Bengt-Ove Andreassen

History as Religious Self-mediation: The Case of the Firstborn Laestadians

Abstract The Firstborn group is one of the main groups of the Laestadian tradition. As in Protestantism in general, the Laestadian movement has always been, and continues to be, a producer of transnational mass communication. This articles primary focus is the Firstborn groups self-mediation through minor historical books and booklets. This genre seems more developed and used among Firstborns when compared to other Laestadian groups. Here, an alphabetical, linear and conceptual communication of religion is produced which points to an affective, symbolic and emotional religious practice that is special to the Firstborn group. A loyalty to tradition and the elders in Swedish Lapland are an important part of this communication of religion. Examples from the books and booklets will be discussed in light of recent theoretical perspectives drawn from studies of religion and media, with a basic assumption that all religions are mediated and thus in need of mediation. Religious groups choose different strategies of mediation and with regard to the Firstborn Laestadians, this article will illustrate how they have chosen the production of historical scriptures for self-mediation.

A review of theories on the Laestadian rørelse: on the academic construction of something extraordinary and exotic

ABSTRACT An ecstatic phenomenon usually labelled with the emic term rørelse (in English literally stirrings, motions or movement) has been central in the description and theoretical interpretation of the Laestadian Christian religious movement in northern Fennoscandia. The article considers two tendencies in the scholarly discussion. Firstly, how the discussion relies on descriptions of the rørelse derived from an evolutionary research paradigm applied to the Sami people during the late 1800s and the early 1900s, and secondly, how theories concerning the rørelse have been used in ideologically laden arguments to map the Laestadian movement as a specific Sami Christian revival. This has implied that the rørelse has been a pillar in arguments regarding the continuity of Sami religion (noaidavoutna) in the Laestadian movement.

Christianity as culture and religions as religions. An analysis of the core curriculum as framework for Norwegian RE

Religious education (RE) in Norwegian public schools has attracted much attention as a result of criticism from the UN’s Human Rights Committee in 2004 and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in 2007. Due to the statement from the UN and the conviction in the ECHR, revisions have been made in the Education Act and the curriculum for RE. However, the core curriculum for primary and secondary schools and adult education introduced in 1993 has not been revised. The scope of the article is to analyse the core curriculum and show how this document constructs Christianity as culture and national heritage, leaving other religions as something ‘other’ in Norwegian society. The main argument is thus that the core curriculum provides a qualitative bias towards Christianity in the Norwegian educational system in general, and especially in RE.

Fritaksrett og presiseringer om religionsundervisning også i videregående opplæring

Denne refleksjonsartikkelen reiser sporsmalet om opplaeringslovens kapittel om videregaende opplaering trenger en paragraf om fritaksrett, samt presiseringer om religionsundervisningen, slik det finnes for grunnskolen. Artikkelen presenterer noen refleksjoner over dette, og diskuterer med henvisning til endringer i lovverket for grunnskolen som har kommet som et resultat av debatt og kritikk av KRL-faget.