The aim of this study was to explore the relevance and function of Christian reli-gious belief in constructing views on climate change (sv: klimathot) and climate action (sv: klimatengagemang). To ensure a focus on religiosity and the construc-tion of personal beliefs rather than systematic theology the study used psycholo-gist Crystal L. Parks theory on religious meaning making. Fourteen articles about climate change with denominational elements from the Christian newspapers Dagen, Insidan, Kyrkans Tidning, Budbäraren and Världen Idag were analysed using a qualitative content analysis. The results showed that the articles had ex-panded the extent of religion to encompass both climate change and climate ac-tion. Through truth claims and references to the Bible the threat of climate change was incorporated in the narrative of Genesis and humanity’s fall from grace and climate change was portrayed as the result of humanity’s failure at properly stew-arding nature. The environment was assigned value through depictions of the en-vironment as a creation by God. Climate action was presented as a necessity and a duty with references to God giving humanity the responsibility of stewarding na-ture. The ascription of religious meaning to climate action also meant that the re-ligiosity of the authors functioned as a motivation in regards to climate action. The religiosity, as portrayed in the articles, also exhibited a transcendent function in the case where the authors described their stewardship as a united effort with God. The idea that God was helping humanity in their stewardship and had the power to renew the world for the better also functioned as a mitigation to climate anxiety.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-477369 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Thelin, Klara |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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