WAR AND FAITH - COPING STRATEGIES AMONG CHRISTIANS SURVIVING ISIS IN NORTHERN IRAQ

Sammanfattning: During the last decades, the Christian population of Iraq is estimated to have decreased from about 1.5 million people to about 120,000. The historical examples of religious persecution are plenty, and in the last few years, the world again witnessed brutal violence against religious minorities, this time committed by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). By examining the narrative of the survivors of the persecution and violence, insight can be gained into what becomes meaningful for a person in the darkest situation of violence and threats, and how the available resources can be useful to cope with the situation in a way that makes sense of evil. Through an ethnographic approach, the inner lives of eight Christians from northern Iraq are explored in this thesis. Their personal stories demonstrate how a sense of coherence can be reached through being part of something greater than oneself; activism, nationalism, and most of all; religious faith, practice, and identity.