Liselotte Frisk - Böcker

Hur är det att vara barn och växa upp i en religiös minoritetsgrupp som Hare Krishna, Scientologi-kyrkan, Jehovas Vittnen, Knutby Filadelfia, Plymouth-bröderna, Enighetskyrkan eller Guds Barn/Familjen? Boken bygger framför allt på ett 70-tal intervjuer med såväl vuxna som barn som vuxit upp i dessa grupper, samt på intervjuer med ett 20-tal föräldrar, men också på fältobservationer och textstudier av gruppernas material kring barn och barnuppfostran. Livsvillkoren för barnen kan vara mycket olika, bland annat för att de olika religiösa grupperna har olika ideologier och syn på barnuppfostran, men också på individuella omständigheter inom olika familjer, fas i gruppens utveckling samt samhällets gensvar och reaktioner på gruppen ifråga. Boken diskuterar teman som socialisation, identitet, avhopp och skolgång, men tar också upp farhågor kring dessa grupper som auktoritär uppfostran, aga, isolering från samhället, separationer mellan föräldrar och barn, och bristande omsorg vad gäller mat och hälsa. Författare är professor i religionsvetenskap Liselotte Frisk, Högskolan Dalarna, fil. dr Peter Åkerbäck, Stockholms Universitet, och doktorand Sanja Nilsson, Högskolan Dalarna och Göteborgs universitet.

The contemporary popular or new religious landscape in Sweden - arenas with religious elements outside the established churches - is large and multifaceted. Religion is today expressed in different localities, like retreat centers, health centers and gyms, and can manifest as for example healing, mindfulness, seances, coaching and body therapies. The boundaries between religious and secular arenas are becoming increasingly blurred. The popular or new religiosity is firmly rooted in older traditions, but also expresses creative innovation as a result of globalization, secularism, individualism and the impact of psychological and therapeutic orientations. The book is based on a local study of contemporary popular or new religiosity in the area of Dalarna, Sweden. Religious expression always reflects its time. One of the book's purposes is to explore how religion is perceived in our time and how Christianity has shaped our view of what belongs to the "religion" and what is seen as "superstition". To understand religion it is necessary to study its practical everyday expressions.

Minority religions that differ from the mainstream are often perceived as controversial and as a threat to the individual and to society. During the 1970s and 80s, there were intense discussions about whether conversion to these groups was voluntary or an effect of brainwashing or manipulation. In recent years, however, the situation of children in these groups has taken over the public debate regarding minority religions. Many believe that childhoods in cults involve physical and psychological abuse, and that severe punishment, starvation, sexual abuse, manipulation, forced obedience, lack of medical care and demonization of the outside world is part of everyday life.This book presents four years of research. Its purpose is to highlight children's upbringing in certain minority religions with a high degree of "sectarian" criteria in a sociological sense including high tension with society/world, unique legitimacy and high level of commitment. The study examines mainly, but not exclusively, seven minority religious communities: The Hare Krishna movement, The Family International (formerly Children of God), The Church of Scientology, The Family Federation (formerly The Unification Church), Knutby Filadelfia (a Pentecostal group), The Exclusive Brethren, and Jehovah's Witnesses. The fieldwork was conducted in Sweden, but the situation of the children and the findings are relevant to other countries. Most of the minority groups discussed have an international character with a presence in many countries, with only minor differences depending on local circumstances. The study is based on literature from the religions and observations of children and parents in religious rituals and daily life. However, the most important material for the book are eighteen in-depth interviews with children between the ages of 8 and 17 living in these groups and seventy-five in-depth interviews with adults who grew up in minority religions and who are still involved, who grew up in minority religions, but are not now engaged, and who raised children in the minority religions.

The contemporary popular or new religious landscape in Sweden - arenas with religious elements outside the established churches - is large and multifaceted. Religion is today expressed in different localities, like retreat centers, health centers and gyms, and can manifest as for example healing, mindfulness, seances, coaching and body therapies. The boundaries between religious and secular arenas are becoming increasingly blurred. The popular or new religiosity is firmly rooted in older traditions, but also expresses creative innovation as a result of globalization, secularism, individualism and the impact of psychological and therapeutic orientations.The book is based on a local study of contemporary popular or new religiosity in the area of Dalarna, Sweden. Religious expression always reflects its time. One of the book's purposes is to explore how religion is perceived in our time and how Christianity has shaped our view of what belongs to the "religion" and what is seen as "superstition". To understand religion it is necessary to study its practical everyday expressions.

Vad är egentligen att betrakta som nyreligiositet? Hur förhåller det sig till de gamla religionerna och till det sekulariserade samhället? Inte minst viktig är den distinktion som görs mellan begreppen nyreligiositet, nya religiösa rörelser och New Age, företeelser som blandas vilt bl a i medierna, men som sinsemellan är vitt skilda. Genom att anlägga ett religionsvetenskapligt perspektiv, och undersöka företeelserna ur ett historiskt och sociologiskt perspektiv, skapar Frisk ordning i begreppen och avmystifierar sådant som kan verka underligt och ibland rentav skrämmande.

Religion har varit viktig för människor genom historien och i alla kulturer, men dess betydelse har varierat. Går världen nu mot sekularisering, eller är religionen tvärtom åter på frammarsch? Blir människor med tiden mindre religiösa? Och vad betyder i så fall dagens stora intresse för religioner? Kanske är det snarast ett ständigt "tur och retur" för religionen. I Riksbankens Jubileumsfonds årsbok 2017/2018 undersöker forskare bland annat evolution och heliga krig, riter och försanthållanden, rättsliga aspekter på religion i ett mångkulturellt samhälle och hur det är att växa upp inom så kallade sekter.