[?If we zigzag in the middle, it?s OK?] The purpose of the following study is to examine the relationship between tourism and religion in a Balinese context. We look specifically at changes in religious practice, culture and mentality, as well as how religious philosophy is used as a tool for limiting the negative impact of tourism. The methods used are semi-structured interviews and participant observations. Central themes in the following essay are globalization in the form of tourism, westernization, subsystem theory and capitalism, which also make up the theoretical framework.

This study is based on qualitative and hermeneutic methods. The investigation summarises how four textbooks present Buddhism in (school) subject Religion, such as texts and images. Two of them are used in Religious studies A, the rest is used in Religious studies 1. The study rests on the theories of orientalism and christocentrism, where both can be related to the concept of making secondary. In the research background there are descriptions of how the western world looks upon Buddhism in a historical perspective, but also how Buddhism in a modern age is represented.

This study aims to investigate how, in Montesquieu?s Persian Letters (1721), religion and religious structures are presented to influence women?s position in French society.In Persian Letters Montesquieu presents a dogmatic religious life, which proceed from a literal interpretation of the bible. Such a reading raises critical questions concerning the nature of women, and subsequently places man over woman. Persian Letters show how this male dominance gets institutionalized in marriage. The religious life depicted is also distinguished by a non-genuine religious conviction and by acts which take on a simulation form.

The purpose of this essay is to describe what difficulties and challenges are for teachers of religious education at upper secondary school. The essay is written from a teacher's perspective, where the focus is on the teacher's perceptions of the difficulties and challenges of teaching religious education. The methodology for the collection of information was done through qualitative interviews. Previous research shows that one of the challenges in the teaching profession is the interpretation of the curriculum, and then which of those is correct. The essay shows that the biggest challenges that teachers experience in the subject of religious education is the students' prejudice against different religious groups, and also the difficulty of getting students to understand the purpose of what is being taught.

The right to freedom of conscience is protected by international conventions and declarations of human rights that have been ratified by Sweden. Nationally, the issue of health professionals? right to freedom of conscience in the abortion care is not resolved by public inquiry. This has led to that Sweden has been notified to the European Committee of Social Rights on the grounds that the country is considered to be violating the Council of  Europe Resolution 1763 and that the proper question to be determined by regulations of the interests that are balanced, based on their legal value in relation to each other. Freedoms, rights and obligations conflict with each other.

Study: Degree project in teacher education, Advanced level, 15 hpUniversity of SkövdeTitle: Religious belief in everyday life ? a study of the effects of a teachingmodel focusing on religious belief in everyday lifeNumber of pages:42Author: Johanna ClaessonTutor: Kennert OrleniusDate: Jan 2009 Keywords: Religious study, students´ understanding, students´ commitment,Buddhism  This paper presents the execution and the result of a project examining how a tutorial model (called the model of everyday religious practice) focusing on how Buddhism is expressed in the daily life of Buddhists believers, affects students understanding of and commitment in religious studies. In the project, Thai students have partaken by producing sex posters and a picture-show with the help of their own photographs and short texts. However, the picture-show was mainly produced by the author of this paper. These posters and the picture-show were brought to Sweden to figure as teaching material during a lesson in religious studies for students in year eight in a Swedish school.

The use of mindfulness in healthcare is increasing in Sweden. A so-called secular form of mindfulness is also increasing within mediated contemporary psychology and is used in many areas such as schools, workplaces and when giving birth. The method originates from Buddhism and is much more complex than the form of mindfulness marketed in Sweden today. The religious heritage of mindfulness is interesting to study in such a secular society as Sweden, where the material for this study is found. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate whether mindfulness still is a form of religious coping or if it has become completely secularized, and thus free of its religious origin.

AbstractThe aim of this study is to examine how individuals, part of a rural Christian parish,express their religiosity and beliefs in a Swedish context. Furthermore this study seeksto understand these religious expressions through different views on social construction,secularization and the privatization perspective, such as lived religion, in particular. Byusing qualitative interviews with 8 individuals analyzed with the theories mentionedabove my results show that secularization has provided many individuals with aChristian identity, however, not necessarily a Christian faith. Instead several of theparticipants show a self-developed religious expression not automatically connectedwith Christian religious practices. One of the participants has, despite a Christiansocialization, developed a non-religious identity.

