The purpose of my thesis was to counter Samuel Huntington’s argument that the world’s conflict is over differing civilizations, religions, or cultures. Whether or not religion is declining or growing, it cannot be used to portray the world in a 'cosmic war,' or a battle between 'good and evil'. Natural resources, not religions, rest at the basis for the Islamic fundamentalist and militant movement due to its response to the Western structural pressures that are modernizing Muslim societies. Oil and water become vital tools for exercising power and authority of one nation over another, and are identified as the true culprits for a conflict that is often furtively concealed.

Uppsatsen handlar om hur religion kan användas samt komma till uttryck i hårdrockstexter. Undersökningen har skett genom analys av åtta olika låttexter, som belyser olika aspekter av religionen. Analysen tog fasta på texternas religiösa budskap, användandet av eventuella religiösa metaforer samt hur texterna kan ses som en del av en religiös mångfald. Metoden som har använts är en kvalitativ textanalys med en hermeneutisk utgångspunkt. Som teori valdes Rodney Starks ”fortlevnadsteori” som utgår från den ”rational choice”-teoretiska modellen. Resultatet av undersökningen visade på en stor bredd av budskap. I ett av fallen kunde en vädjan om att börja tro på Gud uttydas, i två andra fanns en underton av varning för destruktiva sekter, två av texterna kritiserade kristendomen utifrån två olika aspekter och slutligen fanns två texter med ett direkt sataniskt och individualistiskt budskap. Direkta religiösa metaforer förekom endast i två texter. Vad gäller den religiösa mångfalden kunde man konstatera att texterna i flera fall kan vara ett uttryck för detta. Detta gäller inte minst i en tid då privatreligiositet sakta utkonkurrerar den organiserade, traditionella religionen och med tanke på de närmast religiösa känslor som musiken kan väcka hos lyssnaren. Detta förklaras genom att tron finner nya sätt att nå ut till människor, vilket även är relaterat till hur samhällsmönstret förändras.

Cyberspace has diversified and pluralized people’s daily experiences of religion in unprecedented ways. By studying several websites and weblogs that have a religious orientation, different layers of religious authority including “religious hierarchy, structures, ideology, and sources” (Campbell, 2009) can be identified. Also, using Weber’s definition of the three types of authority, “rational-legal, traditional, and charismatic” (1968), the specific type of authority that is being presented on blogosphere can be recognized. The Internet presents a level of liberty for the discussion of sensitive topics in any kind of religious cyberspace, specifically the Islamic one. In this way, the Internet is expanding the number and range of Muslim voices, which may pose problems for traditional forms of religious authority or may suggest new forms of authority in the Islamic world. The interaction between the Internet and religion is often perceived as contradictory, especially when it is religion at its most conservative practice. While the international and national applications of the Internet have increased vastly, local religious communities, especially fundamentalists, perceived this new technology as a threat to their local cultures and practices. If we look at the Internet as a central phenomenon of contemporary modernity that interacts with practiced fundamentalist religious traditions, we can ask how broad the interactions are between religious fundamentalism and the Internet and whether these relations can be reconciled. More specifically, this thesis presents a study of the junction of the Internet and religious fundamentalism reviewing the presentation of Shiite religious authority on the Persian blogosphere. As a case study, Persian weblogs are studied for content analysis for this thesis. Weblogs’ texts are analyzed to find evidences for Shiite beliefs and shared identity, usages and interpretations of the main Shiite religious texts, references to the role of recognized Shiite leaders, and descriptions of Shiite structural patterns of practices and organizations. This research will demonstrate how the Internet has been culturally constructed, modified, and adapted to the Iranian community’s needs and how the Shiite fundamentalist community of Iran has been affected by it. Based on one of the most structured research in this area, the study by Baezilai-Nahon and Barzilai (2005), in this article I identify four principal dimensions of religious fundamentalism as they interact with the Internet: hierarchy, patriarchy, discipline, and seclusion.

This research examined the effects of personal characteristics (empathy and authoritarianism) and religious orientations (Christian humanitarianism and religious fundamentalism) on identification with all humanity and resulting humanitarian behavior. This research also tested two hypothetical models (personality is primary, religion is primary) for the relationship between identification with all humanity and resulting humanitarian behavior. Two samples, consisting of 221 students and 158 adults, completed measures of authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, dispositional empathy, Christian humanitarianism, identification with all humanity, and an assessment of humanitarian behaviors. As hypothesized, Christian humanitarianism and empathy were positively correlated with identification with all humanity and humanitarian behavior. Furthermore, authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism were negatively correlated with identification with all humanity and humanitarian behavior. Results also suggest that religious views may lead to the strengthening of specific personality characteristics and these, in turn, influence whether or not one identifies with all humanity and engages in humanitarian behaviors. Directions for future research are discussed as well as the implications of this research to real-world settings.

