Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 30 (Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, 30) [Illustrated] 9004414746, 9789004414747

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Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 30

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Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion Edited by Ralph W. Hood Jr. Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

VOLUME 30

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/rssr

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Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 30 Edited by

Ralph W. Hood Jr. Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

LEIDEN | BOSTON

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For the Special Section 1: The Social Scientific Study of Religion in Indonesia, special thanks go to Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana for the support with funding to be used for meetings, proofreading, and editing. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/89650738

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 1046-8064 ISBN 978-90-04-41474-7 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-41698-7 (e-book) Copyright 2020 The Netherlands. 2020by byKoninklijke KoninklijkeBrill BrillNV, NV,Leiden, The Netherlands, except where stated otherwise. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

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Contents Preface ix Manuscript Invitation x List of Illustrations, Tables and Graphs xi Notes on Contributors xiii

Unsolicited Articles 1

Religious Coping with General Life Stressors in Persons with Same-Sex Attractions 3 Russell E. Phillips III, Sierrah Avant, Jessica Milewski, Nicholas Drop, Rachel Herndon, Alex Maccarelli, Michael Lucci

2

Love in the Midst of Stressors: Exploring the Role of Daily Spiritual Experiences 25 Gina M. Brelsford, Lynn G. Underwood, & Bradley R. E. Wright

Special Section 1 The Social Scientific Study of Religion in Indonesia 3

Introduction to Social Scientific Study of Religion in Indonesia 47 Johana E. Prawitasari, Evans Garey, and Ralph W. Hood Jr.

4

Religions in Indonesia: a Historical Sketch 54 Denni Boy Saragih

5

The Sociological Context of Religion in Indonesia 67 Sindung Haryanto

6

Religious Self: The Multi-Construal Model of Indonesian Self 103 Retno Hanggarani Ninin

7

An Inverted Quest: Cosmopolitanism and Religion in Baladeva Comics 130 Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras

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8

Exploration of Christian Faith Religiosity in Indonesia 152 Olivia Hadiwirawan, Denny Putra, & Evans Garey

9

The Trends in Islamic Psychology in Indonesia 162 H. Fuad Nashori, Raden Rachmy Diana, and Bahril Hidayat

10

Srikandi Lintas Iman: Religiosity in Diversity 181 Nina Mariani Noor

11

At the Intersection of Science and Faith: Epistemic Cognition about “Religiously-Loaded” Scientific Issues 193 Anindito Aditomo

12

Rasch Model of Religious Hope: Scale Development with an Indonesian Sample 215 Evans Garey, Ngadiman Djaja & Ralph W. Hood Jr.

13

Religious Orientation and Hope Expressed among University Students 225 Petrayuna Dian Omega and Ngadiman Djaja

14

Spirituality and Posttraumatic Growth among Disaster Survivors in Indonesia 238 Zarina Akbar

Special Section 2 The Pope Francis Effect 15

Pope Francis Effect between Internal Reforms of the Catholic Church and Geopolitical Choices: An Introduction 251 Giuseppe Giordan

16

Modernizing the Roman Form of Catholicism 256 Enzo Pace

17

The Primacy of Reality: The People First of All 275 Monica Simeoni and Francesco Vespasiano

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Pope Francis and Argentinean Politics 295 Verónica Roldán

19

A Catholic Dilemma: Church and Pope Resisting to and Compromising with Political and Cognitive Revolution 314 Roberto Motta

20 Negating the Francis Effect?: The Effect of the Abuse Crisis in Ireland 335 Gladys Ganiel 21

A Global Papacy: The International Travels of Pope Francis and Geopolitics 358 Andrew P. Lynch

22

Pope Francis and Latin American Evangelicals 374 Ari Pedro Oro and Erico Tavares de Carvalho Junior

23

The Failed Visit of Francis to Chile and the Catholic Church Crisis 394 Cristian Parker and José Pérez Valdivia

24 The Non-Effect of Pope Francis behind the Scenes of “Mexico always Faithful” 417 Renée de la Torre Index 445

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Preface Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion has always employed two means to publish theoretical and empirical work in the disciplines that study religion. Unsolicited manuscripts dealing may be submitted and go through a rigorous peer review process. RSSSR does not discriminate on the basis of a preferred methodology for empirical work, and is receptive to the wide range of quantitative and qualitative methodologies that characterize the contemporary social sciences. We also accept special sections in which individuals may serve as special editors for an area in which they are confident they can cultivate and guide a number of papers. Dealing with a given topic. The issue starts with two empirical papers, one dealing with attachment and the other with the buffering impact of daily spiritual experiences on stressors on compassionate love. While this issue of RSSSR has only two unsolicited papers, it is due to the two special sections, one dealing with the social scientific study of religion in Indonesia and the other with what is widely acknowledge as the Pope Francis effect. Edited by Giuseppe Giordan this is the final contribution of Andrew Village who encouraged this submission and who is now retired co-editor of RSSSR, and but remains a marvelous colleague. We also are proud to announce our new-co-editor Dr. Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor.

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Manuscript Invitation Manuscripts on any aspect of the social scientific study of religion may be submitted to either Dr. Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor ([email protected]) or Dr. Ralph W. Hood Jr. ([email protected]). Also, individuals interested in guest editing a special section can contact either co-editor with a proposal.

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Illustrations, Tables and Graphs Figures 1.1 Religiosity, sexual identity development, and negative religious coping 18 2.1 Average DSES scores, by person 33 2.2 Within-person deviation scores for DSES 33 2.3 Marginal effects of stressors on love 36 6.1 The building block theories of religious self 110 11.1 Epistemic orientations about religiously-loaded and neutral issues 206 12.1 Response category ratings 220 12.2 Person-Item map showing targeting of the 12 items RHS and separation of the person and item means (M) 221 23.1 Trust in the Catholic Church: Latin America and Chile 1996–2017 405 23.2 Can you tell me what religion you belong or profess? 407

Photos 24.1 Pope Francis during his visit at Morelia, Mexico. Photo by Renée de la Torre, February 16, 2016 429 24.2 John Paul II with Our Lady of Guadalupe (the Queen of Mexico). Pope Francis during his visit at Morelia, Mexico. Photo by Renée de la Torre, February 16, 2016 430 24.3 Pennant sellers with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe and Pope Francis. Visit of Pope Francis to Morelia, Mexico. Photo by Renée de la Torre, February 16, 2016 431 24.4 The insecurity behind the scenes during the pastoral visit of Pope Francis. Morelia, Mexico. Photo by Renée de la Torre, February 16, 2016 433

Tables 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1

Religious coping items, descriptive statistics, and exploratory factor analysis loadings 10 Descriptive statistics and correlations 15 Hierarchical regression—religious coping and outcome variables 17 The effect of stressors on love, as moderated by DSES (raw scores) 34

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2.2

The effect of stressors on love, as moderated by DSES (person-mean and deviation) 35 Restriction on religious freedom scores for Indonesia 79 Taxonomy of religious conflict in Indonesia 83 Scientific issue vignettes used as context to assess epistemic cognition 202 Responses for each option within the three epistemic dimensions 204 McNemar Chi-square tests comparing social and biological issues 205 McNemar chi-square tests comparing religiously-loaded and neutral issues 206 Item fit statistics and item difficulty of the 12-item RHS ordered by most to least difficult 219 Fit parameters of the RHS with Rasch Model requirements 220 Descriptive statistics of the RHS 221 Sample characteristics 229 Descriptive statistics 230 Shortcomings identified by the Pope among managers in the Curia and the corresponding failings typically seen in large business organizations 266 Perceptions of Francis’ visit (% respondents, N = 840) 348 Reasons for not attending an event (% respondents) 350 Change in religious practice (% respondents) 352

5.1 5.2 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 12.1 12.2 12.3 13.1 13.2 16.1 20.1 20.2 20.3

Graphs 24.1 Catholics in Latin America (percentage) 424 24.2 Catholic percentage of the population in Mexico, INEGI 1950–2010 425 24.3 How do you identify yourself, mainly, in religious terms? (Data by Catholics) 427

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Notes on Contributors Anindito Aditomo lectures in educational psychology at Universitas Surabaya, Indonesia. He obtained his first degree in psychology from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta, and his master and doctoral degrees in education from the University of Sydney, Australia. His main research interest concerns the cultivation of students’ higher-order thinking skills and how the science of learning can help achieve that goal. Zarina Akbar completed her undergraduate and postgraduate education at the Faculty of Psychology, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta. In 2012 she continued her doctoral studies at Education and Rehabilitation Psychology, University of Leipzig, Germany. The author has the opportunity to take part in international seminar activities and also publish several academic writings that have been published abroad such as in Portugal and Germany. At present, the writer is one of the teaching staff in the Faculty of Psychology and Postgraduate Program at the Jakarta State University. Sierrah Avant MAATW, is a qualified mental health professional at Ada McKinley Community Services in Chicago, Illinois and a fourth-year doctoral student at Illinois School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University’s Chicago campus, where her concentration is child and adolescent clinical psychology. Her research interests include the psychological study of child and adolescent development, trauma and resiliency, foster children and their parents, and religious coping. Gina M. Brelsford is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Penn State Harrisburg. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Bowling Green State University. Her research agenda focuses on the psychology of religion and spirituality in the family, positive psychology concepts, and cognitive-behavioral work with children and adolescents. Dr. Brelsford is active in Division 36 (Society for the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) of the American Psychological Association and in the Pennsylvania Psychological Association. Clinically, Dr. Brelsford has experience working with children, adolescents and families who present with a variety of behavioral, emotional, and familial issues.

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Renée de la Torre Castellanos is Professor of Anthropology at the CIESAS Occidente, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Member of the National Research System (SNI-level III), and The Academy of Science in Mexico. She holds Ph.D. in Social Science, with specialty in Social Anthropology, at CIESAS/Universidad de Guadalajara. Her main research interests are focused on study of religious change in Mexico, public religion, secularism and human rights, changes in Catholicism, spiritual movements networks, and the transnationalization of Aztec Dance. Among her recent publication is New Age in Latin America: Popular Variations and ethnic appropriations, Brill, 2016. Raden Rachmy Diana is a psychologist and psychology lecturer at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Her educations were the undergraduate program in psychology (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta), postgraduate program in psychology (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta), and doctoral program in psychology in Islamic education (Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta). On campus, she taught courses related to educational psychology, such as educational psychology, early childhood psychology, character education, and psychodiagnostic. She also wrote some books. Ngadiman Djaja is a lecturer at Faculty of Psychology Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana (UKRIDA). He studied psychometrics and received his master degree in Educational Research, Assessment and Evaluation in the Flinders University of South Australia under Australia Partnership Scholarship. Ngadiman completed his Ph.D. at the Queensland University of Technology under award from National Health and Medical Research Council. Ngadiman research is investigating psychometrics properties of questionnaires assessing skin cancer risk and developing a model for assessing skin cancer risk. As professional psychometrician, he also worked for Malaysian Government Link Company under the Ministry of Science and Technology as Senior Psychometrician which responsible in developing an assessment platform for the country. Ngadiman’s research interests are in social media, big data, item response theory, large scale assessment, test adaptation and development of educational, psychological and health assessment including Mengembangkan Kreativitas dalam Perspektif Islam (Developing Creativity in Islamic Perspective), Memasuki Surga Pernikahan (Entering the Marriage Paradise), etc.

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Nicholas Drop is an undergraduate psychology student at the University of Pittsburgh. Mr. Drop’s research interests include spirituality and leadership at work, pathgoal theory, and leader-member exchange. Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras is a lecturer in the Faculty of Theology, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana, Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and a core doctoral faculty and researcher in the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS). His research projects are dealing with religion online, religion and popular culture, Jewish-Muslim interaction, and interreligious studies. He is a recipient of a number of scholarships and fellowships such as Bridging the Gap Fellowship, Fulbright Fellowship, Endeavour Fellowship, Henry Luce Foundation Award, and others. Dr. Epafras edited a book entitled Interfaith Dialogues in Indonesia and Beyond (Geneva: Globethics, 2017). He is also active in the interfaith issues and has been coordinated several interfaith programs. He is currently coordinating the religious literacy program for religious councillor and teacher, and interfaith activists. Gladys Ganiel is a sociologist at Queen’s University Belfast, specializing on religion, conflict and reconciliation in Northern Ireland, South Africa and Zimbabwe; evangelicalism; the emerging church movement; and religion on the island of Ireland. She is author/co-author of six books and more than 40 scholarly articles and chapters, including Transforming Post-Catholic Ireland and The Deconstructed Church, co-authored with Gerardo Marti, which won the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion’s 2015 Distinguished Book Award. Evans Garey is a lecturer in the Psychology Department Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana (UKRIDA) Indonesia. He is currently the head of undergraduate program in Psychology Department of UKRIDA. His interest mainly on psychology of religion indices such as religious attribution, individual religiosity, and religious hope. He is also interested in research around youth issues such as well-being, life goals, and life narratives. He has published several articles in international journal and also was awarded PKPI scholarship (2016) by Directorate of Higher Education of the Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the Republic Indonesia and the Jack Shand International Travel Grants in 2017 and 2018.

