The aim of this thesis is to scrutinize how Sveriges Religiösa Reformförbund (Swedish Association of Religious Reform), a pro-Nazi Christian association in interwar Sweden, constructed the concept of race during the years 1929–1940. Using hermeneutic content analysis and a theoretical approach based on “biopolitics” and “political theology,” I examine the construction during three identified periods: 1929–1933, 1934–1937, 1938–1940. Liberal theological in orientation, the association applied a historical-critical exegesis based on late-nineteenth century German Kulturprotestantismus, seeing culture and religion as inseparable components. Also stressing the need for a “religious rebirth” of the Swedish nation, the association pursued a regenerative return to the religious-ethical characteristics of the country’s alleged heroic Germanic past. First using cultural and biological arguments separately in the construction of race, the association would due to its emerging pro-Nazi orientation become influenced by Nazi German theologians, hence incorporating elements of völkisch ideology.

Jag vill finna bakgrunden till dagens svenska jultraditioner, hur dessa har rötter i vintersolståndet och sedan utvecklats till annat i mötet med kristendomen. Mitt syfte är att kunna besvara frågorna ”hur, när och varför” kring ordet jul och dess innebörd.   Uppsatsen handlar om olika delar av jultraditionen i Sverige. Jag sätter in traditionerna i ett historiskt perspektiv, redogör för förberedelserna och själva firandet mellan Lucia- och Staffandagarna. Jag koncentrerar mig på bondesamhällets julfirande. Materialet kommer från tiden både före och efter reformationen på 1500-talet i Sverige, men det är störst fokus på 1700- och 1800-talen.   Jag arbetar med följande frågeställningar: Varför firar vi jul? Hur har det kunnat gå från vikingarnas vintersolstånds-firande till julafton? När kom dagens jultraditioner till? Varifrån kommer våra jultraditioner? Hur kom de olika delar av jultraditionen till? Jag tar en utgångspunkt i teoretiska diskussioner. I diskussionsdelen av uppsatsen diskuterar jag avslutningsvis källkritiska frågor utifrån den litteratur jag använt mig av och särskilt fokus läggs på problematiken kring hur vi överhuvudtaget kan veta något om jultraditionernas ursprung.

Nowadays there is a common understanding in the Western countries regarding how equal the genders are in the traditional Christian societies, while other countries are believed to be characterized by a patriarchal structure. This self-image has probably led to a kind of blindness concerning the problems in the vicinity and instead of emphasizing unequal trends in the West, criticize other cultures and religions for being misogynist. The aim of this study is to analyse how the internet page www.so-rummet.se  describes Islam and Buddhism through a gender perspective. SO-rummet is a webpage created by the teacher Robert de Vries and aims to complete the learning material that is used in the Swedish schools. The site focuses on history, religion, geography and civics.  The purpose of this essay is to investigate how the normative religious believer is described and if both men and women are included in the texts about Islam and Buddhism. This essay will be based on content analysis by assuming which words that are being used and how the genders are being described. This will help concluding who’s considered to be the norm in the text at SO-rummet.

Falun Gong as it began to establish itself in China during the early 1990’s was a reaction to the Qigong bloom from the late 1970’s during a period of recent newfound religious as well as cultural revival after Mao Zedong's death in 1976. The Chinese Government continued their cultural revival with a new constitution that was created 1982, which gave the people of China the rights to practice their religion as well as be under the protection of the government when affiliating with different kinds of religious organizations. That will say, as long as the Chinese government can control it. Falun Gong did not however find its place being under the government's control and found itself soon enough in the violence of the Chinese government which has from the year 1999 criticized the movement and their use of systematic violence upon the movement was drawn to the edge of persecution. The Chinese government's reaction can as we will see be understood within the context of the Chinese religious history. As Falun Gong stands out as and been branded as a offspring from the folk sectarian movement White Lotus and all other affiliations of messianic rebellion and millenarian movements which had occurred from the early Ming dynasty 1338 until the fall of the Qing dynasty 1911

This essay aims to explore and answer if the horror movies about exorcism stays true to the historical practices of the ritual. Or if the creators of these films made it all up. But also to see how the ritual has been portrayed in these movies over the years. Therefore I chose to analyse four different movies that is in different historic periods of the horror movie genre. Among these movies is the classic movie that started it all, The Exorcist. The other movies is representing periods that came after, with this essay we can also gather how society sees the rite of exorcism. The essay is going to present the history of the ritual, the various symptoms of possession and the classifications of getting an approved exorcism. We will focus on the roman-catholic tradition of this ritual, mainly because it is the version that the movies take most of their inspiration from.

Confucius is often considered a great teacher and the sage of Chinese philosophy for thousands of years. His teachings laid the foundation for an education system that prevailed for almost 2000 years before being outlawed by the revolution in 1905. Confucius himself was adamant about the need for education in the society at large, where he saw the need for the people to return to the golden ages of past kings where the kings ruled with benevolence and with righteousness.    But what did Confucius teachings say? What did the students read and study, and what ideals were presented to the students? What were the teacher’s roles and how did the Chinese society look upon them? What was considered valuable knowledge, and how was this argued in the actual works that were studied?    These are some of the questions that this essay examines and tries to answer.