Huvudsyftet med denna uppsats är att finna de huvudsakliga orsakerna bakom uppkomsten och framväxten av den moderna islamiska fundamentalismen i länderna Iran och Afghanistan. Jag kommer att arbeta utifrån tesen att denna extrema form av religiositet främst är ett politiskt och socialt fenomen snarare än ett religiöst.

Univ., Diss.--Utrecht, 2005.

This thesis examines the development of one of the twentieth century’s largest North American faith missions, the dual-organizational combination of the Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) from its founding in 1934 to 1982. WBT-SIL grew out of the distinctive vision of its founder, William Cameron Townsend (1896-1982), a former Central American Mission missionary. The extraordinarily inventive Townsend conceived of an approach to Christian mission that construed Bible translation as a linguistic and quasi-scientific enterprise, thereby permitting the non-sectarian SIL side of the organization to collaborate with anticlerical governments in Latin America, where it undertook pioneer Bible translation for indigenous peoples speaking as-yet unwritten languages. This unique government relations and scientific approach to missions was at many points in conflict with the prevailing missionary ethos of the organization’s North American evangelical constituency. Therefore the WBT side of the mission functioned as the religious arm of the enterprise for the purposes of publicity and recruiting. The dual organization drew sharp critique from nearly every quarter, ranging from North American evangelicals to Latin American Catholics to secular anthropologists. The controversial nature of the organization begs the question: Why did WBT-SIL become the largest faith mission of the twentieth century? This study seeks to answer this question by analysing the development WBT-SIL in both its foreign and domestic settings. The principal argument mounted in this thesis is that WBT-SIL met with success because its leaders and members followed Townsend’s lead in pragmatically adapting the organization to widely varying contexts both at home in North America and abroad as it sought to serve indigenous peoples through Bible translation, literacy and education. By striking a creative balance between maintaining the essentials of a traditional faith mission and imaginative breaking with convention when conditions necessitated a progressive approach, WBT-SIL became one of the largest and yet most unusual of twentieth-century evangelical missions.

The political events that unfolded on September 11 200 I, marked a turning point in world history. The attacks on the United States brought into sharp focus, the very complex issue of political violence being perpetrated by elements from within the Muslim world, and the project of what is commonly referred to as Political Islam. These events have subsequently led to an intensification of scrutiny of Muslims globally, by the Western world, as well as the establishment of heightened security measures by many governments, with Muslims being subjected to increasing levels of suspicion and the curtailment of civil liberties. Accompanying this scrutiny of Muslims, has been the United States led "War on Terror," which has further fuelled anger and resentment within the Muslim world, and inspired the carrying out of further attacks of political violence against Western targets such as Britain and Spain, by Muslim militants. This thesis attempts to locate the unfolding of these acts of political violence, within the broad framework of an examination of what constitutes the arena of Political Islam (which is seen as the interface between the Islamic faith and political activity by Muslims), and to interrogate two streams of political expression within Political Islam. These are Militant Islam and Progressive Islam. This interrogation will attempt to take into account the historical development of political thought and action within the Muslim world, and Islam's encounter with the projects of colonialism, empire and orientalism, in order to understand and offer some analysis around the possible reasons for the phenomenon of contemporary political violence emanating from the Muslim world. The study will also argue that progressive expressions of Islam are more representative of the essence of Quranic teachings and that militancy, while sometimes necessary, is not an ideal way for Muslims to engage politics. The case study within which the broader theoretical argument unfolds, is the post-apartheid South African Muslim context. This case study examines how SA Muslims are expressing themselves politically in a democratic dispensation, and whether they are inclined towards militant or progressive expressions, as a faith based community engaging politics. The thesis concludes by offering suggestions for how SA Muslims can advance a peaceful progressive political agenda, which acts as a model for Muslim communities elsewhere. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

The term “Fundamentalism” used as a comparative category within the academic study of religion has become problematic. Fundamentalism, is not one comprehensive movement but is, in fact, a phenomenon which encompasses a variety of beliefs, practices, and expectations. This thesis will explore the diversity of several different and distinct fundamentalist movements. I will discuss the natures of four Christian movements that have been labeled “fundamentalist” – Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Reconstructionists, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson – on several key points, eschatology, political philosophy, as well as level of social involvement. I will then turn to fundamentalism as it is used as a category to describe a global phenomenon. I will discuss three different scholarly approaches by turning to the work of Bruce Lawrence, Mark Juergensmeyer, and Bruce Lincoln on the Islamic “fundamentalist” group al- Qaeda. Finally I will argue that the category “fundamentalism” can be best understood in terms of a family resemblance.