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Giuseppe Giordan Ph.D., is Professor of Sociology at the University of Padova (Italy). He is Coordinator of the International joint Ph.D. programme on Human Rights, Society and Multi-level Governance, and Co-editor of the Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion (Brill). He has published monographs and articles on spirituality, pluralism, religions and human rights, including Religious Pluralism. Framing Religious Diversity in the Contemporary World (with E. Pace, Springer, 2014). Olivia Hadiwirawan is a lecturer at Faculty of Psychology Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana (UKRIDA). She studied psychology and received her bachelor and master degree in Clinical Psychology from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). Her focus on research mainly in gender (leadership, gender violence, and well-being), religiosity and model of learning in the university. She has participated in several community services with various topics such as healthy lifestyle in a low-­income urban community (2015) and evaluation of happy stage in a rural community (2017). Recently, she received grant from Plan International Indonesia and managed “Youth in Actions for Urban Resilience” project (2017– 2018). Since 2012, she has been supervising student’s community service programs with local government (kelurahan). Johana Endang Prawitasari-Hadiyono is a Retired Professor of Psychology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), Yogyakarta, Indonesia. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA in 1985. After her retirement in 2012 from UGM, she has been Professor of Psychology at Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana (UKRIDA), Jakarta, Indonesia. Currently she is UKRIDA Vice Rector for Academic Affairs. She is one of the Editors on Cultural Psychology of Coping with Disasters: The Case in Java, Indonesia (Springer, 2014). Her colleagues at the Medical School UGM and she had innovated Interactional Group Discussion (IGD), to change prescribers’ behavior on injection used at the health centers in Yogyakarta, had been replicated in China, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Tanzania (see Prawitasari, 2011). Sindung Haryanto graduated from the Sociology of UGM with cum laude. Since 1988 he has devoted himself to becoming a lecturer at the University of Lampung. In 1991,

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he continued his studies in the Sociology of UGM until 1995. He graduated from the Airlangga University Doctoral Program in 2012 Social Sciences Study Program with cum laude. He was active in several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Bandar Lampung as a researcher and program coordinators. He wrote several books such as Land of Lampung: Farmer Struggle and Movement, Economic Sociology, Spectrum of Social Theory: from classical to postmodern, World Symbol of Javanese, Edelweiss van Jogja, Religious Sociology, and Transformation of Masculinity. He is also active writing articles in national and international scientific journals. Rachel E. Herndon graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology, and is pursuing a Master’s degree in Social Work. Herndon has been involved in research studying religious coping and sanctification, and in research studying early diagnoses of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Bahril Hidayat is a psychologist and psychology lecturer at the Islam Religion Faculty and Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Islam Riau, Pekanbaru, Indonesia. His educations were the undergraduate program in psychology (Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta) and his postgraduate program in clinical psychology (Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta). In addition to his activities as a lecturer and public speaker about Islamic psychology, Philosophy of Islamic Education, abnormal psychology, the author is also active as a researcher and writing. Bahril Hidayat has written 1 textbook, poet and literary books, and more than 50 scientific articles on the topics of abnormal psychology, Sufism humor, Islamic psychology, and Islamic philosophy. Some of his best seller books are Datuk Hitam (Sufism Humor), Dialektika Psikologi dan Pandangan Islam (Dialectic of Islam and Islamic Perspective), and Aku Tahu Aku Gila (I Know I was Psychotic). Bahril Hidayat has registered at least 11 Intellectual Property Right (IPR) for his books and articles. Ralph W. Hood Jr. is professor of psychology and LeRoy A. Martin Distinguished Professorship of Religious Studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is a past president of division 36 of the American Psychological Association and a recipient of its William James award for his research in the psychology of religion. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Brill series, Psychology and Religion.

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Erico Tavares de Carvalho Junior obtained his master’s degree in social anthropology from the university of Rio Grande do Sul in 2019. He conducts research in the fields of anthropology of religion. His main research themes are religious intolerance, transnationalization in Latin America, the relationship between religion and politics in Brazil, and the epistemology and philosophy of the African cultural matrix. Michael J. Lucci Ph.D., is a mathematics and statistics instructor at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Dr. Lucci’s research interests include item response theory models, test and survey research, response style use, and statistics education. Andrew P. Lynch holds an M.A. (Hons) from the University of Auckland, and a Ph.D. from the University of Sydney. He teaches and researches in the sociology of religion and sociological theory. He is the co-author (with Craig Browne) of Taylor and Politics: A Critical Introduction (Edinburgh University Press, 2018), and co-editor (with Giuseppe Giordan) of Interreligious Dialogue: From Religion to Geopolitics (Brill, 2019). Alex Maccarelli MSS, is a sociology professor at Westmoreland Community County College in Pennsylvania and an active advocate for the LGBT community of Greensburg. His research interests include sexualities, LGBT identity formation, faith based coping, and stigma. Jessica Milewski MSW, is a research associate at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her research interests include mood disorders in adolescents and adults, LGBTQ mental health, and bibliotherapy. Roberto Motta is a native Brazilian, after studying Philosophy, History and Theology in his country and abroad, won a Ph.D. degree in Anthropology from Columbia University (New York). He has worked as a teacher and/or researcher in Brazil and abroad (Recife, Paris, Lyon, Rome, Naples, Harvard, U.C.L.A.). He has published extensively in several languages on religion (including both the AfroBrazilian and several papers on Max Weber), social and cultural theory and race relations. His keen interest for the relationship between religion and

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society has led him to be increasingly concerned with religious enchantment, disenchantment and plausibility in Brazilian and World religions. H. Fuad Nashori is a psychologist and psychology lecturer at the Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. His educations were the undergraduate program in psychology (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta), postgraduate program in psychology (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta), postgraduate program in aqidah and Islamic philosophy (Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga, Yogyakarta), and doctoral program in psychology (Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung). In addition to his activities as a lecturer and public speaker about Islamic psychology and social psychology, the author is also active as a researcher and writing. Fuad Nashori has written more than 25 textbooks, more than 200 scientific articles, and more than 750 popular articles on the topics of social psychology, Islamic psychology, and Islamic studies. Some of his best seller books are Psikologi Islam (Islamic Psychology), Agenda Psikologi Islam (The Agenda of Islamic Psychology), Potensi-potensi Manusia (The Human Potentials), Psikologi Sosial Islami (The Social Islamic Psychology), and Psikologi Prasangka dan Agresi (The Psychology of Prejudice and Aggression), etc. Retno Hanggarani Ninin is a lecturer in the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Padjadjaran, Bandung, Indonesia. She is interested in social psychology, focusing on religious self, spiritual psychology, psychocultural studies and psychological related community development. Dr. Retno Hanggarani Ninin, M.Psi., Psychologist is actively doing professional service as a psychologist, and had been a Vice Dean of Student Affairs in her institution (2011–2013). After finishing her doctoral program in 2016, she was positioned as the Head of Undergraduate Program (2016–2018) then the Head of the Department of Social Psychology (2018– now). She is currently coordinating the development of community psychology program in the Master’s Degree Program and the Center for Cultural and Community Studies. Nina Mariani Noor is a lecturer in School of Graduate Studies State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. She pursued her doctoral degree at Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) in Inter Religious Studies Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta. Her research interest is on Inter Religious Studies, gender,

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minority, interdisciplinary Islamic studies and ethics. She can be contacted at email [email protected]. Address: Pascasarjana UIN Sunan Kalijaga, Jl. Marsda Adisucipto, Yogyakarta. Petrayuna Dian Omega works as a lecturer and researcher at Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana, Jakarta-Indonesia. He teaches several subjects such as counseling psychology, career counseling, group counseling, and basic counseling. One of the interesting parts in counseling for him is dealing with disaster victims and he has various experiences in disaster fields in Indonesia. His research focus related to disaster topic, quality of life, resilience and positive psychology. Ari Pedro Oro obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Paris in 1985 and is Professor of Anthropology at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. He is currently researching the relationships between religion and politics in Brazil and the trasnationalization of Evangelical churches in Brazil and Europe. He has written numerous articles, books and chapters. Some of his most recent publications include /Transnacionalização Religiosa/ (2012) and /A Religião no Espaço Público/ (2014). Enzo Pace is Professor of Sociology of Religion at Master Degree in Sciences of Religion, University of Padua & Venice. Directeur d’Études invité at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris-Sorbonne. Past-President of the ISSR (International Society for the Sociology of Religion). Co-editor of the Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion, and member of the editorial board of International Journal of Latin-American Religions. Last publications: Fondamentalismos religiosos, violência e sociedade, São Paulo 2016 (Eds with I. Dias de Oliveira, M. Aubrée); Cristianesimo extra-large, Bologna 2018. Cristián Parker is a sociologist (Catholic University of Chile), Ph. Sociology (Catholic University of Louvain). He is Full Professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies and currently Postgraduate Vice-President of the University of Santiago de Chile. He has written a dozen of books on sociology of religions in Latin America, and is specially known for his publications about popular religions, as well as on the environment and sustainability. Web page: www.parkersociologo.com.

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Russell E. Phillips III Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Dr. Phillips’ research interests include the psychological study of religious coping, sanctification, and religious fundamentalism. Denny Putra is a lecturer in the Psychology Department Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana, Jakarta, Indonesia. He is interested in developmental and cultural context approach to therapeutic factors in college student support group, college student development, experiences, and well-being. Denny Putra is also active in Sacred Bridge Foundation, a cultural based and not-forprofit organization that focuses on capacity building, cultivation of roots arts, intercultural dialog and cultural education for the youth. He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree in Counseling Psychology at Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA. His research focuses on the strength based approach to psychosocial factors affecting college student academic and career development and cultural wealth model of first generation college students. Veronica Roldán is a Ph.D. in Sociology and Methodology of Social Sciences in Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan. She teaches “Cultural and religious identities” at the Department of Education of the Rome TreUniversity, Italy. Denni Boy Saragih received his Ph.D. in 2016 from the University of Edinburgh, UK under the supervision of Prof. David Fergusson and Prof. Paul Nimmo. He is a lecturer in Religion and Social Ethics at Krida Wacana Christian University, School of Humanities and Social Sciences. This is his primary institutional affiliation. He is also the Chairman of Karl Barth Center at Sekolah Tinggi Teologi dan Filsafat Jakarta (Jakarta School of Theology and Philosophy). This is his secondary affiliation. His field of interest is Systematic Theology (specially Karl Barth Theology), Religion in Indonesia, Theological Ethics, Chinese-Christian in Indonesia and Islam-Christian Theological Engagement. His research project at the moment is on doctrinal conversations between Christian Theology and Islamic Traditions in Indonesia. Monica Simeoni is Assistant Professor in Sociology at the University of Sannio (Benevento, Italy) where she teaches Sociology and Social-Research Methodology. Her main fields of interest are immigration, qualitative analysis, the crisis of

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democracy, neo-populism and sovereignisms as well as religious pluralism. Among her most recent publication feature: Big Society (with F. Vespasiano), 2013; The Lived Religion of Rome’s Roman Catholics, in Visioni Latinoamericane, 2017; Europe or not! Multiple Conversations and Voices with Alberto Martinelli Vittorio Cotesta Nadia Urbinati and Alain Touraine, 2016; A Morbid Democracy. Old and New Populisms, 2014. Lynn Underwood is a Senior Research Associate at the Inamori International Center for Ethics at Case Western Reserve University. She earned her Ph.D. from Queen’s University in the UK after medical studies at the University of Iowa. She is the co-editor of books including The Science of Compassionate Love (Wiley-Blackwell), and Measuring Stress (Oxford). She developed the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale and wrote Spiritual Connection in Daily Life, a book that enables the reader to use the scale’s questions to draw attention to potentially enriching aspects of life, and better communicate about these issues with others. She is currently exploring how the self can flourish in difficult circumstances. José Miguel Pérez Valdivia is a historian. He holds a Master in Social Sciences (University of Santiago of Chile). Assistant Researcher at the Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Santiago de Chile. He has been specialized in research methodologies and worked on topics related to religion, cultural heritage and civil society organizations. Francesco Vespasiano is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Sannio (Benevento, Italy). He teaches Sociology and Social Research and Sociology of Innovation and Knowledge. His main fields of interest are analysis of social institutions and social complexity, territorial intelligence educational and training processes, knowledge and technology transference mechanisms. Among his latest publication feature: Big Society (with M. Simeoni), 2013; Istituzioni sociali complesse, 2015; The Spaces of Resilience: Learning and Adaptation (with E. Martini), in the Italian Sociological Review, 2015; Scienza con coscienza (with E. Martini), in Studi di Sociologia, 2016. Bradley R. E. Wright is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut. He studies spirituality and well-being and has a keen interest in field experiments of religion.

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Unsolicited Articles

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Chapter 1

Religious Coping with General Life Stressors in Persons with Same-Sex Attractions Russell E. Phillips III, Sierrah Avant, Jessica Milewski, Nicholas Drop, Rachel Herndon, Alex Maccarelli, Michael Lucci Abstract The study of the religious lives of persons with same-sex attractions (PSSA) has recently grown. Researchers have explored ways in which PSSA use religion to deal with two commonly experienced stresses; statements that homosexuality is a violation of the sacred and the challenges of integrating religious and sexual identities. The majority of these studies sample young adult PSSA who are religious. The present study filled a gap in the literature by examining the correlates of religious coping with a variety of general life stressors in 363 paid and volunteer American PSSA of various ages and levels of religiosity. Positive religious coping was associated with beneficial adjustment to a general life stressor, over and above demographic and general religious variables. Negative religious coping was uniquely related to poorer outcomes from a stressful event. There was a significant interaction between level of religiosity and sexual identity development in their relationship to negative religious coping. Religious adults with less sexual identity development were more likely to use negative religious coping methods as compared to more developed religious persons or nonreligious participants. There was no interaction between religiosity and sexual identity development concerning their relationship with positive religious coping. Implications and limitations of the current study are discussed.

