Abstract This essay has grown out of an interest for the subject of religion and religious education for upper secondary pupils in Sweden. Our society is characterized by cultural, religious and secular diversity, which also reflects in the classroom where individuals with different religious preferences share space and participate in discussions. One of my aims is that this essay can be a contribution for future studies in the religious field. Previous research has shown that Swedish pupils increasingly lose interest in the subject of religion (on a personal level but also more in general). There is a possibility that this picture might have changed since these studies where done, and that is what I want to investigate in this essay.

With this thesis I have sought to do a critical review on how Islam is perceived and articulated by secondary school students in a school in a larger Swedish city. The aim is to analyse how some secondary students in Sweden talk about Islam, as a religion and as a school subject. To achieve this aim, seven focus group interviews with 36 students aged 15-16 have been conducted. These focus groups have discussed the general picture of Islam depicted by the society, media and through the school. But also how, and in what way that depiction has influenced their personal view of Islam.

Att drabbas av bröstcancer är en omtumlande händelse i livet. Religion och andlighet har visat sig spela en viktig roll hos dessa kvinnor. Det är viktigt att förstå skillnader mellan religion och andlighet och att de båda inte hör ihop, utan kan upplevas fria från varandra. Syftet var att belysa betydelsen av andlighet och religion hos kvinnor med bröstcancer. Studien är gjord som en litteraturstudie baserad på empiriska studier där totalt elva vetenskapliga artiklar har granskats.

Uppsatsen syfte är att undersöka hur gymnasiepedagoger bedriver religionskunskap och om olika utövanden och trosföreställningar i en och samma religion framkommer i undervisningen. För att komma fram till ett svar har kvalitativa intervjuer gjorts med pedagoger. Det finns olika synsätt på och olika definitioner av religion, vilket litteraturen visar i uppsatsen. Litteraturen fastställer också att det finns olika utövanden i en och samma religion. Ninian Smart (1989) menar att för att förstå en religion krävs det även att man studerar hur religionen praktiseras av människorna. Uppsatsen behandlar även litteratur om hur skolans roll ser ut. Birger Lendahls (1986) anser att förståelse kan erhållas vid möten mellan elever och människor från olika religioner.

Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur nyblivna föräldrar i Sverigeargumenterar för att antingen döpa eller inte döpa sitt eller sina barn. Studienbaseras på semistrukturerade intervjuer. Dessa intervjuer fokuserar påföräldrarnas huvudargument. Intervjuerna har sedan kodats och kategoriseratsför att finna likheter och mönster. Föräldrarna som valde att döpa sina barnvar mer flexibla i sin syn på dopet som religiös handling och fokuserar iställetpå religion.

Syftet i denna uppsats är att genomföra en diskursanalys av tidskriften Vi i villa, detta för att kunna besvara hur diskursen uttrycker relationen mellan boendeformen hus, religion och ett framväxande modernt samhälle. Utgångspunkten i arbetet är att religion uppstår ur sociala processer, samt att individens föreställningar om det ideala livet har en normativ funktion. Diskursanalysen resultat analyseras utifrån det moderna, eller postmoderna samhällets framväxande, teori om sekularisering, individualisering och nyandlighet presenteras i litteraturstudien. De första uttrycken för nyandlighet framkommer i materialet 1991, och 2010 framställs boendeformen hus alltmer som en individualiserad föreställning om ett idealt liv, samhällets förändring de sista fyrtio åren har tydligt påverkat sambanden mellan religion och hus..

In this study, religiosity in prison is investigated. What opportunities are there for those detained to practice their religion and how did their religiosity change after they were detained? Six interviews were conducted to gain a better perspective of religiosity in prison. The focus is on Correctional Institution in Kalmar, where surveys have been conducted over a longer period but also the monastery at the Correctional facility in Kumla is discussed. Most interviews were conducted in the prison of Kalmar, in a room where religious conversations are conducted.

Construction of Identity and Charismatic Leaders deals with fundamentalism and Islamism within the United States, emphasising on similarities between fundamentalists and Islamists. The term "fundamentalist" is here referring to Christian extremists, while "Islamist" refers to the Muslim counterpart. The purpose of the essay is to make North American fundamentalism and Islamism comprehendible on a larger scale.In order to show similarities between these groups when it comes to values, structure and commitment to their tasks, it is important to understand the nature of the religious devotion.Analyzing the similarities of the two groups enables construction of general criteria for how anthropology of religious extremists can be outlined..

