In this textual analysis I have examined the book Att följa Jesus by Ulf Ekman and information from Word of Life's official website. The aim of this study is to see how a religious leader is shaping the identity of the groups members after a certain pattern that differs from the surrounding, secular society. The research focus  of this essay includes several aspects:  how a culture is formed in a religious minority in contrast to the prevailing cultural context; how the material can be explained by Paul Pruyser’s theory on the psychological worlds; how what Ulf Ekman writes about distinguishing themselves from the environment differs from how other religious minority groups distinguish their identity;  and,  how the psychological world, expected behavior, and context of Word of Life can be structured by Valerie DeMarinis’ model of assessment. I have placed Word of Life in a realistic illusionistic world developed from Paul Pruyser’s theory of psychological worlds. I have also used Valerie DeMarinis’ orientation model for meaning making systems for placing Word of Life in its cultural context. The investigation revealed that the group is a religious minority in Sweden. After this, I compared Word of Life with other religious minority groups. I chose to focus on Jewish identity in the American South and in Copenhagen, which showed that the individuals who were interviewed who felt that their Jewish  identities were under attack became defensive. Ekman, however, ordered his members to be inclusive but theologically conservative and to seek a counterculture existence. I placed the steps of ‘belonging’  into DeMarinis’ assessment model, which showed how the psychological world is leading up to the achievement of the expected behavior, and how the surrounding cultural context affects the model.

La communauté druze est l'une des minorités religieuses les plus fascinantes du Proche-Orient. Longtemps le caractère secret de leur religion a alimenté les fantasmes des voyageurs occidentaux et suscité accusations et pamphlets de la part de leurs voisins arabes. Aujourd'hui, cette minorité répartie entre le Liban, la Syrie et Israël soulève des interrogations plus politiques puisque loin d'avoir formulé des revendications à caractère nationaliste, chaque communauté a développé une attitude distincte vis-à-vis de l'Etat dans lequel elle est insérée. Cet ouvrage, qui propose une analyse de l'organisation sociale dans la communauté druze israélienne, renouvelle les perspectives d'étude sur les minorités religieuses au Proche-Orient en montrant comment il est possible de constituer et de perpétuer une spécificité sans revendiquer une identité nationale. Le caractère novateur de ce travail est d'avoir reconsidéré les relations entre le politique et le religieux dans cette communauté en soulignant qu'il n'y a ni une simple séparation, ni au contraire une totale imbrication entre ces deux domaines, mais des formes d'interconnexion qui varient selon le niveau de réalité dans lequel elles se manifestent. Si au niveau local, les hommes politiques et les personnages religieux se distinguent, au niveau global de la communauté, un seul personnage, le chef spirituel détient à la fois une fonction religieuse et une fonction politique qui lui permet de définir les limites de sa communauté et d'en être le guide. Le grand intérêt de cette contribution est aussi de montrer que la religion n'est pas simplement affaire de croyance , de dogme ou de Loi, mais qu'elle s'inscrit dans des structures d'interaction sociale. A la différence d'autres religions communautaires qui jouent sur les rites commémoratifs de leur fondation et qui développent des exégèses élaborées sur les textes sacrés, la religion druze privilégie l'action répétée de ses membres comme mode de perpétuation de son identité.

In this ethnographic study, I explore the ways, in which the engagement of Polish Catholics with Swedish society generates both adaptation and resistance. The thesis begins with an overview of the history of the Swedish Catholic Church and notes how Poles became one of the most numerous immigrant groups in Sweden during past decades. I then make use of fifteen in-depth interviews along with more than twenty sessions of observation in a Polish milieu in the Mälaren Valley. Polish Catholics often consider themselves, as one put it, as "weird creatures" in Sweden, not only for being a religious minority, but also due to conflicts between Catholic moral teachings and prevailing modern liberal views in Swedish society. Also, interviewees tend to blame Sweden for weakening the religiosity of their compatriots. Catholicism often presents particular challenges for the adaptation and integration of Poles, especially teenagers, who are, as one out it, seen "like freaks here". Also notable is the controversial stance of parishioners and the clergy on gender questions. While many laity see feminism as a threat, some priests assert that "feminism and Catholicism have so much in common". Among other challenges for the religious life of Poles in Sweden are consumerism, which leads to the formulation "prosperity destroys people" and is seen as a competitor to the church; and the Swedish language, which divides first and second generations. Interviewees also express shared interests with Muslims and solidarity with Orthodox Christians.