Keywords religious coping – gay – lesbian – bisexual

Social scientists have increasingly examined the religious lives of persons with same-sex attractions (PSSA; Rodriguez, 2010), including how such individuals might engage in religious coping. Religious coping involves cognitive and

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behavioral efforts to deal with stress in ways that involve the sacred (McCarthy, 2010), such as viewing an event as a way to grow spiritually. Recently, multiple qualitative studies have examined how PSSA cope with the stressors of religious victimization and the resultant challenges of integrating a religious and sexual minority identity (e.g., Dahl & Galliher, 2012; Pitt, 2010a). Religious victimization includes statements that same-sex sexuality is a desecration, a violation of the sacred (McCarthy, 2010; Trevino, Desai, Lauricella, Pargament, & Mahoney, 2012). Given that religion is relevant to some PSSA beyond its role concerning sexual matters (e.g., Sherkat, 2002), some quantitative studies have assessed one or two types of religious coping with life stress generally, rather than religious victimization in particular (e.g., Rabinovitch, Perrin, Tabaac, & Brewster, 2015). Many of these studies have focused on young adult PSSA who are religious (e.g., Lauricella, Phillips, & Dubow, 2017; Meanley, Pingel, & Bauermeister, 2016). The present study addressed a gap in the scientific literature by examining a broad array of religious coping methods with a multitude of general life stresses (e.g., death of a friend/family member) and their correlates in religious and nonreligious adults of all ages who have same-sex attractions. 1.1

Religious Coping with Religious Victimization and Identity Integration Difficulties

Many individuals view same-sex acts as a desecration for religious reasons (McCarthy, 2010; Trevino et al., 2012). For example, PSSA within qualitative studies report having heard that being gay is an abomination; that homosexuals are going to hell; or to “love the sinner but hate the sin” (Pitt, 2010a; Rostosky, Riggle, Brodnicki, & Olson, 2008; Yip & Khalid, 2010). Trevino and colleagues (2012) found that 77% of undergraduates reported hearing, at least occasionally, that same-sex acts are a desecration to Christian morals. In another study, 99% of young adult PSSA reported hearing that homosexuality is a sacred violation of Christian values, and hearing this message with moderately high frequency, causing moderate levels of stress (McCarthy, 2010). Rodriguez (2010) reviewed major theories (e.g., cognitive dissonance, identity conflict) concerning religion in PSSA. Pargament’s (1997) religious coping theory, which is based on Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transactional model of stress and coping, is less frequently identified in this research. Religious coping theory assumes that individuals act proactively when they appraise threats to sources of value. People attempt to cope with the threat through cognitive reappraisals and by taking action in an effort to conserve their worldview and

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life goals. What makes these methods of coping religious is when they involve the sacred (Pargament, 1997). For example, a positive reappraisal is when a person considers how s/he can grow from a stressful event; a benevolent religious reappraisal is when an individual considers how s/he can grow spiritually from a life event. These religious coping methods address psychological functions such as the need to make meaning and maintain control over life experiences, to connect with others, and, when necessary, to transform one’s life (e.g., religious conversions). Religious coping leads to outcomes, such as changes in the environment (e.g., a beneficial outcome to the situation) and in the individual’s emotions, cognitions (e.g., belief that one has the skills to cope with stress), and behaviors (e.g., more social connections). Religious coping is often categorized as to whether it is correlated with positive or negative outcomes. Positive religious coping (PRC) involves methods of dealing with stress that relate to better outcomes from life events, and include such techniques as connecting with the transcendent and considering how one can grow spiritually from the event (Pargament, Smith, Koenig, & Perez, 1998). Negative religious coping (NRC) assesses coping methods associated with poor adjustment to stress, and include such strategies as viewing the event as a punishment from God, or feeling disconnected from the transcendent (Pargament et al., 1998). Recent qualitative studies, interpreted through theories other than religious coping, suggest ways PSSA might employ the sacred when dealing with stress. For example, PSSA report reframing their sexuality as God’s will (Kubicek et al., 2009; Rodriguez & Ouellette, 2000; Yip & Khalid, 2010), which is a cognitive religious reappraisal, a meaning-making form of religious coping. Others question whether stresses are punishments from God for their sexual desires and behaviors (Siraj, 2012), a religious coping method known as a punishing God reappraisal (Pargament, Koenig, & Perez, 2000). To cope with identity integration and religious victimization, PSSA also rely on religious support from others (Pitt, 2010b; Rodriguez & Ouellette, 2000) and the transcendent (Rostosky et al., 2008; Yip & Khalid, 2010), addressing the psychological function of connectedness. Yet some also express dissatisfaction and feel abandoned by God and their religious community when dealing with religious and sexual concerns (Kubicek et al., 2009; Pitt, 2010a; Schuck & Liddle, 2001), religious coping methods known as spiritual discontent and interpersonal religious discontent, respectively. Further, some PSSA look to God to forgive them for their homosexual desires (Kubicek et al., 2009), a religious coping method known as religious purification, which Pargament (1997) views as serving the psychological function of transformation; to forgive is to let go of old patterns, feelings, and thoughts.

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A few quantitative studies have examined how PSSA deal with sexual minority victimization or identity integration from a religious coping perspective. Two studies used the well-validated Brief RCOPE as a measure of religious coping that includes two subscales—PRC and NRC. Lauricella and colleagues (2017) found that PRC and NRC are rarely utilized by young adult PSSA dealing with religious victimization. However, a significant minority of participants did utilize these coping methods, with PRC related to better adjustment to religious victimization (e.g., stress-related growth), and NRC poorer adjustment (e.g., distress). In another study involving religious Israeli gay and bisexual men dealing with difficulties surrounding their sexual orientation and religious faith, NRC—but not PRC—was associated with greater mental distress and lower psychological well-being (Shilo, Yossef, & Savaya, 2016). 1.2

Religious Coping with General Life Stressors

Religion is important to many PSSA outside of the need to reconcile sexual and religious identities. For example, in a sample of PSSA British Christians drawn from a variety of sources, 80% attended church at least once a week (Yip, 2002). In a national survey of Americans, nonheterosexuals reported high levels of prayer, which did not significantly differ from heterosexuals (Sherkat, 2002). And 74% of a French PSSA sample agreed with the statement that “God is close and approachable” (Gross & Yip, 2010). Given how religion is relevant to the lives of some PSSA, it should come as no surprise that researchers have quantitatively assessed how religion is used to cope with a broad array of life stresses, not just religious victimization or challenges with identity integration. The scales used by these researchers ask how often PSSA generally rely on religion when dealing with life stress. For example, Dahl & Galliher (2010) created a two-item measure of whether one’s congregation provides comfort when experiencing problems. The scale was unrelated to depression and self-esteem in young adult PSSA. Other researchers, also using two-item scales of religious coping (e.g., “I’ve been praying or meditating”), have found associations with self-esteem, purpose in life, and better mental health in PSSA, but also more suicide attempts, and no relationship concerning depression and somatic complaints (Lehavot, 2012; Meanley et al., 2016; Rabinovitch et al., 2015). The scales used in these studies provide information on a narrow set of religious coping methods. We wished to explore a broader variety of religious coping techniques, using a validated measure of religious coping—Pargament and colleagues’ (1998) RCOPE, which breaks the construct into two major types—PRC and NRC.

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Further, prior studies recruited only young adults (Dahl & Galliher, 2010), women (Lehavot, 2012; Rabinovitch et al., 2015), or religious-only PSSA (Meanley et al., 2016). We wished to study a broad sample of PSSA—religious and nonreligious, men and women, younger and older adults. Such a sample would provide an estimate of the importance of religious coping across the PSSA population. Further, studying one group, such as religious-only PSSA, might lead us to overestimate the importance of religious coping for PSSA in general. Third, we believed that many forms of religious coping, such as spiritual connection, might be relevant to nonreligious PSSA. Although someone might not identify as religious, they might identify as spiritual, and try to connect with a power greater than themselves as a way to deal with stress. Thus, we believed it fruitful to take a broad approach and examine PSSA of different genders, ages, and levels of religiosity, in terms of their use of religious coping. The present study explored religious coping in PSSA who live in the United States. We suspected that PRC would be associated with positive adjustment and NRC to negative adjustment to a general life stressor (Hypothesis 1), as has been found in previous research in presumably heterosexual samples (Pargament et al., 1998). Our second hypothesis was that PRC and NRC would relate to adjustment, over and above demographic and general religious variables, as found in presumably heterosexual samples (Pargament et al., 1998; Phillips & Stein, 2007). 1.3

Sexual Identity Development and Religious Coping

Sexual identity development, defined as awareness, acceptance, and integration of one’s sexual orientation with one’s overall sense of self (Cass, 1984; Mohr & Fassinger, 2000), has received attention in research exploring the role of religion in the lives of PSSA (see Rodriguez, 2010, for a review). Our final goal was to examine religious coping in persons with different levels of sexual identity development. Theorists purport that early on in their development, PSSA are unable to clarify their sexual orientation, although they feel different from others and have little contact with the gay and lesbian community (Cass, 1984; Mohr & Fassinger, 2000). Concerning the interaction between religion and the early phases of sexual identity development, PSSA are often involved in religious activities, and try to ignore their same-sex attractions, especially in religious contexts (Dahl & Galliher, 2012; Kubicek et al., 2009). In later stages of development, many PSSA begin to accept their sexuality, learn about the gay community, and feel frustrated with societal heterosexism (Cass, 1984; Mohr & Fassinger, 2000). If their religious upbringing views

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homosexuality negatively, some PSSA will begin to question religious dogma and distance themselves from their religion (Dahl & Galliher, 2012). Other PSSA feel ashamed of their same-sex attractions and try to eliminate their sexual urges through religious activities such as prayer and participation in ex-gay ministries or sexual conversion therapy (Kubicek et al., 2009; Schuck & Liddle, 2001). In contrast, PSSA brought up in a gay-affirming religion experience low levels of internalized homophobia and do not attempt to change their sexuality, while continuing their pursuit of religious interests (Sherry, Adelman, Whilde, & Quick, 2010). Still later in life, often in adulthood, many PSSA have come to accept their sexuality, communicate their sexual orientation to others, are involved in the gay community, and view persons of various sexualities as individuals rather than as stereotypes (e.g., all straight people are ignorant; Cass, 1984; Mohr & Fassinger, 2000). At this point, a significant number of PSSA have disengaged from religion, with figures ranging from 27% identifying as atheist (Halkitis et al., 2009) to 73% reporting they are not religious (Henrickson, 2007). Still other PSSA have found a more accepting religious community, or found ways to reconcile their sexuality with their childhood religion (Kubicek et al., 2009; Schuck & Liddle, 2001). Given this information, and borrowing from Rodriguez & Ouellette (2000), we foresee four major paths of development for PSSA—those who are not religious and have a less developed sexual identity; PSSA who are not religious and have a more developed sexual identity; those who are religious with a less developed sexual identity; and PSSA who are religious and have a developed sexual identity. We believe there will be an interaction between sexual identity development and religiosity pertaining to the use of religious coping in PSSA. More specifically, we believe that religious PSSA with less developed sexual identities will use less adaptive religious coping methods (more NRC and less PRC) as compared to their more developed religious counterparts (Hypothesis 3). The latter are likely to have learned healthy religious coping strategies, and have “worked through” spiritual struggles (NRC). 1.4 Methods 1.4.1 Procedures Data was collected between August 2013 and August 2014. All scales were placed in the online survey program Qualtrics. The study was part of a larger project that explored religious coping, stress, and the sanctification (i.e., viewing as sacred) and quality of same-sex romantic relationships. We advertised the study as a holistic assessment of PSSA; this avoided the recruitment of a Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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religious-only sample. We created a Facebook page and online website that advertised our study and provided resources for PSSA. 1.4.2 Participants Participants were recruited through an exhaustive search of organizations across the United States that publicize their support for lesbian, gay, and bisexuals, including community groups (e.g., PFLAG, GLAAD, GLSEN, Lambda Legal, It Gets Better, Mathew Shepard Foundation, The Trevor Project), college organizations (e.g., Gay-Straight Alliance), and gay-friendly churches and support groups (e.g., Metropolitan Community Church, Dignity). We contacted organizations via email, Facebook message, and through face-to-face contacts, asking them to share our website with their members. To increase our sample size, we also utilized Amazon Mechanical Turk to recruit participants, paying individuals $1.00 to complete our survey. 1.4.3 Measures 1.4.3.1 Religious Coping with General Life Stresses We assessed religious coping with 19 items that each measured a different way of using religion to deal with stress. We included 12 of the 14 items from the Brief RCOPE (Pargament et al., 1998), eliminating two items that were redundant (i.e., items measuring the same form of religious coping, such as feeling abandoned by God). We added seven items from the full RCOPE (Pargament et al., 2000) that assess coping methods not included in the abbreviated measure but are relevant to PSSA, given qualitative research findings. For example, PSSA search for a supportive religious community (Rodriguez & Ouellette, 2000) and plead with God for help (Kubicek et al., 2009; Pitt, 2010a). Participants were asked how much they used each item to deal with a recent stressful life event (1 = Not at All; 4 = A Great Deal). We conducted an exploratory factor analysis on the 19 items, given that religious coping might be utilized differently in PSSA than in heterosexual samples (Lauricella et al., 2017). We used a direct oblimin rotation, expecting the factors to correlate. A scree plot revealed two factors, and these were the only two factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.0 (one explaining 53.26% of the variance, the other 14.07%). There were no cross-loading items (loads of at least .45—see Table 1.1). The first factor included 12 items (e.g., “Looked for love and support from members of my spiritual community”) previously linked to PRC (Pargament et al., 2000), with a Cronbach’s alpha of .96. The second factor included seven items (e.g., “Didn’t try much of anything, expected a higher power to take control”) typically viewed as NRC (Pargament et al., 2000), with a Cronbach’s alpha of .88.

