This essay is about the religious change that Jing-cult underwent 600-1500 A.D. It is a historical-critical essay based on literature studies, using Ha?kan Rydving?s theory of religious change. In chronological order, it will go through the religious change from ancient Japan to the late Muromachi-period when Shinto was created. It describes the early temple- cult, buddhism's mission to Japan and how the Jingikan was created.

The concept of a Sharia compliant financial system has been a frequently discussed topic among scholars, bankers and media since the 1960th. It origins from the prohibition of interest, riba, which is stated in the Quran. Islamic banking is spread across the Muslim world and also exists in some western countries. This paper will try to create an image of what Islamic banking is in theory and in practice. This will be done by looking into the different methods of interest free banking, the Quran and the annual reports of four Islamic banks in different countries.

Religious education in Swedish schools aims to be as objective and non-confessional as possible. This sort of education can lead to that the different religions are presented in a way which is unfamiliar to the followers of the different religions. This problem is what I have focused on in this essay since I myself was a victim of a similar situation. As a syriac-orthodox youth I felt that my Christianity was not the same as the one presented in school. I felt that it had nothing in common with what I learned in my church, therefore I asked myself the question: Whose Christianity is being represented? Therefore I have focused on the syriac-orthodox church in this research.The purpose of my essay was to enlighten the differences between religious education in syriac-orthodox churches and Swedish community schools.

The concept of a Sharia compliant financial system has been a frequently discussed topic among scholars, bankers and media since the 1960th. It origins from the prohibition of interest, riba, which is stated in the Quran. Islamic banking is spread across the Muslim world and also exists in some western countries. This paper will try to create an image of what Islamic banking is in theory and in practice. This will be done by looking into the different methods of interest free banking, the Quran and the annual reports of four Islamic banks in different countries.

Religious phenomena, such as prayer, have more or less always interested and engaged people, but most likely for different purposes. Since the early 20th century, starting notably with Edmund Husserl and especially Martin Heidegger, phenomenologists have taken an interest in understanding and expounding the meaning of religious phenomena. The attention of such a discourse have not ceased but is rather current, and also of importance seeing that religious themes, such as prayer, still occupy a great extent of human life and practice.Phenomenology of religion is not a science of religion: the former approaches religion in terms of its meaningfulness, whereas the latter as an object of inquiry and in the same manner as an economist approaches economical indicators in order to understand and explain how the whole economy functions. In other words, phenomenology of religion expounds religion, as it were, from within, while science of religion does it from without or externally.When approaching prayer phenomenologically, it shows itself to be a process or structure through which the one praying empty himself in order to be able to receive the valuable presence of the other. The value that is received from the other will also be reflected by the one praying and in that sense effect his surroundings and fellow humans..

The following essay examines if five Swedish textbooks aimed for religious studies in upper secondary school might show similar flaws to those presented by the Swedish Schools Inspectorate in their review of religious studies conducted in 2012. The method used in this essay is a qualitative study of Swedish textbooks influenced by Lantz definition of wide and thin ethics. This in practice means that I have analysed the five Swedish textbooks using thin and broad ethics while conducting the analysis of the five. The purpose of the essay was to see if the flaws presented in ?Mer än vad du kan tro? regarding ethics and moral education might be present in Swedish textbooks as well.

Göbekli Tepe is an 11000 year old religious center where Totem has been exercised. It was raised by megalithic hunters and collectors that still during the construction lived in small-scaled mobile groups in order to find food and therefore should not have had time to raised costly stone monuments. The religious center consists of four enclosures with two T-pillars decorated with pictures of different animals and birds. Any dwellings have not been found. The place has been constructed by a well-organized elitist organization that has been capable of raising constructions in order to exercise their religion in a way we did not thought was possible such a long time ago. Analysis and findings from the near east existing from this time shows however that social changes happen in the communities around the region. Can archeological finding from the excavations on the religious center give any answer or clue regarding how man came to develop from hunter and collector to farmer? Do the findings reveal that the religion has changed Mans way to think and organize so that she was prepared to introduce the agriculture that occurs? The aim of thesis is to clarify whether Göbekli Tepe has played any role in the complex origin of agriculture..

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.