Christianity has for a long time played a significant role in the Swedish school system, which can be seen in the syllabus of the course religion in 2011 where Christianity got a special status and the Christian alignments were explicit named. The aim of this essay was to see whether, and if so how, Christianity and its three alignments ? Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Protestantism ? had developed a greater impact in religion textbooks for grades 7?9 adapted to Lgr 11 compared to Lpo 94 and partly to see if there had been any changes and to what extent. The main question concerned whether Christianity had a greater impact in religion textbooks adapted to Lgr 11 than Lpo 94 and how Christianity could be seen as culture-religion. The sub-questions concerned whether there was any differences in what Christianity is and to what extent Christianity were represented in religion textbooks, but also if any difference to what range the three alignments where represented. The study consisted of six religion textbooks for grades 7?9, where three were adapted to Lpo 94 and three to Lgr 11.

In this essay I have aimed to examine how the theology of Paul Tillich relate to modern views of reality, both the way it was expressed in his contemporary time and the way I see it today. Reality I have defined as an entirety of the physic- and metaphysic reality. A so called panentism where God is reality and the world is a part of this reality.With Tillichs Systematic Theology as my principal material, I have first made a brief presentation of his theology, of its construction and main concepts. Then I have chosen to further examine the way he describes being, reason and revelation to see how this particular concepts of Tillich agree with my definition of reality. In this I have consulted the books Tillich in Dialogue by Mackenzie-Brown and Natural Theology Versus Theology of Nature, a book edited after the forth international Tillich symposium 1992, which had "Tillichs thinking as impetus for a discourse among theology, philosophy and natural sciences" as a theme.I have tried to point out the possibilities opened up by the ontology and epistemology of Tillich for the dialogue between theology and natural sciences.

The study will examine how teachers relate to religious studies for middle school students. Religious studies are the oldest but also the most contested subject undergoing the most changes over time. The subject is far from being obvious. Politicians and people within the school community disagree about the subject?s content and its name, some within the school system but also politicians like to call it topic of life studies or belief studies, while others want to keep the name religion studies.

The Swedish RE curriculum states that a major purpose and aim of education inreligion is to make the students accepting and understanding of people, regardlessof religious beliefs and conceptions of life. Previous research has shown that thereare tendencies indicating that these goals are not being attained thus Swedish adolescencespeak of religion and religious people in a stereotypical manner. Thesetendencies are causes of concern which is why this study seeks to make a contributionto the previous research. This research is required since there may havebeen a change in terms of results since the last study was made. In addition, resultsfrom research that are based on interviews are hard to generalize.

By examine cremated remains from graves dated to late Iron Age I wanted to find out what sorts of animals were placed in the graves. But also to see if the animal sacrifices had any connection to the Old Norse religion. The osteological material that were analysed were from both cremated humans and animals and had been dated to Viking Age. The material is from burial ground 59 at Laxare, Boge parish on Gotland. In addition to the human remains, the material contains bones from horse, cattle, sheep/goat, pig, dog, cat, bear, birds and fish.

Uppsatsen behandlar hur USA: s president George W Bush använder civilreligiösa inslag i sin retorik under sitt första år som president. Han startade ämbetsperioden med att använda religiösa anspelningar i sitt installationstal., för att sedan fortsätta i samma anda hela året. Bush är inte den första presidenten att använda sådana retoriska knep. Ända sedan USA: s grundande har presidenterna förstärkt sin talarkonst genom att hänvisa till Gud och att landet är utvalt av Gud - ett nytt Israel. Landets presidenter har alltid varit mer eller mindre övertygade om att Gud står på USA: s sida.

The aim of this study is to analyze how two different education books produce christianity and islam. The analyzed books is from 2003 and 2008 and the books are adapted for the last years of primary school. The meaning and translation of words is often a problem and can get the reader wrong understaning of the religion. The analyze include the perspective of this meaning and how the sacred things are described in each religion.The textanalyze is made with different criterias; the context, the pre- understanding and if the text is objectiv is some of the most important. The language is important too.