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10 Table 1.1

Phillips III, Et al. Religious coping items, descriptive statistics, and exploratory factor analysis loadings

1. Looked for a stronger connection with a higher power. 2. Sought help from a higher power in letting go of my anger. 3. Tried to put my plans into action with a higher power. 4. Tried to see how a higher power might be trying to strengthen me in this situation. 5. Asked forgiveness for my sins. 6. Focused on my spirituality to stop worrying about my problems. 7. Wondered if a higher power had abandoned me. 8. Felt punished by a higher power. 9. Voiced anger that the transcendent didn’t answer my prayers. 10. Wondered if my spiritual community had abandoned me. 11. Decided the devil made this happen. 12. Questioned the power of the transcendent. 13. Looked for support from my spiritual community. 14. Tried to provide others with spiritual comfort. 15. Stuck to the teachings and practices of my religion. 16. Looked to a higher power for a new direction in life. 17. Tried to do the best I could and let a higher power do the rest. 18. Didn’t try much of anything; expected a higher power to take control. 19. Pleaded with a higher power for things to turn out OK.

M

SD

2.02

1.12

.94

−.07

1.89

1.08

.91

−.01

1.83

1.06

.92

−.05

1.90

1.11

.90

−.03

1.80 1.95

1.06 1.11

.70 .86

.15 −.04

1.47 1.39 1.36

0.86 0.75 0.70

.02 −.03 −.06

.84 .84 .92

1.37

0.78

.11

.66

1.20 1.43 1.67 1.84 1.81

0.57 0.80 0.95 1.03 1.03

.06 −.12 .76 .83 .82

.68 .77 −.01 −.03 .01

1.81

1.05

.84

.05

1.89

1.11

.87

.01

1.40

0.78

.29

.53

1.80

1.05

.55

.30

Factor 1 Factor 2 Load Load

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We utilized six outcomes measures. The General Outcomes Scale contains five items assessing adjustment to a stressor (e.g., “I handled my feelings well when dealing with this stressor;” 1 = Strongly Disagree; 5 = Strongly Agree). Cronbach’s alpha was .85 in the present study and the scale has been associated with positive religious coping and stress-related growth (Phillips, Cheng, Hietbrink, Vonnegut, & Oemig, 2012). The Religious Outcomes Scale contains three items assessing religious growth from a life stressor (e.g., “As a result of this stressor I have grown closer to a higher power;” 1 = Strongly Disagree; 5 = Strongly Agree). The scale had a Cronbach’s alpha of .93 in the present study and is associated with positive religious coping (McCarthy, 2010). The Stress-Related Growth-Short Form contains six items assessing psychosocial development from an event (e.g., “Because of this stressor, I have learned to be nicer to others;” 1 = Strongly Disagree; 5 = Strongly Agree). The scale had a Cronbach’s alpha of .87 in the present study and is associated with positive religious coping and general outcomes from stress (Phillips et al., 2012). The Negative Affect Subscale from the Positive and Negative Affect Scale contains ten items assessing unpleasant emotions (e.g., “nervous”) currently experienced towards a stressful event (1 = Not at All; 5 = Extremely). Factor analyses support the existence of a negative affect subscale, with a Cronbach alpha of .92 in the current study. The subscale has moderate correlations with the Beck Depression Inventory and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Watson, Clark, & Tellegan, 1988). We used the depression and somatization subscales from the Brief Symptom Inventory. The depression subscale included five items (e.g., “feeling lonely”). The somatization subscale included seven items (e.g., “faintness or dizziness”). Participants were asked how much they were bothered by each symptom over the past week (1 = Not at All; 5 = Extremely). Factor analysis supports the subscale structure, and each subscale correlated with similar MMPI subscales (Derogatis & Melisaratos, 1983). Cronbach’s alpha in the present study was .92 (Somatization) and .91 (Depression). 1.4.3.2 Other Measures Participants were asked to consider a recent stressful life event and choose a category to which the stressor belonged. Demographic items included participants’ age, biological sex, self-ascribed gender, race, and sexual orientation. General religious items included the participant’s current religion and whether the participant had ever changed their religious affiliation. As has been done in prior studies (Murray-Swank, Pargament, & Mahoney, 2005;

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Phillips & Kitchens, 2016), we created a measure of general religiosity by standardizing and aggregating the answers to four questions (Cronbach’s alpha = .82): current frequency of church attendance (0 = Never; 6 = Daily), current frequency of prayer (0 = Never; 7 = More than Once a Day), and self-perceived spirituality and religiosity (e.g., 1 = Nonspiritual, 4 = Very Spiritual). We assessed sexual identity development using four subscales from the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Identity Scale (Mohr & Kendra, 2011). The subscales included Internalized Homonegativity (incorporating society’s stigma against homosexuality into one’s self-image—3 items, Cronbach’s alpha .86 in current study), Identity Uncertainty (lack of clarity surrounding one’s sexual orientation—4 items, .87 Cronbach’s alpha), Identity Affirmation (positive thoughts and feelings about one’s sexual orientation—3 items, .91 Cronbach’s alpha), and Identity Centrality (sexual orientation as an important part of one’s self-concept—5 items, .78 Cronbach’s alpha). Factor analyses supported the delineation of these subscales, and the subscales related to criterion variables as expected (Mohr & Kendra, 2011). Items are rated on a six-point scale (1 = Strongly Disagree; 6 = Strongly Agree). We reverse-scored items on two measures—homonegativity and identity uncertainty—such that higher scores on all four measures indicated greater sexual identity development. We standardized and then aggregated the subscale scores to create an overall sexual identity development score (Cronbach’s alpha of .65). 1.4.4 Data Analytic Strategies To test Hypothesis 1, we ran Pearson bivariate correlations between religious coping and outcome variables. Regarding Hypothesis 2, we ran six hierarchical multiple regressions, using a different outcome measure as the dependent variable in each regression. The alpha level was set at .008 (conventional alpha of .05 divided by 6). The first block consisted of demographic variables, general religiosity, and sexual identity development. The second block consisted of PRC and NRC. To determine which demographic variables to include, we ran six forward selection regressions, with one of the outcome measures as the dependent variable in each regression (e.g., general outcomes from stress). We used dummy codes for race (1 = white; 0 = nonwhite), gender (two dummy codes for three genders—male, female, transgendered), and region of the country (three dummy codes for four geographic regions). We also included as a predictor the dummy code of where the sample was obtained (1 = paid through Amazon Turk; 0 = volunteer), given the three significant differences across study variables between these groups (see Results section). After a Bonferroni correction (conventional significance level of .05 divided by 6 regressions), age, education, and income predicted

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(p < .008) at least one of the outcome variables, and were included in step 1 of the hierarchical regressions that tested Hypothesis 2. To assess Hypothesis 3, we conducted two hierarchical regressions (one with PRC and one with NRC as the dependent variable), using the procedures outlined by Aiken and West (1991). In the first block, we entered general religiosity (centered around the mean), sexual identity development (centered around the mean), and sample (dummy coded, with 1 = Amazon Turk paid participants; 0 = volunteers). We entered the two-way interactions in the second block and the three-way interaction in the third block. Given the inferential statistics run in the current study, we transformed severely non-normally distributed data (skew/kurtosis values above |1.0|). We first added a constant to each variable to ensure the minimum score was 1.0, then reflected negatively skewed scores (Tukey, 1977). We systematically ran a series of power transformations (Tukey, 1977), transforming variables using exponents between −2.0 (i.e., the reciprocal of the variable squared) and +2.0 (the variable squared), in increments of 0.5, with a log transformation for the exponent of 0. This procedure resulted in all variables approximating a normal distribution (i.e., skew or kurtosis values below |1.0|), with an inverse transformation used for NRC, inverse square root transformations for somatization and general religiosity, loglinear transformations for age and education, a square transformation for income, and no transformations for the remaining variables. We multiplied the inverse and inverse square root transformations by −1.00 to ensure that higher scores on those variables represented higher levels of their respective constructs. The effect sizes for the inferential statistics were similar between the transformed and nontransformed data. Inferential statistics are presented with the transformations (results without transformations are available upon request). For ease of interpretation, descriptive statistics are not transformed. 1.5 Results 1.5.1 Participant Characteristics There were a total of 363 participants; 259 were unpaid volunteers and 104 were paid $1.00 through Amazon Turk. We compared the volunteer and paid participants on 17 study variables, including demographics, religiosity, religious coping, sexual identity development, and outcome variables. We used a Bonferroni-corrected alpha level of .003 (conventional alpha of .05 divided by 17). Concerning categorical variables, we collapsed categories for race (white/ nonwhite), gender (male, female, transgender/intersex), and religious affiliation (Christian, no religion, other religion) in order to ensure adequate sample size for each cell. Chi-square analyses revealed no significant difference in Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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gender (χ2(5) = 1.24, p = .941), race (χ2(3) = 2.22, p = .528), or religious affiliation (χ2(5) = 13.92, p = .016). A one-way multivariate analysis of variance revealed a significant difference between the volunteers and paid participants across 14 continuous variables (F(14,319) = 11.13, p < .001, Wilks’ Λ = 0.67, Δη2 = .33). Follow-up analyses of variance revealed three significant differences, with volunteers reporting higher levels of income (F(1,332) = 15.48, p < .001, Δη2 = .05, M = 2.84), general religiosity (F(1,332) = 14.78, p < .001, Δη2 = .04, M = 0.23), and sexual identity development (F(1,332) = 28.67, p < .001, Δη2 = .08, M = 0.53) than paid participants (M = 2.27, −0.60, and −1.25, respectively). Therefore, we controlled for sample (paid versus volunteer) for analyses involving religiosity, sexual identity development, and income. Of the 363 PSSA, 22.5% identified as lesbian, 28.5% as gay, 30.0% as bisexual, 10.7% as questioning, and 8.4% as other. Just over half (53.9%) identified as male, 41.4% as female, 4.4% as transgendered, and one person identified as intersex. Participants ranged in age from 18–75 (M = 31.60, SD = 14.39). Most participants identified as white (83.3%), 6.1% reported that they were black, 4.2% Hispanic, 2.8% Asian, and 3.6% other. The sample was highly educated, with 20.3% having at least a Master’s degree, 25.9% a Bachelor’s degree, 10.9% an Associate’s degree, 37.0% some college, and 5.9% a high school degree or less. Participants’ household income varied, with 25.3% reporting less than $25,000 a year, 26.1% between $25,000–$50,000, 19.4% $50,000–$75,000, 12.9% $75,000–$100,000, and 16.3% greater than $100,000 a year. Participants from the Northeastern U.S. made up 41.8% of the sample, with 19.3% from the Southeastern U.S., 23.4% from the Midwestern U.S., and 15.0% from the Western U.S. Concerning religious variables, 53.5% had changed their religious affiliation. Currently, 26.6% were Protestant/nondenominational, 13.8% Catholic, 4.0% Wiccan, 3.4% Hindu, 3.1% Jewish, 7.9% other religions, 27.4% atheist/agnostic, and 13.8% reported no religious affiliation. Many participants (44.5%) reported that they grew up religious, but are no longer, and 16.9% reported that they are no longer spiritual. Only 7.1% grew up nonreligious but are religious now, and 21.2% grew up nonspiritual but are spiritual now. Approximately onefifth of the participants were never religious (19.8%) or spiritual (22.6%), and 39.3% reported they have always been spiritual, and 28.6% always religious. Half of the participants pray no more than a couple times a year; 31.0% prayed monthly or a few times a week, and 19.4% prayed at least daily. Approximately one-third (38.1%) never attended religious services, while another third (33.1%) attended a couple times a year, and 29.9% attended at least monthly.

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1.5.2 Descriptive Statistics Regarding the general life stressor that participants referenced when completing the religious coping and outcome scales, 24.7% considered the death of a close friend or family member, 13.8% a financial difficulty, 11.2% a romantic relationship problem, 10.6% a work or school problem, 9.4% a family difficulty, 8.2% a serious injury to a friend or family member, 6.8% a personal injury, 4.7% loss of a job, and 10.6% other. Table 1.2 provides descriptive statistics and correlations for the major variables in the study. Almost one-third (29.6%) of the sample reported moderate use (average score of 2.50 or above on the four-point scale) of PRC to deal with a stressful event. Only 6.2% of the sample reported using NRC a moderate amount or more. Table 1.2

Descriptive statistics and correlations

Measure

1

1. General Religiosity 2. Sexual Identity Development 3. PRC 4. NRC 5. General Outcomes 6. Religious Outcomes 7. Stress Related Growth 8. Negative Affect 9. Depression 10. Somatization M SD

–

2

.07

3

4

5

6

7

9

10

–

.65*** .04 .36*** −.17** .10 .17**

– .58*** – .20*** −.02

–

.52***

.01

.78***

.45***

.34*** –

.22***

.03

.39***

.22***

.45***

.05 −.04 .07 0.00 3.23

8

−.18** .16** .31*** −.26*** .03 .21*** −.30*** .22*** .40*** 0.01 1.85 1.38 2.79 0.89 0.58

.51*** –

−.27*** .06 .09 −.31*** −.02 −.04 −.12 .20*** .10 3.55 2.24 3.32 0.89 1.33 1.00

– .59*** – .51*** .62*** – 2.39 2.27 1.62 1.04 1.13 0.88

* p < .05, **p < .01; *** p < .001

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Associations between Religious Coping and Adjustment to General Life Stress Concerning correlations between religious coping and adjustment to stress, PRC consistently related to positive adjustment (see Table 1.2). NRC was correlated with some positive outcomes, although the effect sizes were lower than the correlations between PRC and adjustment. NRC consistently related to negative outcomes from stress. PRC related to some forms of maladjustment, although not as strong as the NRC-negative adjustment association. Religious coping uniquely related to each of the outcome scales, after controlling for demographic variables (age, income, education), general religiosity, and sexual identity development (see Table 1.3 for statistics). PRC had larger standardized Beta weights than NRC across the three positive outcomes, and NRC had larger standardized Beta weights for the three negative outcomes. 1.5.3

1.5.4 Sexual Identity Development and Coping For PRC, the main effects were significant (ΔR2 = .47, F(3,345) = 102.24, p < .001), with significant standardized Beta weights for sample (β = .22, p < .001) and general religiosity (β = .70, p < .001), but not sexual identity development (β = .05, p = .23). The two-way interactions did not predict additional variance (ΔR2 = .007, F(3,342) = 1.56, p = .199), nor did the three-way interaction (ΔR2 = .00, F(1,341) = 2.41, p = .122). For NRC, the main effects were significant (ΔR2 = .21, F(3,345) = 30.26, p < .001), with significant standardized Beta weights for sample (β = .21, p < .001), general religiosity (β = .42, p < .001), and sexual identity development (β = −.14, p = .007). The two-way interactions predicted unique variance in NRC (ΔR2 = .02, F(3,342) = 3.02, p = .03), whereas the three-way interaction did not (ΔR2 = .00, F(1,341) = 0.08, p = .777). The only significant (p < .05) two-way interaction was religiosity and sexual identity development (β = −.14, p = .037; see Figure 1.1). When decomposing this interaction 1 SD above the mean for religiosity, sexual identity development was inversely related to NRC (β = −.32, p < .001). However, sexual identity development was not related to NRC (β = −.07, p = .317) at low levels of religiosity (1 SD below the mean). When decomposing the interaction 1 SD above the mean for sexual identity development, religiosity related to NRC (β = .24, p = .001). Similarly, religiosity was associated with NRC (β = .49, p < .001) in persons with low levels of sexual identity development (1 SD below the mean). In summary, religious PSSA with low levels of sexual identity development were more likely to use NRC than religious PSSA with advanced sexual identity development. However, religious PSSA with advanced identity development were no more likely to use PRC than their less developed religious counterparts.