This thesis analyses how norse mythology is being used in modern videogames. This is done via a qualitative content analysis using grounded theory of the game God of War from 2018 by Santa Monica Studios, and comparing the games contents with literature regarding Norse mythology, the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda, as well as studies done on similar games in fields closely related to the subject. The subjects that get compared in this thesis are the gods: Freyja, Mimir and Baldur, the places: Niflheim and Muspelheim, the events: Fimbulvinter and Ragnarök, and studies done on other games usage of norse mythology and -society, ehere the other games in question are: Jotun by Thunder Lotus Games, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice by Ninja Theory, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim by Bethesda Game Studios. The Thesis aims to identify the changes between the games representation of Norse mythology and the mythology itself, how the changes have been shaped by our contemporary society, how these changes can be explained, and finally if similar phenomenon can be observed in other games based on or using Norse mythology as inspiration. Some of these changes are for example how the Fimbulvinter and Ragnarök starts with Baldur’s death, the climate of places such as Niflheim and Muspelheim, the heavy usage of strong female characters, and the origins of certain gods, like Mimir for example. Hopefully, this thesis can be used as a basis and inspiration for thesis and studies done in this or closely related subjects in future studies. The rest of the thesis is written in Swedish.

Forskning gällande begreppen religion och sekularisering, samt hur dessa begrepp uttrycks i läroplanen är ett viktigt område att belysa eftersom jag anser att den är i behov av en utveckling, specifikt för lärare och skolans utveckling till ett öppensinnat och jämställt samhälle. Därför är syftet med den här texten att utforska den historiska utvecklingen av sekularisering i Sverige och hur sekularisering har påverkat hur religion kommer till uttryck i läroplanen för religionskunskap på gymnasiet genom att svara på frågan: Hur har sekularisering påverkat läroplanen för religionskunskap genom historien? Studiens mål är att belysa hur sekulariseringens utveckling har bidragit till formuleringen kring hur religion och olika livsåskådningar förmedlas i läroplanen mellan 1970 och 2011. Den här studien använder sig av ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv för att studera hur historiska händelser har påverkat omfattningen och definitioner av sekularisering och religion. Studien är en diskursanalys, som utförs genom att använda en kvalitativ metod. Metoden har bestått av att samla tidigare forskning i form av text som både är fysisk och elektronisk. Resultatet visade på att många historiska händelser och teorier har bidragit till sekulariseringens utveckling i det svenska samhället, som sedan har påverkat formuleringen och närvaron av religionskunskap i läroplanen. Slutsatsen är därmed att skolan har varit tvungen att anpassa sig efter samhällsförändring. Dock, i takt med samhällets utveckling har religionen aldrig försvunnit. Alternativt har religiös mångfald berikat religionsämnet med att andra religioner har fått en större plats i undervisningen samt gett möjligheten till att låta eleverna skapa egna förutsättningar. Där är mycket som har påverkat religionsämnet och hur det förmedlas i undervisningen ute bland gymnasieskolorna i Sverige. Läroplanen som är konstruerad utifrån samhällssituationen bestämmer vad som ska inkluderas.

This essay analyzes the concept of blot (offerings), places where it´s been held, how it was performed and why it is performed according to literature sources. The literature is often based on Icelandic sagas and storytelling originating from the Christian period, and even though, the storys should be told with some truthful facts, the conclusion is, that these are not trustworthy sources. The question regarding the sagas veracity is therefore discussed from an archaeological viewpoint. Can we find proof in the archaeological material that will give us answers if blot is an individual happening, that actually existed? The answer is no, because there is no actual evidence available that can guarantee that blot as a specific event did occur. The archaeological sources reveal that sacrifices and offerings was made outdoors and in halls. This essay has been investigating three places in Sweden, Bollstanäs in Uppland, Skedemosse on Öland and Helgö in Mälaren. All of these places have proof of sacrificial offerings but their relation to the blot mentioned in saga literature is uncertain. My conclusion is that blot is a subject that is difficult to find as an event in the archaeological material.

The common monastic life for a Buddhist nun follows an almost 2500-year-old legal tradition which has it´s foundation in Buddhist monastic law codes, vinaya. The rules to live by is specified in the core text pratimoksha. With the spread of the Buddhist samgha to new cultural settings and facing modernity, the monastic code has been challenged. The Vietnamese Buddhist munk and Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, published a new revised version of pratimoksha in 2004. This revised monastic code is in use in Buddhist centra in Europe today. This essay sees the monastic law codes as an expression of a monastic ideal formed by cultural context. Textual analysis together with comparative content analysis is used to examine the precepts for Buddhist nuns and describe the role model for monastic life today. The new formulation of the precepts shows the challenge of the samgha in modern times. Hanh’s revised pratimoksha is understood in comparison with the canonical dharmaguptakavinaya. Monastic code is corresponding to its environment and this essay shows how change has been done as a response to new cultural and contextual settings. The conclusion reached paints a picture of an ideal Buddhistic nun in the twenty-first century.