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Masterirenekildahl2020.Pdf (1.100Mb) «Onward Christian soldiers» En studie av religionens rolle i Britain First Irene Desirée Rolfsen Kildahl Masteroppgave i Religionshistorie REL4990 Institutt for kulturhistorie og orientalske språk 60 studiepoeng UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Høst 2020 II «Onward Christian soldiers» En studie av religionens rolle i Britain First III © Irene Desirée Rolfsen Kildahl 2020 «Onward Christian soldiers» - En studie av religionens rolle i Britain First Irene Desirée Rolfsen Kildahl http://duo.uio.no IV Sammendrag Denne oppgaven er en studie av religionens rolle i Britain First. Britain First (BF) er et britisk politisk parti og en bevegelse på ytre høyre, som har gjort seg bemerket med sine anti- islamske aktiviteter rettet mot Storbritannias muslimer. I tillegg til å kalle seg patrioter og stolte islamofober definerer BF seg som kristne. Denne foreningen av kristne og anti-islamske holdninger er bakgrunnen for å undersøke hvilken rolle kristendom og islam spiller i BFs verdensbilde. Oppgaven drøfter også på hvilken måte kristne forestillinger og symboler påvirker BFs forestillinger om islam, samt andre sentrale temaer for BF, som nasjonen og forestillinger om britiskhet. For å finne ut av dette har jeg analysert et rikt materiale. Primærkildene omfatter blant annet et stort antall videoer, innlegg, bilder og tekster produsert av BF. Materialet inkluderer også et kort feltarbeid med observasjon av én av BFs offentlige aktiviteter. Oppgaven kan blant annet sees som et argument mot en tendens til å avskrive kristendommens posisjon i bevegelser på ytre høyre i Vest-Europa som noe instrumentelt, som kun har til hensikt å markere avstand til islam. En religionsvitenskapelig/religionshistorisk analyse av sentrale temaer viser at i BFs tilfelle, utgjør kristendom en bærebjelke i BFs verdensbilde, praksis og selvforståelse. BFs lederskap mener for eksempel at de er utvalgt av Gud til å lede BF. BF trekker også veksler på Bibelen og Jesus for å gi næring og legitimitet til eget verdensbilde og praksis. De bedriver kristen misjon rettet mot muslimer, tar i bruk hvitmalte trekors under sine aktiviteter, tror på en kommende apokalypse med religiøse tilsnitt, og refererer aktivt til middelalderens korstog. Oppgaven drøfter også flere aspekter ved BFs holdninger til islam og muslimer, med utgangspunkt i temaer som blant annet BFs forestillinger om jihad og en islamsk overtakelse av Vesten, og BFs syn på Profeten Muhammed, Allah, sharia, moskeer, halalslakt og halalnæringsmidler. Oppgaven viser også at BF oppfatter islam og muslimer som en eksistensiell trussel, og hvordan BFs kristendomsforståelse gir legitimitet til BFs anti- islamske aktiviteter og forestillinger. Kristendom utgjør også en viktig komponent i BFs nativistiske verdensanskuelse, der BF lar seg inspirere av en moderne hvit-makt-fortolkning av kristendommen, hvor det å leve med «sine egne» står sentralt. V Forord Først og fremst vil jeg rette en stor takk til min veileder Cecilie Endresen, som har vist interesse for prosjektet fra første stund. Hun har hatt døren på gløtt for meg gjennom hele prosessen, og sørget for at jeg har holdt stø kurs frem mot mål, selv i perioder da jeg mistet målstreken av syne. Hennes tålmodige veiledning og motiverende tilbakemeldinger har vært uvurderlig for tilblivelsen av denne oppgaven. Videre, takk til Chris Allen som tok seg tid til å svare på spørsmål vedrørende Britain First i prosjektets innledende fase, og til Elizabeth Morrow som raust delte sin upubliserte forskning om Britain First med meg. Takk også til lesesalsgjengen og øvrige kamerater på Blindern for å ha gjort årene ved Det humanistiske fakultet til en riktig fin tid. En spesiell takk til Vilde Pettersen for hyggelige lunsjavbrekk, og til Ida Rønningen for å ha bidratt med jevn tilgang til salt lakris gjennom store deler av studieperioden, for gode samtaler og for å ha tatt meg med på skogstur da jeg trengte det som mest. Studietiden ville ikke ha vært det samme uten deg. Dernest vil jeg rette en dyp takk til min mor, som gjennom sin interesse for tro og tvil ansporet meg til å studere religionshistorie, og til å skrive denne oppgaven. Min beste venn og kjæreste Martin, som gjennom hele prosessen har vært en klippe av de sjeldne. Jeg vil takke deg for å ha holdt ut med daglige monologer om oppgavens tema, for å ha lest oppgaven og for å ha hjulpet meg med korrekturlesning og språkvask. Du er en stjerne! Til øvrig familie og venner – takk for tålmodigheten. Vi sees snart, på covid-19-vennlig avstand. Irene Desirée Rolfsen Kildahl Oslo, desember 2020 VI VII Innholdsfortegnelse 1 Innledning ...........................................................................................................................1 1.1 Tema og forskerspørsmål ..............................................................................................1 