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.75*** .00

.03 −.02 −.03 .02 −.02

β

.12***

.05***

∆R2 .07***

.34*** −.20**

.00 .11 .12* −.08 .11*

β

General outcomes

.17***

.11***

∆R2 .06**

.46*** −.04

−.10 .00 .04 −.04 .04

β

Stress-related growth

Note. n = 338, except for Negative Affect, where n = 335. * p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001

∆R2 .28*** Step 1 Control Variables Age Education Income General Religiosity Sexual Identity Development .31*** Step 2 Religious Coping Positive Religious Coping Negative Religious Coping Total R2 .59***

Spiritual growth

Table 1.3 Hierarchical regression—religious coping and outcome variables

.19***

.08***

.06 .27***

.20***

.04**

−.06 .23***

−.17** −.05 −.21*** −.03 −.15**

β

Depression

∆R2 β ∆R2 .16*** .11*** −.25*** .01 −.12* −.04 −.07

Negative affect

.27***

.12***

∆R2 .15***

.07 .34***

−.16** −.04 −.14** −.06 −.18***

β

Somatization

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Figure 1.1 Religiosity, sexual identity development, and negative religious coping Sex ID Dvlpmnt = Sexual Identity Development

1.6 Discussion 1.6.1 Overview of Findings The goal of the present study was to examine the importance of religious coping in the lives of PSSA across the United States, including its relationship to sexual identity development and outcomes from stress. It appears that religious coping functions in contexts that transcend, complement, and interact with sexual identity. For example, a significant minority of PSSA used religious coping strategies traditionally associated with positive adjustment to deal with general life stresses (e.g., the death of a family member). These positive religious coping methods were associated with better psychological and religious outcomes from a stressful event, over and above demographic, sexual identity, and general religious variables. Negative religious coping—rarely used among this PSSA sample—related to poorer adjustment (such as negative affect towards the stressor) after controlling for demographic, sexual identity, and general religious variables. In terms of sexual identity development, religious PSSA with less developed sexual identities used more negative religious coping than their religious counterparts with more developed sexual identities. Overall, this sample of PSSA infrequently used religious coping, complementing a number of qualitative and simple descriptive studies that demonstrated how many PSSA turn away from religion (Dahl & Galliher, 2012; McCarthy, 2010; Schuck & Liddle, 2001), likely as a result of religious victimization (Shallenberger, 1996). Recently, Exline and colleagues (2014) created a new, more comprehensive scale of NRC that includes areas such as doubts Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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over one’s religious beliefs, and feelings of shame and guilt over moral transgressions. Future research could examine these other negative religious coping methods in PSSA, using a larger sample than the 23 homosexual participants used by Exline and colleagues. Qualitative research has suggested religious doubts, guilt, and shame are frequent experiences of PSSA in religious settings (Pitt, 2010a; Rostosky et al. 2008; Yip & Khalid, 2010). Further, many PSSA turn to Eastern/earth-based religions (Dahl & Galliher, 2012, Schuck & Liddle, 2001). Therefore, future research could utilize nonChristian religious coping measures, such as Buddhist scales of meditation and mindfulness (Phillips et al., 2012). Hypotheses 1 and 2 were mostly supported in the present study; positive religious coping with various life stresses related to better adjustment, and negative religious coping was associated with poorer outcomes, over and above demographic, sexual identity, and general religious variables. These results complement the quantitative research conducted on samples of heterosexuals (Pargament et al., 1998; Phillips & Stein, 2007), and extends the findings from a sample of PSSA dealing with the stressor of religious victimization (Lauricella et al., 2017). Religious coping relates to outcomes from stress better than simply assessing general levels of religiosity (e.g., church attendance). Further, the results of the present study complement qualitative findings that PSSA report certain religious coping methods to be helpful, and others harmful (Dahl & Galliher, 2012; Kubicek et al., 2009). Surprisingly, the present study found that PRC related to more negative affect towards the stressor and higher levels of somatization, and NRC was associated with more religious and stress-related growth. It appears, however, that PRC is more strongly tied to positive outcomes, given the magnitude of correlations between PRC and positive outcomes (Mr = .46) as compared to negative outcomes (Mr = .13). Similarly, the magnitude of the correlations was higher for NRC with negative outcomes (Mr = .31) as compared to positive outcomes (Mr = .22). Other studies have also found occasional benefits from NRC (Exline et al., 2014), or difficulties from PRC (Pargament et al., 1998). We see at least three explanations for this counterintuitive finding. First, PRC and NRC could be “double-edged swords,” each with benefits and drawbacks. Second, minority stress theory (Meyer, 2003) hypothesizes that PSSA experience greater stress and stress-related growth than heterosexuals, which may lead to some links between distress and PRC, and growth and NRC. Third, the methodology employed in the present study may not have fully captured the complexity of the coping process. A stressful event might cause mental health problems (e.g., negative affect), leading an individual to “mobilize their resources” and use PRC (Pargament et al., 1998), and after a period of time, PRC improves adjustment.

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Further, Pargament and colleagues (1998) note that in some situations, NRC can lead to long-term positive results, such as a strengthened general orienting system, more resources, and a more flexible worldview. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the complex relationships between mental health and religious coping. There was partial support for Hypothesis 3 concerning sexual identity development and religious coping. Compared to their more developed religious brethren, religious PSSA with less advanced sexual identity development did use more NRC—but not less PRC as expected. The findings concerning NRC complement Pitt’s (2010b) conclusions from his qualitative research; as religious PSSA mature and integrate the various aspects of their personality, they learn to avoid religious coping methods typically associated with harm, such as viewing a stressor as a punishment from God. Perhaps religious PSSA learn healthy religious coping strategies early in their development, and this is why there is no difference between more and less developed PSSA on positive religious coping strategies. 1.6.2 Limitations As previously mentioned, the cross-sectional and correlational nature of this study preclude inferences of causation or understanding of the long-term implications of religious coping. Although longitudinal designs would not allow for causal explanations, it might help clarify if sexual identity development leads to less negative religious coping over time (instead of the possibility that negative religious coping leads to a less developed and integrated identity). Although we exhausted all organizational contacts, the sample was not fully representative of the United States population. We compared the demographic and general religious characteristics of the 363 participants to a recently obtained, nationally representative sample (Pew Research Center, 2015). The two samples appeared similar on gender and income, although the Pew study did not include transgender as a response choice. The sample within the present study appears to over-represent young, white, educated adults living in the Northeastern United States, given that 18% of the nationally-representative sample lived in the Northeastern U.S., 66% were white, 22% were below the age of 30, and 28% obtained a Bachelor’s degree or higher (Pew Research Center, 2015). Further, participants in the current study appear to be less religious than participants in the Pew study, with 71% of the latter identifying as Christian, 36% attending church once a week, and 55% praying at least daily. This finding is similar to other studies of PSSA drawn from secular settings (Schuck & Liddle, 2001; Sherkat, 2002), and meets a research objective of the current study—to assess nonreligious as well as religious PSSA. Nonetheless,

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to address these sampling issues, we controlled for demographic variables and general religiosity when testing the study hypotheses. Future studies are needed with PSSA more representative of the American population. Of course, it should be kept in mind that when PSSA studies do not focus on religion, the sample is likely to be less religious than the overall U.S. population (Schuck & Liddle, 2001; Sherkat, 2002). 1.7 Conclusions Despite these limitations, the current study adds to the literature on religious coping and persons with same-sex attractions, demonstrating the importance of religion for some PSSA, in ways that interact with—and transcend—sexual identity. Some PSSA use religion to cope with stressors other than sexual issues, doing so in mostly healthy ways. These religious coping strategies predict adjustment to stress over and above general measures of religiosity. The few PSSA who used unhealthy religious coping methods to deal with general life stresses were likely to have lower levels of sexual identity development, and experience poorer adjustment to the stressor. Although many people denigrate homosexual activity on religious principles (Trevino et al., 2012), some persons with same-sex attractions do use religion to cope with stress; sometimes reaping the rewards, and sometimes experiencing their cross to bear. References Aiken, L. S., & West, S. G. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Cass, V. C. (1984). Homosexual identity formation testing a theoretical model. The Journal of Sex Research, 20, 143–167. doi:10.1080/00224498409551214. Dahl, A. L., & Galliher, R. (2010). Sexual minority young adult religiosity, sexual orientation conflict, self-esteem, and depressive symptoms. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health, 14, 271–290. doi:10.1080/19359705.2010.507413. Dahl, A. L., & Galliher, R. V. (2012). The interplay of sexual and religious identity development in LGBTQ adolescents and young adults: A qualitative inquiry. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 12, 217–246. doi:10.1080/15283488.2012 .691255. Derogatis, L. R., & Melisaratos, N. (1983). The brief symptom inventory: An introductory report. Psychological Medicine, 13, 595–605. doi:10.1017/S0033291700048017.

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Exline, J. J., Pargament, K. I., Grubbs, J. B., & Yali, A. M. (2014). The religious and spiritual struggles scale: Development and initial validation. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 6, 208–222. doi:10.1037/a0036465. Gross, M., & Yip, A. K. T. (2010). Living spirituality and sexuality: A comparison of lesbian, gay, and bisexual Christians in France and Britain. Social Compass, 57, 40–59. doi:10.1177/0037768609355535. Halkitis, P. N., Mattis, J. S., Sahadath, J. K., Massie, D., Ladyzhenskaya, L., Pitrelli, K., Bonacci, M., & Cowie, S. A. E. (2009). The meaning and manifestations of religion and spirituality among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender adults. Journal of Adult Development, 16, 250–262. doi:10.1007/s10804-009-9071-1. Henrikson, M. (2007). Lavender faith: Religion, spirituality and identity in lesbian, gay and bisexual New Zealanders. Journal of Religion & Spirituality in Social Work, 26, 63–80. doi:10.1300/J377v26n03_04. Kubicek, K., McDavitt, B., Carpineto, J., Weiss, G., Iverson, E. F., & Kipke, M. D. (2009). “God made me gay for a reason”: Young men who have sex with men’s resiliency in resolving internalized homophobia from religious sources. Journal of Adolescence, 24, 601–633. doi:10.1177/0743558409341078. Lauricella, S., Phillips, R. E. III, & Dubow, E. (2017). Religious coping with sexual stigma in young adults with same-sex attractions. Journal of Religion and Health, 56, 1436– 1449. doi:10.1007/s10943-017-0374-4. Lazarus, R., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer. Lehavot, K. (2012). Coping strategies and health in a national sample of sexual minority women. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 82, 494–504. doi:10.1111/ j.1939-0025.2012.01178.x. McCarthy, S. K. (2010). The adjustment of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) older adolescents who experience minority stress: The role of religious coping, struggle, and forgiveness (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from PsycINFO. Meanley, S., Pingel, E. S., & Bauermeister, J. A. (2016). Psychological well-being among religious and spiritual-identified young gay and bisexual men. Sexuality Research & Social Policy: A Journal of the NSRC, 13, 35–45. doi:10.1007/s13178-015-0199-4. Meyer, I. H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 674–697. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.674. Mohr, J., & Fassinger, R. (2000). Measuring dimensions of lesbian and gay male experience. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 33, 66–90. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.pitt.idm.oclc.org/psycinfo/ docview/195610667/fulltextPDF/6632618FA4594383PQ/1?accountid=14709. Mohr, J. J., & Kendra, M. S. (2011). Revision and extension of a multidimensional measure of sexual minority identity: The lesbian, gay, and bisexual identity scale. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 58, 234–245. doi:10.1037/a0022858.

