handlingar i den aktuella forskningenom tv-spel. Tre teoretiska begrepp är centrala i rapporten, vilket är: utilitarism, etisk egoismoch pliktetik. Utifrån dessa etiska begrepp undersöker rapporten den moraliska grunden förspel. Undersökningen fokuserar på underliggande etiska konstruktioner i spel och hur spelarensom moralisk agent förhåller sig till val och handlingar i spel. Materialet består av deakademiska granskade böckerna ’Playing with religion in Digital Games’ och ’Videogames andEducation’. Det utvalda materialet erbjuder ett unikt och speciellt perspektiv, vilket ävenåterspeglas i rapportens slutsatser. Diskursanalys föreligger i rapporten som metod förundersökning av etiska konstruktioner i spel i syfte att undersöka hur etik i tv-spel brukas.Resultatet från undersökningen påvisar att de handlingar som har en utilitaristisk och pliktetiskprägel har stor tonvikt för vad som anses vara goda moraliska handlingar i de spel somforskningen analyserar. Exempelvis om spelaren skyddar civilpersoner mot skurkar, eller gerguld till fattiga i ett spel, så uppfattas det som en god handling, och mottar goda moralitetspoängpå sina moraliska mätare. Men om spelaren endast ser till sin egna vinning och användercivilpersoner till sitt ändamål, och utför handlingar som att råna, mörda eller misshandla, ansesde som onda moraliska handlingar, och får bedömningen etisk egoistisk. Undersökningen visaratt spel har en etisk inbäddad kod som trycker på att spelaren måste identifiera sig med dettaetiska mönster för att kunna klara spelet. Det kan hävdas att spelets etiska konstruktion sätterprägel på rätt och fel (ont och gott). Resultatet påvisar även att spelaren är den moraliskaaktören och kanaliserar sin etiska reflektion i spelet som ett instrumentellt moralisktsammanhang.

This essay aims to answer how teachers interpret the concept of ‘worldview’ and how they convert theirinterpretation to action in the classroom. This means I aiming to investigate what and how do they teachabout worldview, for example what kind of content do the teachers use, how do they include worldviewin the course plan with the rest of the other elements and if the students participate and interact with theown worldview. To analyze this, I have divided my theory into two camps, camp which intend toillustrate a more subjective side of worldview, and the other an objective side, this because it would givethe investigation a wider space, both for interpretation as for analyzing. I have conducted interviewswith seven teachers from five different schools in the regions Värmland and Västmanland. The teachersinclude both men and women, they teach both theoretical programs with students who generally aim tostudy in the university, and profession programs with students who aims to work with a craft professionafter school, and as well teachers who work in a city and in smaller towns. To sort out the result I haveused the method of thematical coding where I focused on what the teachers said and what kind ofpatterns could be detected. With the result analyzed, I concluded that the teachers have differentmethods to conducting their teaching about worldview. Either the teachers included worldviews in areligious or secular context, if they conducted via the religious context, they used worldview as anobjective analytical tool. If they used the latter, the secular context, they used worldview as a subjectiveanalytical tool. And the teachers who chimes in the themes ‘religious context’ and ‘objective analytical’focuses more upon the student’s previous knowledge. The teachers who include in the themes ‘secularcontext’ and ‘subjective analytical tool’ focuses more upon the student’s experiences.

This paper examines the possibilities of using video games as a tool for education of virtue ethics. By comparing learning aspects in Marc Prensky’s theory Digital Game-Based Learning and Aristotelian virtue ethics, this paper tries to look for similarities in how each theory looks at learning. Prensky’s theory is about how one can use video games in education, which is why it is used here. This is done by using three major learning theories as a framework of how one learns. The theories are sociocultural learning theory, constructivist learning theory and Learning by Doing. Both virtue ethics and Digital Game Based-Learning are presented in detail, describing what they are, how they look at learning and how that view relates to the other three major theories. Once that is done, a comparison between Virtue Ethics and Digital Game-Based Learning is given to show what they have in common. The comparison looks at both theories views on learning and from there decides whether they work in conjunction with each other or not. The paper ends with a discussion of how plausible the usage of video games and Digital GameBased Learning is in a school environment, asking questions regarding issues with video games in general and Prensky’s theory.