This bachelor thesis is based on interviews with staff from three Egyptian NGOs in Cairo during the spring of 2013. The study examines how three Egyptian NGOs discuss the woman?s situation within the Islamic legal discourse in the contemporary Egypt. The empiric material was analysed through a theoretical framework of gender in Islam, and a discussion of the concept of human rights laws in a local context.The respondents emphasize the societies gender stereotypes as obstacles in the discussion regarding women?s rights.

Our aim with this thesis was to closer study business intelligence to be able to present an overview of both the concept and the phenomenon. We have also developed a framework that show how business intelligence can be used effectively. We think that our framework can be of help to under-stand the areas which constitutes the core of business intelligence. We think that the framework we have developed is a good basis for the im-plementation of business intelligence in an organisation and that it also can be of help in the daily business intelligence work..

In January 2004 two members of the Pentecostal community Knutby Filadelfia in Uppsalamunicipality, Sweden, were shot by their fellow member Sara Svensson. With a qualitative hermeneutic case study as the principal method this essay takes on the task of not only investigating if and how Stockholm Syndrome can be used as a model for interpreting and understanding the violent incident in Knutby Filadelfia, but also to see if the unique characteristic of the Knutby incident can tell us something about Stockholm Syndrome as a model for understanding violence in religious movements. The material shows Stockholm Syndrome as having been present in Knutby because of among other things, a mileu, leadership and theology that supported the normalization of abuse and the enabling and maintaining of self punishment in the community. While Stockholm Syndrome still is a controversial theory this study shows that it can be used as a powerful tool in the understanding of violence in religious contexts..

AbstractThe purpose of this paper is to examine how the religious education is implemented in junior and grammar school. As a base for my examination I used two private schools and two municipal schools. My main goal was to get a better view of the content of the education, the treatment of the students and the conditions for the students to get a greater understanding and respect for others? religious beliefs and opinions through education. To reach this goal I did interviews and field studies which means that the paper has a qualitative approach.The examination showed clearly that the private schools spend a lot more education time on their respective religions while the municipal schools have a more comprehensive education.

Sweden  has  been  characterized  as  one  of  the world?s most  secular  countries, even though  it is  becoming  increasingly more multicultural.  This,  combined  with  the fact that pupils do  not  feel  they  have  enough  time  in  school  for  Religious  Education and that the requirements are increasing made me interested in how they talk about religion in upper secondary school. The aim of this study is to see if there are any differences between how pupils in vocational programs and academic programs are talking about religion and Religious Education. The main questions that were raised revolved around 1)  how  pupils  talk  about  what  religion  is,  2)  how  they  talk  about  religion  in  the Swedish  society  and  3) how  they  talk  about  Religious  Education  in  upper  secondary school. The questions were also about what similarities and differences I could find in the way they talked about these subjects.

In this essay, I research and discuss new spirituality (or what is commonly known as New Age) within some congregations in the Church of Sweden, Gothenburg. I question how and why this new spirituality has come to be accepted in parts of the Church. My hypothesis is that the church is a part, and a reflection, of a larger change throughout society, and I claim that this change depends much on the individualization and globalization during the last decades.The research is conducted through interviews with representatives from the Church ofSweden who are in charge of new religious activities. During these interviews we discuss their views on the change that has already taken place and is going on today.The interviews are then analyzed by applying rational choice theory on them. I discusswhether the Church can be seen as a producer of goods and services and if the churchgoers canbe seen as consumers of these goods and services.

This study focusses on how people in Sweden commemorate their dogs and handle their demise. By examining memorial texts for dogs that are presented by their owners on internet forums, memorial texts that are used on gravestones on an animal cemetery as well as an interview with an animal nurse, the study examines how dogs are humanized and treated in human-like ways. With theories about new animism, social acceptance (nomos) and ontology as the theoretical framework, the study provides an analysis of strategies by which people tend to humanize dogs in ways that are often similar to the handling and mourning of human deceased.                                               The empirical data illustrate how dog owners in Swedish society who have lost their beloved pet express themselves in terms of religious terminology. According to memorial texts, the dogs go to heaven, where they may be reunited with their owners, become free from their diseases, and in some cases they are buried in separate graves in animal cemeteries. The study also illustrates how dogs in Sweden today have almost equal opportunities and access to medical care as human beings.