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Murray-Swank, N. A., Pargament, K. I., & Mahoney, A. (2005). At the crossroads of sexuality and spirituality: The sanctification of sex by college students. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 15, 199–219. doi:10.1207/s15327582ijpr1503_2. Pargament, K. I. (1997). The psychology of religion and coping: Theory, research, practice. New York: Guilford Press. Pargament, K. I., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. M. (2000). The many methods of religious coping: Development and initial validation of the RCOPE. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 56, 519–43. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4679(200004)56:4. Pargament, K. I., Smith, B. W., Koenig, H. G., & Perez, L. (1998). Patterns of positive and negative religious coping with major life stressors. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37, 710–724. doi:10.2307/1388152. Pew Research Center (2015). Religious landscape study. Retrieved from http://www .pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study. Phillips, R. E. III, Cheng, C. M., Hietbrink, L., Vonnegut, E., & Oemig, C. (2012). Validation of a Buddhist coping measure among primarily non-Asian Buddhists in the United States. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 51, 156–172. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2012.01620.x. Phillips, R. E. III, & Kitchens, M. (2016). Augustine or Philistine? College students’ sanctification of learning and its implications. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 26, 80–94. doi:10.1080/10508619.2014.999492. Phillips, R. E. III, & Stein, C. H. (2007). God’s will, god’s punishment, or god’s limitations? Religious coping strategies reported by young adults living with serious mental illness. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 63, 528–540. doi:10.1002/jclp.20364. Pitt, R. N. (2010a). “Killing the messenger”: Religious black gay men’s neutralization of anti-gay religious messages. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 49, 56–72. doi:10.1111/j.1468-5906.2009.01492.x. Pitt, R. N. (2010b). “Still looking for my Jonathan”: Gay black men’s management of religious and sexual identity conflicts. Journal of Homosexuality, 57, 39–53. doi:10.1080/00918360903285566. Rabinovitch, A. E., Perrin, P. B., Tabaac, A. R., & Brewster, M. E. (2015). Coping styles and suicide in racially and ethnically diverse lesbian, bisexual, and queer women. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 2, 497–504. doi:10.1037/ sgd0000137. Rodriguez, E. M. (2010). At the intersection of church and gay: A review of the psychological research on gay and lesbian Christians. Journal of Homosexuality, 57, 5–38. doi:10.1080/00918360903445806. Rodriguez, E. M., & Ouellette, S. C. (2000). Gay and lesbian Christians: Homosexual and Religious Identity Integration in the members and participants of a gaypositive church. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 39, 333–347. doi:10.1111/ 0021-8294.00028.

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Rostosky, S. S., Riggle, E. D. B., Brodnicki, C., & Olson, A. (2008). An exploration of lived religion in same-sex couples from Judeo-Christian traditions. Family Process, 47, 389–403. doi:10.1111/j.1545-5300.2008.00260.x. Schuck, K. D., & Liddle, B. J. (2001). Religious conflicts experienced by lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 5, 63–82. doi:10.1300/ J236v05n02_07. Shallenberger, D. (1996). Reclaiming the spirit: The journeys of gay men and lesbian women toward integration. Qualitative Sociology, 19, 195–215. doi:10.1111/ 1468-5906.00119. Sherkat, D. E. (2002). Sexuality and religious commitment in the United States: An empirical examination. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41, 313–323. doi:10.1111/1468-5906.00119. Sherry, A., Adelman, A., Whilde, M. R., & Quick, D. (2010). Completing selves: Negotiating the intersection of spiritual and sexual identities. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 41, 112–119. doi:10.1037/a0017471. Shilo, G., Yossef, I., & Savaya, R. (2016). Religious coping strategies and mental health among religious Jewish gay and bisexual men. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45, 1551– 1561. doi:10.1007/s10508-015-0567-4. Siraj, A. (2012). “I don’t want to taint the name of Islam”: The influence of religion on the lives of Muslim lesbians. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 16, 449–467. doi:10.1080/108 94160.2012.681268. Trevino, K. M., Desai, K., Lauricella, S., Pargament, K. I., & Mahoney, A. (2012). Perceptions of lesbian and gay individuals as desecrators of Christianity as predictors of anti-LG attitudes. Journal of Homosexuality, 59, 535–563. doi:10.1080/009183 69.2012.665672. Tukey, J. W. (1977). Exploratory data analysis. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing. Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegan, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Development, 54, 1063–1070. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com .pitt.idm.oclc.org/psycinfo/docview/614309965/fulltextPDF/D6DA334C19DD4724 PQ/1?accountid=14709. Yip, A. K. T. (2002). The persistence of faith among nonheterosexual Christians: Evidence for the neosecularization thesis of religious transformation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41, 199–212. doi:10.1111/1468-5906.00111. Yip, A. K. T., & Khalid, A. (2010). Looking for Allah: Spiritual quests of queer Muslims. In K. Brown, S. R. Munt, & A. K. T. Yip (Eds.), Queer spiritual spaces: Sexuality and sacred places. Surrey, England: Ashgate Publishing Company.

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Chapter 2

Love in the Midst of Stressors: Exploring the Role of Daily Spiritual Experiences Gina M. Brelsford, Lynn G. Underwood, & Bradley R. E. Wright Abstract Spiritual experiences are related to a plethora of personal and relational outcomes. In this study, we examined if daily spiritual experiences buffer the impact of stressors on compassionate love, which is a salient aspect of personal and professional relationships. We used a smartphone-based, experience sampling method (S-ESM) to test the moderating effect of daily spiritual experiences on stressors and love in 1,691 participants, using mixed-effects multilevel regression models. Our analyses indicated that increased stressors predicted reduced attitudes of love for others while increased daily spiritual experiences were associated with greater attitudes of love. We also found that increased daily spiritual experiences over time moderated the negative effect of stressors on love. Specifically, we found that daily spiritual experiences that were higher than the individual’s average, rather than merely a higher average spiritual experience, were key to this moderating effect. Implications are discussed.

Keywords love – daily spiritual experiences – stressors – spirituality – experience sampling method – stress – compassionate love

2.1 Introduction1 Love is a broad concept, but this study will be building on a definition of compassionate love that encompasses the idea of giving of the self for the good of the other, or other-centered love (Underwood, 2002). Scientific research using this definition of compassionate love has been building over the past 15 years 1  Corresponding author: Gina M. Brelsford, Ph.D., Penn State Harrisburg, 777 W. Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA 17057, [email protected].

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden,Ralph 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004416987_003 W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

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(Collins et al., 2014; Fehr, Sprecher, & Underwood, 2009; Neff & Karney, 2005; Oman, 2011; Reis, Maniaci, & Rogge, 2014) supporting the idea that this type of love is distinct from altruism, empathy, affection, attachment, compassion, sympathy, and romantic love (Underwood, 2009). Further, Underwood (2002) posited that compassionate love starts with a foundation that consists of individual variations in psychological and biological aspects of the self that are shaped by cultural, historical, familial, and social environments. Thus, individual differences result in varying attitudes and behaviors reflecting feelings of compassionate love (Underwood, 2002). The compassionate love model points to factors such as the role of social support, cultural and religious environments, and one’s upbringing (Fehr, Sprecher, & Underwood, 2009) that can urge and support individuals in their ability to stretch beyond their own needs to encourage the flourishing of others. Because of their individual differences, different motivations and discernment, and the variety of situations that people find themselves in, people have attitudes or engage in behaviors that vary in their degree of compassionate love. Furthermore, spiritual resources have been posited as a factor in this model (Underwood, 2002), as these resources undergird ways in which people engage with others therein potentially acting as a conduit for loving attitudes. 2.2

Daily Spiritual Experiences

This project used questions adapted from the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES) (Underwood, 2006, 2011; Underwood & Teresi, 2002). The DSES measures aspects of spirituality such as a sense of connection with the divine, a sense of deep inner peace, finding strength and comfort in religion or spirituality, feeling thankful for blessings, and a sense of awe. Research has shown that the more frequently that people have these daily spiritual experiences, the less “burnout” they experience in a variety of caregiving settings (Emam & Al-Lawati, 2014; Newmeyer et al., 2014; Wachholtz & Rogoff, 2013). Burnout reflects a situation where the stressors of life have built up to such an extent that the capacity to care is diminished (Maslach, 1982). Burnout may also suggest a lack of balanced affect, which reflects a higher level of negative affect and lower positive affect in relation to an experience thereby diminishing satisfaction. This lack of balanced affect, resulting in burnout, is often common in people working in secular or pastoral counseling settings or those serving as clergy (Francis, Village, Robbins, & Wulff, 2011). Thus, conceptually, the presence of daily spiritual experiences may contribute to a sense of balanced affect by serving as a protective factor against burnout. Furthermore,

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more frequent daily spiritual experiences have also been correlated with resiliency (Howell & Miller-Graf, 2014; Reutter & Bigatti, 2014; Rounding, Hart, Hibbard, & Carroll, 2011) and more prosocial behaviors (Einolf, 2013; Maisel, Raver, Marshall, & Kerney, 2011). Given these conceptual ties, we were encouraged to investigate how these kinds of spiritual experiences might influence attitudes of love in the midst of stressors. One of the advantages of the DSES as a spiritual measure is that it has the capacity to change over time in individuals (see Kapuscinski & Masters, 2010; Lee, Veta, Johnson, & Pagano, 2014: Tong, 2017). That is, the DSES may reflect not only a spiritual trait, but spiritual variability over time (Underwood, 2013). For instance, the DSES has been used as a measure of change in spirituality over time in daily diary studies (Keefe et al., 2001), in studies of alcoholism treatment (Lee, Veta, Johnson, & Pagano, 2014), and in intervention studies of various kinds (see Koenig, Pearce, Nelson, & Daher, 2015; Koszycki, Bilodeau, Raab-Mayo, & Bradwejn, 2013). 2.3

Attitudes of Other-Centered Love in the Midst of Stressors

Stress is an aspect of life that can cause adverse physical, emotional, and social outcomes (Cohen, Kessler, & Underwood-Gordon, 1995). Stress can be thought of as “a particular relationship between the person and the environment that is appraised by the person as taxing or exceeding his or her resources” (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, p. 19). The transactional model of stress developed by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) hinges on the notion that primary appraisal of an event as stressful is the first step in the stress and coping process. Secondary appraisal then determines if coping resources are available for dealing with the stressor. Thus, if a stressor is mild to moderate, it can be motivational, whereas high levels of perceived stressors can be debilitating. Therefore, how one copes with stressors can often result in psychological and interpersonal outcomes. There are well-established links between stressors and mental health, particularly anxiety and depression (Sullivan, Neale, & Kendler, 2000), but a dearth of research exists on stressors and their effect on attitudes of love and care towards others. It seems intuitive that in situations of more stress we are less likely to feel love and care for others and are more selfishly focused. If that is the case, it is possible that the same kinds of spiritual experiences that prevent burnout, increase resilience, and diminish addictive behaviors, might enable people to have more caring attitudes towards others even in the midst of stressors. When looking at the definition and model of compassionate love, it may be that DSE’s may provide a kind of social support from a transcendent

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source in the midst of daily stressors. Also, the general focus of the DSE items on the bigger picture beyond individual concerns and worries may give a context in which problems can be placed that may promote a more positive appraisal of stressful events. From the above discussion, several hypotheses were formed. First, we predicted that stressors would predict diminished feelings of other-centered love, but the DSES assortment of spiritual experiences would predict greater attitudes of other-centered love. Second, we predicted that the negative association between stressors and love would be weakened by increased spiritual experiences (i.e., it has a moderating effect). Finally, we aimed to assess whether trait or state levels of daily spiritual experiences had the greater moderating effect on love, (i.e. whether variations in spiritual experiences within subjects would be as important for this moderating effect as between subject scores). 2.4 Method The data used in this study were collected by the SoulPulse study (Kucinskas, Wright, Ray, & Ortberg, 2017) using the smartphone-based, experience sampling method (S-ESM; Wright, Blackmon, Carreon, & Knepper, 2017). The general experience sampling method (ESM) was developed by Csikszentmihalyi and his colleagues in their study of the psychological state of flow (Csikszentmihalyi & Larson 1987; Larson & Csikszentmihalyi 1983). More recently, Killingsworth and Gilbert (2010) pioneered the use of smartphones for implementing ESM, allowing participants to complete surveys at multiple times each day allowing participants to record what they are doing, thinking, and feeling in the moment. Data collected using S-ESM offers advantages that make them well-suited for studying the issues addressed in this article. With S-ESM, participants answer questions about what is going on in their lives at the moment they received the survey or in the time immediately preceding it. This real-time measurement avoids some of the biases found when participants are asked to recall the past or summarize their behavior with estimated averages or frequencies. S-ESM data also allow for fine-grained distinctions in timing. Surveys are administered multiple times a day, and survey questions can ask about that particular moment or the time right before it. This short-term measurement allows for analysis of phenomena that change over short periods of time. Finally, S-ESM data allow for multilevel modeling in which Level 1 is the situation or experiences in the moment and L2 is the enduring characteristics of the participant. This multilevel modeling provides rich insight into the relativity effect of states versus traits. Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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2.4.1 Procedures The data examined in this study were collected between November 2013 and April 2016. The SoulPulse study was available at SoulPulse.org. Participants were members of the general public who signed up for SoulPulse after hearing about it through publicity via various outlets (e.g., New Yorker magazine, articles in the Associated Press, etc.). SoulPulse participants were at least 18 years old, and upon signing up, they provided their smartphone number and email address. They were then directed to an intake survey that takes approximately 10 minutes to complete that asks standard survey questions about various aspects of participants’ lives including social-psychological and demographic characteristics, religious and spiritual factors, and their current state of health. As soon as participants finished the intake survey, they were sent their first daily survey, which contained 15–25 questions. Participants were told to complete each daily survey as soon as is feasible. After they finished the study, participants received a computergenerated graphical report that summarized their various experiences over the course of the study and served as their reward for participating. This study lasted two weeks and during that time participants received two daily surveys each day, sent at random times during their waking hours. The data analyzed in this study were from participants who resided in the United States, filled out the intake survey, and took at least some of the daily surveys. A feature of SoulPulse is that it had a pool of about 120 questions from which it randomly sampled (using weights) 15–25 questions for inclusion on each daily survey. However, this sampling means that not all questions were asked on each daily survey. 2.4.2 Participants This study examined those surveys that contained the three measures used in our analyses: the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale, a stressor scale, and a measure of love. A total of 2,782 surveys contained the necessary measures, and they were collected from 1,691 people. Because the assignment of questions to each survey was random, the surveys analyzed in this study represent a random selection of the surveys from the study as a whole. Though not representative, SoulPulse participants are diverse. The 1,691 participants whose data are analyzed in this study are disproportionately female (61%) and white (88%). The median age is 44 years old. Participants were well-educated (38% have at least some graduate education), predominately Protestant (74%) and were somewhat wealthier than the general population (median annual household income is about $80,000). Politically, they had varying affiliations (43% Republican, 31% Democratic, 26% Independent).

