This thesis argues that the concept of religion plays an important role in the compendium published by Anders Behring Breivik before his terror attack on July 22nd, 2011. As well as within the manifesto published by Brenton Tarrant before his terror attack on March 15th, 2019. This thesis strives to answer the questions of which part religion plays within these two texts, and how it is understood, employed, and used by these two men. To answer these questions the research field of lone wolf terrorism, as well as a critical theory of religion, have been employed. To study the source material, Breivik’s compendium and Tarrant’s manifesto, methodological empathy as well as a hermeneutic method were also used. The results show that both Breivik and Tarrant view the concept of religion as primarily an aspect in the creation of a unified culture for their imagined monocultural Europe and racially pure homeland. The concept of religion is therefore not mainly about any belief in God or scripture but as a tool for cultural unification. The results also show how the concept of religion is key in creating a “we”, an ingroup, for both Breivik and Tarrant as well as an “other”, or an outgroup. This outgroup is in the majority of the two texts Islam or the Muslim. Here the concept of religion is infused with race where the other oftentimes is presented as a “Muslim” simply on physical racial features. The conceptof religion is therefore of utmost importance for both men but in a specific way. Either in the struggle that is the creation of a unified culture and imagined race or in the struggle against their perceived others, Islam and Muslims.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-476224 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Engholm, Hugo |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Teologiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| 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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