Le paysage religieux québécois a connu depuis les années 1960 des transformations profondes, que l’on associe classiquement au processus de sécularisation de la province et à la diversification des régions d’origine de son immigration. Le passage d’une immigration surtout européenne, et donc principalement chrétienne ou juive, à une immigration issue d’autres régions de monde participa à l’émergence d’une nouvelle diversité religieuse au Québec. Ce mémoire se propose d’explorer le cas d’une des religions qui fut introduite suite à l’accueil de réfugiés vietnamiens entre les années 1970 et 1990, le caodaïsme. Bien que très faiblement représentés à Montréal et au Québec comparativement aux Vietnamiens bouddhistes et catholiques, les caodaïstes ont rapidement formé leur propre congrégation, celle-ci ayant été un lieu de soutien pour les nouveaux arrivants vietnamiens. Basées sur un terrain mené en 2014 et en 2015 auprès du Temple Caodaïque de Montréal, les analyses proposées dans ce mémoire mettent en lumière le rôle particulier qu’a pu jouer cette congrégation religieuse auprès de ses membres dans leur insertion à la société québécoise, tout en soulignant l’évolution qu’a connue le rôle de ce lieu de culte après trois décennies d’existence et le déclin de l’immigration vietnamienne au Québec. Par ailleurs, nous analysons les différentes adaptations qu’a connue la pratique, collective comme individuelle, du caodaïsme au Québec en mettant en exergue l’importance de l’influence du contexte sécularisé et de la condition minoritaire. Nous montrons finalement la manière dont les adeptes de cette congrégation cherchent à mettre leur doctrine en cohérence avec la société québécoise. / The religious landscape in Quebec has undergone profound changes since the 1960s. These transformations are typically associated with the process of secularization of the province and the diversification of the origins of its immigrants. The transition from a mainly European immigration, and therefore mainly Christian or Jewish, to an immigration from other regions of the world, contributed to the formation of a newly established religious diversity in Quebec. This master’s thesis explores the case of Caodaism a religion that was first introduced by Vietnamese refugees between the 1970s and 1990s. Although Caodaists were few in numbers in Montreal and Quebec compared to Vietnamese Buddhists and Catholics, they quickly formed their own congregation, which became a site where new Vietnamese immigrants could seek support. Based on fieldwork conducted in 2014 and 2015 with the Temple Caodaïque de Montréal, I examine the role that this religious congregation played in the integration of its members into Quebec society, while demonstrating the transformation of the role ascribed to the Caodaist place of worship through the last three decades of existence and the decline of Vietnamese immigration in Quebec. Furthermore, I analyze how the collective and individual practice of Caodaism in Quebec has adapted though time, emphasising the importance of the influence of the secularized context and the religion’s minority status. I finally show how the members of this congregation strive to make their religious doctrine consistent with Quebec society.

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The subject of this dissertation is culturally diversified nursing care provided to adherents of the selected religious minorities. The theoretical part of the dissertation is concerned with transcultural nursing care and also with the characteristics of the selected religions. The practical part of this dissertation includes processing and evaluation of the data acquired during the conducted research. There were three objectives set at the beginning. The first objective was to explore the particularities of nursing care provided to adherents of the selected religious minorities. In order to achieve the set objective, a method of half-structured interview with representatives of different minorities (Centre of Muslim Communities, Diamond Way Buddhism and Czech Orthodox Church) living in the Czech Republic was utilized. Seven representatives of each minority took part in the interview. The results of the research related to the first objective showed that there is a range of defects when it comes to providing nursing care to adherents of different religion. Hospitalization in particular was one of the main subjects of the whole interview. Most of the respondents had negative experience when it comes to staying in hospital environment. All the negative experience resulted from and was connected to their religion. The interview also disclosed new information needed for providing considerate nursing care. The new information were disclosed as a result of the interview conducted with each minority and relate to catering, hygiene, dying or refusing medical treatment. The second objective was to monitor nurses? experience with multi-cultural nursing care and the last objective was to determine the nurses? awareness of nursing care fields, in which the adherents of the selected religious minorities in the Czech Republic are particular. In order to achieve the objective related to the quantitative part of the research, a method of survey (questionnaire) was utilized. The questionnaire was given to the nurses from all the hospitals in South-Bohemian Region. The results in this part showed experience of nurses with multi-cultural nursing and their knowledge of nursing care fields, in which the adherents of the selected religious minorities are particular. Although the most of the nurses have come across multi-cultural nursing, they still do not know the particularities of the selected religions completely. The analysis of the results shows that providers of nursing care are getting more and more aware of multi-cultural nursing, which will certainly have a positive impact, in the future, on satisfying the needs connected to religion of individual patients. Based on the results of the research, an informational material intended for nurses was prepared, which contains brief descriptions of the selected religious minorities living in the Czech Republic and their particularities in the field of providing culturally considerate nursing care. Furthermore, standards for nursing care were created for each one of the selected religious minorities. Preparation of material for accreditation of educational courses for nurses also took place. The material is focused on multi-cultural nursing and the selected religious minorities. In order to further improve the care provided to the adherents of different religions, a nursing anamnesis draft was created, which also focuses on needs connected to religion.