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2.4.3 Measures Our analyses focused on three separate measures. The first measure is an index assessing the recent occurrence of stressful events (Dasch, Cohen, Sahl, & Gunthert, 2008; Sahl, Cohen, & Dasch, 2009). This index is comprised of eight questions, each of which starts with the question stem: “Since you last took a daily survey, have any of the following happened to you?” Questions asked about an argument with a loved one, an argument with somebody else, being treated badly by a loved one, being treated badly by somebody else, illness, injury or accident, job-related stressor, financial problems, or a tragic situation with someone you know. Participants responded to each question using a touchscreen slider bar that is scaled from “not at all” on the left to “very much” on the right. The software divided the slider bar into 100 units, and participants’ answers were scored from 1 (not at all) to 100 (very much). Taking the average score of all eight constituent questions created the overall index of “stressful events”. The average score across participants was 14.6 (out of 100) with a standard deviation of 11.7. The second measure is a version of the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES, Underwood & Teresi, 2002). This adaptation of the DSES is comprised of nine items: “I feel God’s presence,” “I find strength and comfort in my religion or spirituality,” “I feel deep inner peace or harmony,” “I feel God’s love for me directly or through others,” “I feel thankful for my blessings,” I am spiritually touched by the beauty of creation,” “I desire to be closer to God or in union with the divine,” “I feel guided by God in the midst of daily activities,” and “I feel close to God.” The survey included the following statement: “In this survey, we use traditional religious language in referring to ‘God.’ However, if this does not fit with your belief system, please substitute another word that calls to mind the divine or holy for you.” This preface is a rewording of an introductory statement used with the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale (Underwood, 2011), which has been used in the General Social Survey. Participants replied to each statement using a touchscreen slider that ranges between “not at all” to “very much.” Participants’ average score on the DSES was 70.9 (out of 100) with a standard deviation of 22.4. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the scale was .94. The third measure, which was used as a dependent variable, is a measure of an essential aspect of compassionate love. Participants were given the statement “I feel love and caring for others,” and they replied with a touchscreen scale ranging from “not at all” to “very much.” Participants’ average score on this question was 75.1 (out of 100) with a standard deviation of 20.2.

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2.4.4 Analyses In the analyses, love, the dependent variable, was regressed on spiritual experiences and stressors using mixed-effects multilevel regression models (see Tables 2.1 and 2.2). We decomposed the effect of spiritual experiences into between-person effects (L2) and within-person effects (L1). For each person, an overall mean of their spiritual experiences was calculated using observations across all daily surveys. Then, for each individual observation of spiritual experiences, deviation scores were created that represented the difference between that observation and the person’s mean. Further, analyses were conducted with both the person-means and the observation-deviations in the equations to calculate the between- and within-person effects (McCrae et al., 2008). A random intercept equation without controls that includes both within-person and between-person effects takes the following form:





 

yij  b0  b1 xij  x j  b2 x j  u j  eij 123 14243 123 within _ effects

between _ effects

random _ effects

To note, the stressor scale comprises eight separate items. Four of them, involving arguing and being treated badly, refer to stressors in the context of interpersonal relationships. The other four, involving physical health, work, finances, and other tragic situations, do not refer to interpersonal relationships as directly. Since it is possible that the interpersonal relationship items link more strongly to measures of love than the other items, we estimated our analyses twice, once with a subscale of the interpersonal stressors and once with a subscale of the other stressors. The analyses with the interpersonal stressors subscale produced results nearly identical as those reported in our tables with the overall stressors scale. The analyses with the other stressors subscale showed the same pattern of significance levels; however, the coefficient magnitudes of the stressors variables were 50%–60% smaller than those found with the overall scale. These findings suggest that much of the patterns we observe in this study are driven by stress experiences in an interpersonal context. Furthermore, with this model, analyses controlled for participants’ average level of daily spiritual experiences. This, in turn, controls for all the stable antecedents of daily spiritual experiences, and as such there is little need to include them in the model. For example, even though women on average score higher than men on daily spiritual experiences, “gender” is not included as a separate control variable in the equation because any effect gender has on daily

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spiritual experiences is captured by controlling for participants’ mean level of spiritual experiences. This approach is a more powerful analytic method to control other variables rather than simply adding a limited set of control variables. Also, this type of analysis lessens the possibility of a spurious correlation by controlling for the antecedents of spiritual experiences, which lessens the possibility of there being a third variable that correlates with both daily spiritual experiences and the outcome of love. This type of model is a powerful way of isolating the person- and situational-effects of daily spiritual experiences on love. It allows for the testing of both fixed and random effects and to separately estimate the relative impact of between- and within-person effects. This approach also takes advantage of the multiple measurements found in ESM data collection by using a variable’s mean across all surveys to estimate the between-person effect. Thus, this approach allows for differences between each individual observation and this person-mean tests for within-person differences. We refer readers to McCrae et al. (2008) for an extensive discussion and illustration of this way of doing multilevel modeling. 2.5 Results As mentioned previously, the DSES can have both trait- and state-like characteristics. To illustrate this, we present two histograms. Figure 2.1 presents the person-means of spiritual experiences. To calculate this, we averaged together all of each participants’ DSES scores. Figure 2.1 plots the person-means scores of all the participants. For this study, 1,691 participants responded to the DSES items. As shown, the person-mean scores ranged from 1 to 100, but higher scores predominated. The average person-mean score for the whole sample was 70.8, indicating that most participants experienced at least some of these ordinary spiritual experiences on a daily basis. Figure 2.2 presents the within-person deviations of daily spiritual experiences. To calculate this, we took each observation of the DSES and subtracted it from that participant’s person-mean score. For example, a participant who scored 50, 55, 60, 70, 75, and 80 would have within-person deviation scores of −15 (i.e., 50–65), −10, −5, 5, 10, and 15. The average deviation score across all observations is, of course, 0. The possible range of deviations is from about −100 to 100. The sample size for this graph is 6,866 observations. As shown in Figure 2.2, however, the observed deviation scores are almost exclusively between −50 and 50, and the greater majority of them being between −15 and 15. This observed variation in DSE scores supports the assumption that spiritual experiences have state-like qualities. If spiritual experiences were only a trait, then there would be negligible differences in DSES scores across time. Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Figure 2.1 Average DSES scores, by person

Figure 2.2 Within-person deviation scores for DSES

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Further, we hypothesized that stressors have a negative effect on feelings of love, and this effect is moderated by spiritual experiences. We tested for this moderation effect using three separate measures of DSES. In addition to person-means and within-person deviations, we also used raw scores of DSES. For example, if a participant receives the DSES on a daily survey, and they score 55 on it, then 55 is used for that observation. It is not averaged with the rest of the participant’s scores (i.e., a person-mean), nor is it subtracted from the person-mean (i.e., a within-person deviation), but is simply used by itself. This is a common approach in multilevel modeling, and here raw scores reflect both the participant’s underlying spiritual trait as well as momentary states. Table 2.1 presents a series of equations that use “stressful events,” “DSESraw,” and “love.” As shown in Column 1, “stressful events” has a negative and significant zero-order effect on “love” (b = −.261). To note, all equations also included a variable that indicates the number of the survey (from 1 to 28) to control for possible measurement effects. Thus, the more stressful events that participants had since the previous daily survey, the less they felt loving and caring toward others. In Column 2, “DSES-raw” is added to the equation, and it is positive and significant. When “DSES-raw” is added, the effect of “stressful events” decreases in magnitude (to b = −.163), but remains significant. Thus, some of the effect of stressors on attitudes of love and care might be mediated by spiritual experiences. In Column 3, an interaction term, created by multiplying “stressors” by “DSES-raw”, is added. It is significant and positive (b = .005). To interpret it, the effect of stressors on attitudes of love is highly negative (b = −.493) when spiritual experiences are set at zero. However, with each unit increase of DSE’s, the negative effect of stressors decreases in magnitude. In other words, daily spiritual experiences reduce the negative effect of stressful experiences on love. Table 2.1

The effect of stressors on love, as moderated by DSES (raw scores)

Stressors DSES-Raw Stressors × DSES, Raw

(1)

(2)

(3)

−.261 *** (−7.47)

−.163 *** (−5.28) .450 *** (28.00)

−.493 *** (−5.27) .381 *** (15.63) .005 *** (3.73)

Note. Each equation controls for the survey number. Sample size = 2,782 observations across 1,691 people

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Love in the Midst of Stressors: Daily Spiritual Experiences Table 2.2 The effect of stressors on love, as moderated by DSES (person-mean and deviation)

(1) Stressors DSES-within deviation DSES-between person Stressors × DSES, person mean Stressors × DSES, within-person deviations

(2)

(3)

−.164 *** −.151 *** −.335 ** (−5.30) (−4.88) (−3.06) .376 *** .228 *** .376 *** (12.93) (5.09) (12.94) .481 *** .480 *** .445 *** (25.15) (25.13) (15.24) .002 (1.63) .011 *** (4.36)

Note. Each equation controls for the survey number. Sample size = 2,782 observations across 1,691 people

Table 2.2 replicates the moderation analyses of Table 2.1, testing for interaction effects between “stressful events” and two other measures of DSES, personmeans and within-person deviations. As shown in Column 1, the effect of “stressors” on “love” is negative and significant even when controlling for the two measures of DSES, and both measures of DSES are positive and statistically significant. This indicates that the type of participants who usually have more daily spiritual experiences feel more love, and when a participant experiences more spiritual experiences than they usually do, they also feel more love. As such, daily spiritual experiences display both a trait- and state-effect on loving others. Column 2 of Table 2.2 adds an interaction term created by multiplying “stressful events” by the participants’ person-mean score. When included in the model, this interaction term (b = .002) is positive, but not quite statistically significant. Column 3 adds a different interaction term created by multiplying “stress events” by within-person deviation scores of DSES. This interaction term (b = .011) is also positive, but it is statistically significant. Thus, the negative effect of stressful events on feelings of love is lessened not by high average spiritual experiences, but by higher-than-average spiritual experiences. To graphically illustrate the significant interaction effect found in Table 2.2, Figure 2.3 plots the marginal effects of “stressful events” on “love” as they vary by levels of within-person deviations of DSES. There are two lines in Figure 2.3.

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Figure 2.3 Marginal effects of stressors on love

The top line is the predicted, linear relationship between stressful events and love when participants are experiencing much higher than usual levels of spiritual experiences (within-person deviation score of +40). As shown, this line has a shallow negative slope. At the lowest levels of stressful events, participants with higher-than-usual spiritual experience scores are predicted to have love scores of about 80. At the highest levels of stressful events, the love scores average 70. The bottom line is the predicted stressful event-love relationship when participants are experiencing much lower than average spiritual experiences (within-person deviation score of −40). This line has a steep negative slope. At the lowest levels of stressors, participants with relatively low spiritual experience scores are predicted to have “love” scores of about 60. However, at the highest levels of stressors, it drops down to 20. 2.6 Discussion The results of this study show that having more daily spiritual experiences can buffer the effects of stressors, enabling people to have a sense of love and care for others even in the midst of stressful life events. When it comes to loving attitudes towards others, this study found that being able to give more attention to spiritual aspects of life during times of stress is more salient than merely Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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initially having many of those experiences. Even if one’s baseline level of a sense of spiritual connectedness is lower compared to others, being able to increase those experiences can enhance people’s inner orientation to feel love and care for others. This speaks to the state- versus trait-like significance of ordinary spiritual experiences. To explore this idea further it is important to note that the DSES measured attitudes such as being thankful for blessings and being aware of strength and comfort obtained from one’s religion or spirituality, perceptions of divine love directly or through others, and being spiritually touched by the beauty of creation. As stated earlier, those in the helping fields have designed various types of interventions to increase daily spiritual experiences in people’s lives including 12-step programs, faith-based programs, multi-religious interventions, and mindfulness. Thus, merely calling attention to these spiritual experiences in everyday life can in and of itself increase awareness (Underwood, 2013). Most individuals experience stressors. One of our three main findings was that having spiritual experiences that are higher than the individual’s average lessens the negative effect of stressful events on feeling love and care for others. Therefore, it appears that working with individuals to increase their own levels of ordinary spiritual experiences, no matter their baseline level of spiritual experiences, may head off some of the vexatious effects of stressful situations on love. Hence, an intervention focused on decreasing self-reported stressors, many of which are unavoidable, may be more challenging than providing spiritual tools to individuals who are dealing with the ramifications of these stressors. For instance, those who have higher levels of ordinary spiritual experiences tend to report more positive effects on overall well-being (Underwood, 2011), which may be a more realistic target than lowering the number of stressors in one’s life. Thus, increasing awareness of the transcendent in life as described in the items of the DSES may be the most fruitful method to infiltrate the impact of stressful situations on attitudes of love towards others. In relation to clinical implications in a pastoral counseling setting, working with clients to increase their ordinary spiritual experiences through prayer, connection with others, meditation, or other means may have implications for handling stressors. If one is less stressed, it is important to realize that giving of the self in love and care may be harder. Increasing spiritual experiences relative to one’s own baseline can have positive implications for both giving love and care to others, as shown in this study, and also susceptibility to other effects of life stressors as shown in the burnout and resiliency literature in relation to DSES. In another publication from the SoulPulse study, spiritual disciplines such as reading scripture, praying, and solitude—have both significant within- and between-person effects on DSES scores (Wright et al.,