Several armed Islamist movements have shown remarkable behavioural and ideological transformations towards non-violence. The "de-radicalization" processes of these movements removed tens of thousands of former militants from the ranks of al-Qa'ida's supporter and acted as disincentives for would-be militants. These processes have taken place on a large scale in Egypt and Algeria, and on a smaller scale in Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Jordan, Tajikistan, Malaysia and Indonesia. / This dissertation addresses crucial lacunae in the literature on Islamism, security and counterterrorism studies by asking the question 'why do radical Islamist militants revise their ideologies, strategies and objectives and initiate a de-radicalization process.' The dissertation also aims to answer the question of what are the necessary conditions under which this process can be successful. In the following chapters, I analyze how such factors as state policies, charismatic leadership and social interaction between the layers of an Islamist organization, as well as between the same organization and the "other," can all interact to shape the prospects for renunciation violence, both behaviourally and ideologically, by an Islamist movement. Empirically, I analyze the deradicalization processes of three cases in Egypt (the armed wings of the Muslim Brothers, the Islamic Group and al-Jihad Organization) and one case in Algeria (Islamic Salvation Army and affiliated militias). I also analyze two cases of deradicalization failure in Algeria, as a means to further explicate and examine my variables. / The arguments in the dissertation are based on qualitative comparative research. Archival interviews, supplemented by personal ones, with Islamist leaders, mid-ranking commanders, grassroots organization members, Islamist movements' specialists, former security and intelligence officers and state officials are analyzed to help identify the potential causes of de-radicalization from different perspectives. Content analysis is also used to examine original literature and statements produced by the Islamist groups under study and their leaders to both legitimize and, at a later stage, to de-legitimize violence. / In the conclusion, the dissertation provides a comprehensive theoretical framework that explains the causes of de-radicalization of armed Islamist movements. It also provides direction for future research agendas and addresses policy implications relevant to de-radicalization. / Plusieurs mouvements islamistes armes ont donne les signes d'importants changements sur le plan du comportement et de l'ideologie en faveur de la nonviolence. Les processus de de-radicalisation de ces mouvements ont conduit au retrait de dizaines de milliers d'anciens militants des rangs des supporteurs d' Al Qaida et ont eu un effet dissuasif sur ceux qui songeaient a se joindre a eux. Ces processus ont eu lieu a grande echelle en Egypte et en Algerie et a plus petite echelle en Libye, en Arabie Saoudite, au Yemen, en Jordanie, au Tadjikistan, en Malaisie et en Indonesie. / Cette these porte sur des lacunes importantes dans la litterature sur l'islamisme, les etudes de securite et le contreterrorisme. Elle cherche a savoir pourquoi les militants radicaux islamistes ont revise leurs ideologies, leurs strategies et leur objectifs et initie un processus de de-radicalisation. Cette these vise arepondre a ces questions afin de comprendre les conditions necessaires a la reussite d'un tel processus. Au cours des chapitres suivants, j'analyse comment des facteurs tels que les politiques etatiques, le leadership charismatique, et les interactions sociales entre les couches d'une organisation islamiste ainsi qu'entre la meme organisation et l' « Autre» peuvent tous interagir pour modifier les perspectives d'un mouvement islamiste de fayon aI'amener arenoncer ala violence, tant dans son comportement que dans son ideologie. De fayon empirique, j'analyse les processus de deradicalisation de trois cas en Egypte (l'aile armee des Freres musulmans, le Groupe islamique et l'Organisation du al-Jihad) et d'un cas en Algerie ( l'Armee islamique du salut et les milices affiliees). J'analyse egalement deux cas d'echec de la deradicalisation en Algerie afin d'examiner mes variables. / Les arguments de cette dissertation sont fondes sur une recherche qualitative comparee. Des entrevues archivees et des entrevues que j'ai moi-meme realisees avec des autorites islamistes, des sous-officiers ainsi qu' avec de jeunes sympathisants, des militants de souche, des specialistes des mouvements islamistes, des anciens officiers de la securite et du renseignement et des employes de l' etat sont analysees afin d'aider it identifier sous differents angles les causes potentielles de de-radicalisation. L'analyse de contenu est egalement utilisee pour examiner la litterature de base ainsi que les communiques produits par des groupes islamistes et leurs chefs pour legitimer et plus tard, pour delegitimer, la violence. / En conclusion, la these presente un cadre theorique qui explique les causes de la de-radicalisation des mouvements islamistes armes. Elle propose egalement des avenues de recherche et traite des implications concemant les politiques gouvemementales et autres relatives ala de-radicalisation.