Kristian Steiner

Images of Muslims and Islam in Swedish Christian and secular news discourse

This article is a descriptive comparative quantitative content analysis of the construction of Islam and Muslims in 2006–2007 in four Swedish publications – the liberal newspaper Dagens Nyheter representing mainstream media, the Evangelical newspaper Dagen, the fundamentalist newspaper Världen idag representing the Christian right, and the journal SD-Kuriren, the official organ of the Sweden Democrats, a neo-nationalist party. The aim is to see where a chasm between those media that accept the presence of Muslims and Islam in Sweden, and those that do not, occurs. The results put the liberal Dagens Nyheter and the Evangelical Dagen on one side of the divide and the fundamentalist Världen idag and the neo-nationalist SD-Kuriren on the other. Världen idag and SD-Kuriren tend to describe Muslims and Islam as threatening, and ‘our’ elite as retreating. In these two media, Muslims are consistently described as aggressive and the cause of social and political problems. Finally, in both media, Muslims are related to negative behavior; good Muslim behavior is constantly disregarded, while bad behavior is assumed to reflect their true character. Världen idag also claims that Islam is incompatible with democracy. Liberal Dagens Nyheter and Evangelical Dagen avoid describing Muslims and Islam as a threat and more often seek constructive solutions to different problems. Dagens Nyheter moreover describes conflicts between Muslim and Christian actors in political, not religious, terms. Dagen also sees Muslims and Christians alike as victims of the forces of secularization.

The Image of Islam and Muslims in Swedish Radical Christian Press

This is a case study on the construction of Islam and Muslims in sixty editorials 2006 in a Swedish Evangelical newspaper, Varlden idag (“The World Today”). The paper was founded in 2001 and is officially independent and non-denominational. In reality, it is financially and ideologically dependent on the radical faith movement. Its circulation is about 8,500. The main theme in the selected editorials is “Muslim threat,” in some cases combined with “Western retreat” and “Islam’s incompatibility with democracy.” Islam and Muslims are consistently described as causing these problems. However, terms denoting Muslims are rarely derogatory, instead Muslims are depicted in terms of broad denotation, like “Muslims” or “the Muslim world.” These labels are often combined with a stark derogatory complement. Aggressive acts like “demanding” and “murdering” or “mass-murdering” are the most common ones associated with Muslims. Good Muslim behavior is constantly disregarded; bad behavior reflects true character. Muslims are depicted as one homogeneous stereotypical and static group.

Loving Violent Arabs: A Study of Radicalism Within the Israeli Messianic Movement

Steiner and Lundberg examine how Israeli Messianic leaders articulate the hope for peace in the Middle East. More specifically, they draw attention to how Messianic leaders understand the Middle Eastern conflicts and whether this understanding could be considered as radical. All of the informants underline the complexity of the conflicts and most of them tend to emphasize their permanence. The informants are pessimists regarding the conflict, half of them describe it in fatalist terms. This colours their hope for peace; they expect an escalation of the Middle Eastern conflicts, even the apocalypse. And lastly, the informants prefer a one-state solution. In comparison to the Israeli political mainstream, like Likud, the Messianic movement is not necessarily radical.

The Remaining Few : Christian Zionists making sense of a changed ecclesiastic landscape

Abstract Using a hermeneutical method, this study seeks to understand Christian Zionism as a meaningful practice in late modern Sweden. We visited four Christian Zionist conferences where we observed, analysed the sermons, and conducted interviews. The conferences are almost entirely attended by elderly people and the style is characterized by an old-time revivalist nostalgia. Results show that Israel is seen as a key to understanding a general conflict that the informants experience in late modern Swedish society and in relation to the majority church. Supporting Israel is intertwined with support for conservative values and theology and Israel becomes a nodal point that puts the greater conflict in a new perspective: identifying with Old Testament prophecies and God’s dealings with Israel gives hope and a sense of continuity to a revivalist movement that has become out of date. In Israel, Christian Zionists connect with both the past and the future, personally and as a movement.

Pitied Women, Aggressive Men : Images of Muslims in Swedish Christian and Secular News Discourse

This is a descriptive comparative analysis on the usage of gender in the construction of Muslims in 2006–2007 in four Swedish publications—the liberal Dagens Nyheter, the Evangelical Dagen, the fundamentalist Varlden idag and the neo-nationalist journal SD-Kuriren. Varlden idag and SD-Kuriren tend to describe Muslims and Islam as threatening, aggressive and the cause of social and political problems. Muslims are associated with negative behaviour. Dagens Nyheter and Dagen avoid describing Muslims and Islam as a threat and more often seek constructive solutions to different problems. Dagens Nyheter describes conflicts between Muslim and Christian actors in political, not religious, terms. Dagen sees Muslims and Christians alike as victims of secularization. Gender is used relatively infrequently as an instrument to construct this image of Muslims and Islam.

The Image of Islam and Muslim in the Swedish Evangelical Press

Currently, there are two Christian newspapers in the Swedish media market. One is Dagen (“The Day”), founded in 1945 as a Pentecostal newspaper. The other is Varlden idag (“The World Today”), founded in 2001 and officially independent and nondenominational.