AbstractThis essay begins with a presentation of the complex set of problems which relate to the interaction between freedom of speech and the ban against discrimination based on a person's race, the colour of their skin or ethnic origin, confession of faith or sexual preference (BrB 16:8, incitement to racial hatred). Can conflicts arise between freedom of speech and the ban against discrimination? To shed light on this question, we have chosen to look at the issue from a new perspective. This perspective is based on the new challenges faced by Swedish society as a result of the changed composition of our population, our membership in the EU and our acknowledgment of certain international conventions concerning human rights.Fifty years ago our population almost solely comprised of ?native Swedes?.

In Sweden, discussions about artistic freedom are common both in a political and media context. At the same time, the role of contemporary art in Sweden?s society continues to grow and contemporary art has become more visible to the public. In the present work, we analyze the ?artistic freedom? concept by examining what it stands for and how it is being used.

AbstractThe purpose with this essay is to present a picture of the changes in religious education in Sweden, and to make comparisons between Denmark?s and the USA?s model about teaching in religion. I have consequently described the historical development, with the beginning of the establishement of the public school, inte the year of 1842. 1919, a new document about the religious education was released, wich result in some major changes. This was in a time were the debate about religion and the Lutheran State Church of Sweden authority was an issue.

This study is about care managers, who process in the care of the elderly, regarding to needs, rules, regulations, guidelines and their freedom of space. The purpose with this study is to understand how the care managers process out of the basis from the needs of the elderly, the municipal guidelines in relation to the caremanagers freedom of space.The study has a qualitative approach and is based on semistructured interviews with five different care managers.To analyze our interview material we have use the street-level bureaucrat theory by Lipsky and Johansson and the theoretical idea empowerment. Before we started our research about care managers we had an understanding in that the organization had an influence in the judgment of the needs of the elderly. Now we have an understanding in that the relative to the elderly is the one who wants to affect the care manager during the judgment of needs in what effort to make. Our study indicates that it exist insecurity regarding to the municipal guidelines, which was surprising. We thought that the guideline was something positive and a help full tool for the care managers.The result in our research points out that the guidelines makes insecurity instead of comfort.Our study shows that the care managers are contradictory regarding to their freedom of space. In the other hand they consider that their freedom of space is positive, but on the other hand when the municipal guidelines don´t work, they become worried and insecure.It´s the none working municipal guidelines who gives the care managers a huge freedom of space. Which leads to that the care managers is afraid of doing misjudgments. Our result don´t distinguish from other studies made in this subject area. .

This thesis discusses the existential consequences for the human being in creatio ex nihilo, where the main subjects of discussion are contingency, freedom and identity. The starting-point of the discussion lies in the presentation of the history of the doctrine of creation, especially the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo. Once the historical and philosophical importance of the doctrine of creation is clear, the anthropological and theological consequences are obvious; creation is contingent and at the same time deeply dependent upon God. The contingency of creation may bring a sense of non-necessity among people, and therefore it makes the question of human freedom and identity in the doctrine of creation utterly important..

The controversial phenomenon of ?seeker-oriented? megachurches are currently transforming the American religious landscape. These churches, some housing up to 30,000 worshippers every week, are targeting religious seekers as their primary objective. Their success in attracting and converting those who usually wouldn?t even think of attending church can in large parts be explained by changes in liturgy, the removal of visible theological discussion and use of shopping mall styled buildings, designed to make the religious seeker feel like home.

Freedom of religion or belief is indisputable in Human rights discourse, more discussed is exactly what it is that is included in the concept of freedom of religion or belief (in Swedish: religionsfrihet). This thesis focuses on the freedom of religion or belief in a European context, in particular on the European court of human rights and article 9 in the European convention for human rights. Some criticism has been directed against the Court to the effect that its practice and verdicts don't answer to the pronounced desire to develop a pluralistic and inclusive form of freedom of religion or belief.My aim is to examine, analyse and test three different theories, which all try to develop alternatives to the expression freedom of religion or belief, in relation to six verdicts from article 9 in Europe convention. My basic purpose is to try to find new ways of talking about freedom of religion or belief that might lead to a more inclusive, pluralistic and equal interpretation of that concept.The three theories wich I use are elaborated by Richard Amesbury (associate professor at Claremont school of Theology); Hugo Strandberg (TD at Åbo Akademi) and Eberhard Herrmann (professor in philosophy of religion at Uppsala University); and Martha Nussbaum (professor of law and ethics at the University of Chicago). The six cases from the European court are: X v.