1.2 Oppgavens oppbygging .................................................................................................3 2 Teori, materiale og metode ..................................................................................................5 2.1 Begrepsavklaring og definisjoner ..................................................................................5 2.2 Tidligere forskning ........................................................................................................6 2.3 Teori .............................................................................................................................8 2.4 Metode og materiale ......................................................................................................9 3 En sosial og historisk kontekst ........................................................................................... 15 3.1 En sekularisert kristen befolkingsmajoritet .................................................................. 15 3.2 Muslimer i Storbritannia.............................................................................................. 16 3.2.1 Konstruksjonen av en islamsk trussel .................................................................... 16 3.2.2 Islamofobi ............................................................................................................ 18 3.3 Storbritannias ekstreme høyrelandskap ........................................................................ 19 4 Organisasjonsstruktur og praksis........................................................................................ 22 4.1 Britain First på internett .............................................................................................. 24 4.2 Aktiviteter og politikk ................................................................................................. 25 4.2.1 Protestmarsjer ....................................................................................................... 25 4.2.2 Moskéinvasjoner og kristne patruljer .................................................................... 27 4.2.3 Politisk deltakelse ................................................................................................. 28 4.3 Lovovertredelser, lederskap og guddommelig utvelgelse ............................................. 29 5 Britain Firsts kristendom- og religionsforståelse ................................................................ 31 5.1 Kristendommens vilkår i dagens Storbritannia ............................................................. 31 5.2 Verdier, gullaldermyter og handlinger ......................................................................... 34 5.3 Bibelen som rettesnor .................................................................................................. 37 5.4 Jesus som ekstremist ................................................................................................... 39 5.5 Bruk av kors ................................................................................................................ 41 5.6 Misjonsbefalingen ....................................................................................................... 42 5.7 Kristen enhet ............................................................................................................... 46 6 Britain Firsts islam- og religionsforståelse ......................................................................... 48 IX 6.1 «En bok. En religion. En islam» .................................................................................. 48 6.1.2 Moderate muslimer ............................................................................................... 49 6.1.3 Eurabia og sharia .................................................................................................. 50 6.2 Profeten Muhammed – et eksempel til etterfølgelse ..................................................... 53 6.3 Halal og forurensing av folkekroppen .......................................................................... 56 6.4 Allah – den hedenske måneguden ................................................................................ 61 6.5 Griser og moskeer ....................................................................................................... 64 7 Nasjon, religion og urbefolkning........................................................................................ 70 7.1 Britain Firsts syn på andre religioner ........................................................................... 70 7.2 Forestillingen om en britisk urbefolkning .................................................................... 72 7.3 Religion og nasjon .....................................................................................................
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