This paper examines the possibilities of using video games as a tool for education of virtue ethics. By comparing learning aspects in Marc Prensky’s theory Digital Game-Based Learning and Aristotelian virtue ethics, this paper tries to look for similarities in how each theory looks at learning. Prensky’s theory is about how one can use video games in education, which is why it is used here. This is done by using three major learning theories as a framework of how one learns. The theories are sociocultural learning theory, constructivist learning theory and Learning by Doing. Both virtue ethics and Digital Game Based-Learning are presented in detail, describing what they are, how they look at learning and how that view relates to the other three major theories. Once that is done, a comparison between Virtue Ethics and Digital Game-Based Learning is given to show what they have in common. The comparison looks at both theories views on learning and from there decides whether they work in conjunction with each other or not. The paper ends with a discussion of how plausible the usage of video games and Digital GameBased Learning is in a school environment, asking questions regarding issues with video games in general and Prensky’s theory.

Secularization is a major theory that explains changes in religious cultures. It can explain decline in religiosity of a population. The case remains similar to the population of Muslims who live in Sweden. SST data that counts the number of Muslims who take part in Islamic faith communities (trossamfund) appear to reduce overtime. However, there is no proper explanation for this phenomenon. Therefore, the current study aimed to examine why the number of Muslims who are active in their communities continue to reduce. The study pursued two research questions: 1) to what extent can secularization theory explain the declining participation rate in Islamic communities between the years 1993-2016? and 2) What alternative other possible explanations are there for the declining participation rate in Islamic communities during the period 1993 to 2016? The study, thus, examined the SST data on the phenomenon and compared it with the SST interview involving a representative from the agency as the informant in a qualitative approach. The result showed that alternative explanations other than secularization explain the phenomenon of declining rate of participation in those faith communities among Muslims in Sweden.

In this qualitative study, written within the study of religion, a video recording of the ritual Tikva is analyzed. The purpose of the study is to investigate spiritual practices and how they are legitimized in a Christian context through ritual analysis. To achieve the purpose a theory of seven elements of rituals is used in the analysis. Another focus of the study is the theoretical concept of interrituality. The study aims to add to the research gap of Tikva. The essay belongs within the fields of religious studies, history of religion and sociology of religion, which are used to investigate theological phenomena.

The material is taken from Instagram and consists of a video of 26 minutes, uploaded in September 2021 by a Christian congregation in Sweden. In the video, a woman is leading a Tikva session and demonstrates the movements for the followers. The video is chosen because it shows how the Christian elements are mixed with the spiritual elements. 

The result says that the spiritual elements, which are movements looking like yoga poses, in the Tikva ritual are legitimized by being combined with Christian words and a Christian environment. The Christian words are from the Bible. During the ritual the woman shares seven different Bible words, and the place of the ritual is in a church which helps legitimize it as Christian. The scientific meaning of the results is that practices that appears to be spiritual can be legitimized as Christian by means of interrituality consisting of Christian ritual elements of place and language.

KARLSTADS UNIVERSITET

Termin: VT20

Ämne: Idéhistoria II

Nivå: B-nivå (G1F)Kurskod: KVGH20

ABSTRACT

Sindi Axelsson

Har ”prestationssamhället” testats positivt för covid-19?

En idéhistorisk analys av Coronakrisen i Sverige i ljuset av teorin om ”prestationssamhället”.

Has the “achievement society” been tested positively for covid-19?

An analysis of the history of ideas of the Corona crisis in Sweden in the light of the theory of the “achievement society”.

Antal sidor: 36

My purpose is to mirror how the Corona-virus pandemic inflicted a social crisis in Sweden, through the achievement society theory formed in the book The Burnout society by Byung-Chul Han. The methods used are hermeneutics and socio-economic contextualisation. Swedish society did not shut down completely due to the assumption of maintaining ”business as usual”, yet with a controlled rate of infection. Corona generated debates about the future society. The debate is wide but can be narrowed down to two perspectives; those who prefer to stay with the neo-liberal plan and those in favour of forming a more sustainable society. The Corona pandemic has shown us that we live in achievement society, but has also made us question it. The population have also been forced to think in new ways to cope with the crisis and other questions about the human responsibility and mere existence has surfaced.

Nyckelord: Covid-19, Pandemic, Burnout society, Achievement society, Social crisis, Human responsibility, Swedish Corona strategy, Media debate

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