In 2002, Reginald Bibby surprisingly asserted that a renaissance of religion is, or soon will be taking place in Canada. However, the assertion clashes with the dominant belief based largely on Bibby’s accumulated data about Canadians’ religious beliefs and practices, that Canada is becoming an increasingly secularized society. Based on forty-two in-depth interviews, this dissertation tests the “renaissance thesis” and improves our grasp of how Canadians subjectively understand their religious involvements by comparing the views of active religious affiliates (those who identify with a religious group and attend religious services nearly every week) and marginal religious affiliates (those who identify with a religious group and attend religious services primarily on Christmas or Easter, or for rites of passage such as weddings and funerals). What explains their higher and lower levels of religious involvement, what is the likelihood that marginal affiliates could eventually become active affiliates, and how does this understanding help us to assess the degree of religiosity or secularity in Canada? I argue that active and marginal affiliates are distinct mainly because of their different experiences with the supernatural or their local congregation, and the social influences that either encourage or discourage involvement in a religious group. These conclusions emerge from a close examination and testing of fundamental principles in Rational Choice Theory, a theory currently popular in the sociology of religion and in Bibby’s ongoing analysis of religion in Canada. Contrary to Bibby’s prediction, there is little reason to believe that marginal affiliates will eventually become active affiliates, regardless of changes to the supply of religion in Canada. In general, marginal affiliates appear content with their current levels of religiosity. As a result, I think it is likely that we will witness continued secularization at the individual level in Canada, which if proven correct, could strain Canada’s civic fabric in the future.

In 2002, Reginald Bibby surprisingly asserted that a renaissance of religion is, or soon will be taking place in Canada. However, the assertion clashes with the dominant belief based largely on Bibby’s accumulated data about Canadians’ religious beliefs and practices, that Canada is becoming an increasingly secularized society. Based on forty-two in-depth interviews, this dissertation tests the “renaissance thesis” and improves our grasp of how Canadians subjectively understand their religious involvements by comparing the views of active religious affiliates (those who identify with a religious group and attend religious services nearly every week) and marginal religious affiliates (those who identify with a religious group and attend religious services primarily on Christmas or Easter, or for rites of passage such as weddings and funerals). What explains their higher and lower levels of religious involvement, what is the likelihood that marginal affiliates could eventually become active affiliates, and how does this understanding help us to assess the degree of religiosity or secularity in Canada? I argue that active and marginal affiliates are distinct mainly because of their different experiences with the supernatural or their local congregation, and the social influences that either encourage or discourage involvement in a religious group. These conclusions emerge from a close examination and testing of fundamental principles in Rational Choice Theory, a theory currently popular in the sociology of religion and in Bibby’s ongoing analysis of religion in Canada. Contrary to Bibby’s prediction, there is little reason to believe that marginal affiliates will eventually become active affiliates, regardless of changes to the supply of religion in Canada. In general, marginal affiliates appear content with their current levels of religiosity. As a result, I think it is likely that we will witness continued secularization at the individual level in Canada, which if proven correct, could strain Canada’s civic fabric in the future.

The aim of this thesis is to identify and illuminate Anyurus fictional portrayal of Islam and Muslims role in the future Swedish society. Furthermore, this thesis intends to shed light on the novels attitudes towards Islam and Muslims. This thesis hopes to add knowledge about how Islam and Muslims can be portrayed in popular cultural. The research questions are framed as follow: How can portrayal of Islam and Muslims in Anyurus novel be understood in relation to José Casanovas theory of the changing role of religions in the public and private spheres? Does Anyurus novel reflect open or closed attitudes about Islam and Muslims? The theoretical starting points that were used to answer the study’s purpose and research questions were José Casanovas secularization theory and The Runnymede Trust model of open and closed attitudes towards Islam and Muslims. The methodological approach was a qualitative content analysis with a focus on a thematic analysis. The material that was being analyzed is a novel called They will drown in their mother’s tears, written by Johannes Anyuru. The results showed that José Casanovas secularization theory could be used to understand Islam and Muslims role in the society. Results showed that their role did not disappear from the public to the private sphere, it was a choice that Muslims in the novel decided by themselves. The result also showed that it can be argued that the majority of Anyurus representation reflect closed attitudes towards Islam and Muslims. The open attitudes could not be identified and reflected in Anyurus novel. It is important to keep in mind that this is a study that is based on a fictional representation of the future of Sweden, which therefore means that it is not possible to draw a parallel to reality.

Previous research has indicated a decreased use of textbooks among religious education teachers, while students with a religious background perceive themselves as a vulnerable minority in classrooms. It also points to a post-Christian society where schools now take responsibility for knowledge about the Christian faith and how it should be understood. Simultaneously, secularization is increasing in society, and people express a secularist attitude towards religion. The aim of this essay is to examine the representation of Christianity in religious education textbooks for upper secondary school based on secular and secularist discourses, and analyze how the results can be interpreted in terms of the concepts of alliance, othering, positive essentialism, and negative essentialism. The theories that were utilized included modified secularization theory, discourse theory, and essentialism in religious education. These were combined with the methods of discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis. The conclusion from this study is that in the selected books, positive and negative essentialism occurred to varying degrees, indicating a lack of objectivity. There were also numerous alliances and instances of othering, which in several cases suggested secular and secularist discourses.

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This study intends to discover distinctions between two minority groups, Mormons and Orthodox Jews, compared to a mainstream Protestant group, the Methodists, in terms of newspaper behavior. It intends to probe for differences in newspaper readership frequency and uses (Berelson, 1949) between religious minority group members and majority group members. It originated with the belief that religion (type) and degree of ingroup identification in the minority communities (stronger) would lead to greater newspaper avoidance and limit newspaper use primarily for information/public affairs, rather than Berelson's (1949) other categorizations of socialization, respite, entertainment. Indeed, minority-majority distinctions did not hold. Important differences emerged between religious and more secular individuals in all communities. It was the degree of religiosity that most deeply impacted newspaper use, not denominational ties. The more individuals scored highly on a "religion-as-spiritual-quest" factor, the less they read newspapers, particularly the business newspaper. For "spiritual questors" of all denominations, the house of worship, with its myriad activities, served as a leisure-time base and, for them, recreational use of the newspaper was minimal. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)

This study intends to discover distinctions between two minority groups, Mormons and Orthodox Jews, compared to a mainstream Protestant group, the Methodists, in terms of newspaper behavior. It intends to probe for differences in newspaper readership frequency and uses (Berelson, 1949) between religious minority group members and majority group members. It originated with the belief that religion (type) and degree of ingroup identification in the minority communities (stronger) would lead to greater newspaper avoidance and limit newspaper use primarily for information/public affairs, rather than Berelson's (1949) other categorizations of socialization, respite, entertainment. Indeed, minority-majority distinctions did not hold. Important differences emerged between religious and more secular individuals in all communities. It was the degree of religiosity that most deeply impacted newspaper use, not denominational ties. The more individuals scored highly on a "religion-as-spiritual-quest" factor, the less they read newspapers, particularly the business newspaper. For "spiritual questors" of all denominations, the house of worship, with its myriad activities, served as a leisure-time base and, for them, recreational use of the newspaper was minimal. / Communication Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Communication)