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2017) Although the between-person effects are greater in magnitude than the within-person effects, when people practice these activities, regardless of how often they do so at baseline, they have more spiritual experiences. Research on various interventions, or other factors that have been shown to increase DSES scores, can help us to continue to learn about ways to increase our awareness of these aspects of life. 2.7 Limitations As with any study, there are limitations that deserve mention. First, although we have a large number of respondents and responses over time, the use of smartphone technology, although adept at capturing real time responses, does not allow this study to capture responses from those without smartphone technology, which often includes those from the lower socioeconomic strata, limiting the generalizability of the results. Almost two-thirds of Americans own smartphones (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2013). However, smartphone ownership rates are highest in urban and suburban areas and people most likely to own smartphones include the young, well-educated, and well-to-do (Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2014). Thus, SoulPulse participants may not represent all individuals in the United States for these reasons (Wright et al., 2017). The religious distribution of the sample is also a limitation, with its preponderance of white Protestants. The title and description of the project itself and its structure also tended to select for those with a higher interest and involvement in religion and spirituality. However, other elements of the population distribution were reassuring regarding diversity of a number of variables (e.g., age and state of residence). In addition, we utilized convenience sampling, which means that involvement in this study was through word of mouth or other forms of media sharing. With the methods utilized in this study, we cannot guarantee that the same person completed the measures during the entire two-week period. However, this is no different than most online studies. In fact, our study may have a benefit in that we used averages related to daily responses concerning spiritual experiences and self-reported stressors. Thus, even if an errant response were provided, it would be averaged in with other responses rendering its effect weaker. The focus on specific stressors, rather than feelings of being stressed could also be perceived as a limitation for this study. Certainly, some respondents

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may have experienced a plethora of stressors that were not reflected in the items within our measure of stressors. However, this stressor scale has been used extensively in other studies (see Park, Wright, Pais, & Ray, 2016) and reflects interpersonal and other areas of stress highly relevant to our constructs of interest (e.g., love and spirituality). Finally, some may feel that the use of one question to capture one of the salient variables is problematic. Although the use of a single question as a proxy for other-centered love may not seem adequate, this item does give us a reflection of people’s attitudes of love and care towards others. Single-item measures are commonplace within experience sampling methodologies and epidemiological studies (see Killingsworth & Gilbert, 2010). Also, such singleitem measures can have high validity (De Boer, et al. 2004). Further, with the large number of variables included in the dataset, the use of a single question was deemed necessary to capture respondents’ reports on a major component of compassionate love. In addition, a recent study by Park et al. (2016) found that use of one item from a larger Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale was sufficiently powerful to detect risk of mortality in a sample of congestive heart failure patients; suggesting that a strong item can be a robust measurement of a complicated construct. 2.8 Conclusion This study was the first to explore how spiritual experiences may affect attitudes of love and care for others in the midst of stressful life experiences. This study found that if you have a higher than your own average occurrence of spiritual experiences in stressful circumstances, your attitudes of love and care for others gets a boost. This suggests that if individuals would like to strengthen feelings of love and care for others in times of stress, they can consider methods to increase daily spiritual experiences such as a sense of awe, feeling thankful for blessings, feeling love from a divine source, and fostering of a sense of spiritual strength and guidance. These experiences can be a valuable resource to draw upon and increasingly focusing our attention to these aspects of life can help to fortify and sustain loving attitudes. The daily news reminds us that the world is full of stressors. Care and concern for other people is important in so many ways, both for those cared for and for the relationships that can be built. This study suggests that drawing attention to a transcendent connection can be a way to encourage the capacity of a person to give much needed love and care even in tumultuous times.

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Acknowledgements This study was funded by grant #48298 from the John Templeton Foundation. For their many contributions to this project, we thank John Ortberg, Rick Blackmon, Luke Knepper, David Carreon, John Mumford, Linda Barker, Jack Reis, Isaac Gierard, and Tracy Anderson. For helpful institutional support, we thank Allison Goldsnider and Arlene Goodwin. References Cohen, S., Kessler, R. C., & Underwood-Gordon, L. (1995). Strategies for measuring stress in studies of psychiatric and physical disorders. In S. Cohen, R. C. Kessler, & L. Underwood-Gordon (Eds.), Measuring stress: A guide for health and social scientists (pp. 3–26). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Collins, N. L., Kane, H. S., Metz, M. A., Cleveland, C., Khan, C., Winczewski, L., … & Prok, T. (2014). Psychological, physiological, and behavioral responses to a partner in need the role of compassionate love. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 31(5), 601–629. doi:10.1177/0265407514529069. Csikszentmihalyi, M. & Larson, R. (1987). Validity and reliability of the experiencesampling method. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 175(9), 526–36. Dasch, K. B., Cohen, L. H., Sahl, J. C., & Gunthert, K. C. (2008). Moderating effects of sociotropy and autonomy on affective and self-esteem reactivity to daily stressors. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 32, 177–195. doi:10.1007/s10608-007-9126-1. De Boer, A., Van Lanschot, J., Stalmeier, P., Van Sandick, J., Hulscher, J., De Haes, J., & Sprangers, M. (2004). Is a single-item visual analogue scale as valid, reliable and responsive as multi-item scales in measuring quality of life? Quality of Life Research, 13(2), 311–320. doi:10.1023/B:QURE.0000018499.64574.1f. Einolf, C. (2013). Daily spiritual experiences and prosocial behavior. Social Indicators Research, 110(1), 71–87. doi:10.1007/s11205-011-99173. Emam, M., & Al-Lawati, S. (2014). Spiritual experiences, personal commitment: Relationship with work stress among support staff for children with disabilities in Oman. Journal of Disability & Religion, 18(4), 340–360. doi:10.1080/23312521.2014.96 6439. Fehr, B., Sprecher, S., Underwood, L. G. (Eds.). (2009). The science of compassionate love: Research, theory, and applications. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Francis, L. J., Village, A., Robbins, M., & Wulff, K. (2011). Work-related psychological health among clergy serving in the Presbyterian Church (USA): Testing the idea of balanced affect. Review of Religious Research, 53(1), 9–22. Retrieved from http:// www.jstor.org.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/stable/41940715.

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Howell, K. H., & Miller-Graff, L. E. (2014). Protective factors associated with resilient functioning in young adulthood after childhood exposure to violence. Child Abuse & Neglect, 38(12), 1985–1994. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2014.10.010. Kapuscinski, A. N., & Masters, K. S. (2010). The current status of measures of spirituality: A critical review of scale development. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 2(4), 191–205. doi:10.1037/a0020498. Keefe, F. J., Affleck, G., Lefebvre, J., Underwood, L., Caldwell, D. S., Drew, J., & Pargament, K. (2001). Living with rheumatoid arthritis: The role of daily spirituality and daily religious and spiritual coping. The Journal of Pain: Official Journal of the American Pain Society, 2(2), 101–110. doi:10.1054/jpai.2001.19296. Killingsworth, M. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932. doi:10.1126/science.1192439. Koenig, H. G., Pearce, M. J., Nelson, B., & Daher, N. (2015). Effects of religious versus standard cognitive behavioral therapy on optimism in persons with major depression and chronic medical illness. Depression and Anxiety, 32(11), 835–842. doi:10.1002/ da.22398. Koszycki, D., Bilodeau, C., Raab-Mayo, K., & Bradwejn, J. (2014). A multifaith spiritually based intervention versus supportive therapy for generalized anxiety disorder: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70(6), 489–509. doi:10.1002/jclp.22052. Kucinskas, J., Wright, B. R. E., Ray, D. M., & Ortberg, J. (2017). States of spiritual awareness by time, activity, and social interactions. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 56, 418–437. doi:10.1111/jssr.12331. Larson, R. & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1983). The experience sampling method. In H. T. Reis (Ed.), New Directions for Methodology of Social and Behavioral Science (pp. 41–56). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York, NY: Springer. Lee, M. T., Veta, P. S., Johnson, B. R., & Pagano, M. E. (2014). Daily spiritual experiences and adolescent treatment response. Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly, 32, 271–298. do i:10.1080/07347324.2014.907029. Maisel, N. C., Rauer, A. J., Marshall G. N., & Karney, B. R. (2011). Predicting support from an intimate partner after a traumatic injury. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41(8), 2044–2075. doi:10.1111/j.1559-1816.2011.00792.x. Maslach, C. (1982). Burnout—The cost of caring. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. McCrae, C. S., McNamara, J. P. H., Rowe, M. A., Dzierzewski, J. M., Dirk, J., Marsiske, M. & Craggs, J. G. (2008). Sleep and affect in older adults: Using multilevel modeling to examine daily associations. Journal of Sleep Research, 17, 42–53. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2869.2008.00621.x.

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Neff, L. A., & Karney, B. R. (2005). To know you is to love you: The implications of global adoration and specific accuracy for marital relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(3), 480–497. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.88.3.480. Newmeyer, M., Keyes, B., Gregory, S., Palmer, K., Buford, D., Mondt, P., & Okai, B. (2014). The Mother Teresa effect: The modulation of spirituality in using the CISM model with mental health service providers. International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience, 16(1), 251–258. Oman, D. (2011). Compassionate love: Accomplishments and challenges in an emerging scientific/spiritual research field. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 14(9), 945– 981. doi:10.1080/13674676.2010.541430. Park, C. L., Aldwin, C. M., Choun, S., George, L., Suresh, D. P., & Bliss, D. (2016). Spiritual peace predicts 5-year mortality in congestive heart failure patients. Health Psychology, 35(3), 203–210. doi:10.1037/hea0000271. Park, C. L., Wright, B. R. E., Pais, J., & Ray, D. M. (2016). Daily stress and self-control. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 35(9), 738–753. doi:10.1521/jscp.2016.35.9.738. Pew Internet and American Life Project (2013). Smartphone ownership 2013. Available at . Pew Internet and American Life Project (2014). Mobile technology fact sheet. Available at . Reis, H. T., Maniaci, M. R., & Rogge, R. D. (2014). The expression of compassionate love in everyday compassionate acts. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 31, 651–676. doi:10.1177/0265407513507214. Reutter, K. K., & Bigatti, S. M. (2014). Religiosity and spirituality as resiliency resources: Moderation, mediation, or moderated mediation? Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 53(1), 56–72. doi:10.1111/jssr.12081. Rounding, K., Hart, K. E., Hibbard, S., & Carroll, M. (2011). Emotional resilience in young adults who were reared by depressed parents: The moderating effects of offspring religiosity/spirituality. Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health, 13(4), 236–246. doi: 10.1080/19349637.2011.616091. Sahl, J. C., Cohen, L. H., & Dasch, K. B. (2009). Hostility, interpersonal competence, and daily dependent stress: A daily model of stress generation. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 33, 199–210. doi:10.1007/s10608-007-9175-5. Sullivan, P. F., Neale, M. C., & Kendler, K. S. (2000). Genetic epidemiology of major depression: Review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 157, 1552– 1562. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.10.1552. Tong, E. M. W. (2017). Spirituality and the temporal dynamics of transcendental positive emotions. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 9(1), 70–81. doi:10.1037/rel0000061. Underwood, L. G. (2002). The human experience of compassionate love: Conceptual mapping and data from selected studies. In S. G. Post, L. G. Underwood, J. P. Schloss,

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& W. B. Hurlbut (Eds.), Altruism and altruistic love: Science, philosophy, and religion in dialogue (pp. 72–88). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Underwood, L. G. (2006). Ordinary spiritual experience: Qualitative research, interpretive guidelines, and population distribution for the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale. Archive for the Psychology of Religion/Archiv für Religionspsychologie, 28(1), 181–218. Underwood, L. G. (2009). Compassionate love: A framework for research. In B. Fehr, S. Sprecher, & L. G. Underwood (Eds.), The science of compassionate love: Theory, research, and applications (pp. 3–25). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Underwood, L. G. (2011). The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale: Overview and results. Religions, 2(4), 29–50. doi:10.3390/rel2010029. Underwood, L. G. (2013). Spiritual connection in daily life. West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Press. Underwood, L. G., & Teresi, J. A. (2002). The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale: Development, theoretical descriptions, reliability, exploratory factor analysis, and preliminary construct validity using health-related data. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 24, 22–33. doi:10.1207/S15324796ABM2401_04. Wachholtz, A., & Rogoff, M. (2013). The relationship between spirituality and burnout among medical students. Journal of Contemporary Medical Education, 1(2), 83–91. doi:10.5455/jcme.20130104060612. Wright, B. R. E., Blackmon, R., Carreon, D., & Knepper, L. (2017). Lessons learned from SoulPulse: A smartphone-based experience sampling method (S-ESM) study of spirituality. In R. Finke, & C. D. Bader (Eds.), Faithful measures: New methods in the measurement of religion (pp. 344–364). New York, NY: New York University Press.

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Special Section 1 The Social Scientific Study of Religion in Indonesia

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Chapter 3

Introduction to Social Scientific Study of Religion in Indonesia Johana E. Prawitasari, Evans Garey, and Ralph W. Hood Jr. When Evans Garey was in the United States working with Professor Ralph Hood Jr., of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga from September to December 2016, he was asked to edit a special section on religiosity in Indonesia.1 Evans then asked me, Johana whether he would take the challenge or not. I supported the idea. After Evans returned to Indonesia in January 2017, we planned to invite scholars from many Indonesian universities to develop the special section in March 2017. Participants in our preliminary meeting were eager to write the results of their studies on religiosity in Indonesia. We planned ahead of the dates in March 2017–June 2017 to send the rough drafts. The dates we set to complete the drafts were June 2017–March 2019. It took a long time to compile the drafts. In a little bit more than two years, we have been on the way to completing the special section. Some of the studies were presented during the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Conference (SSSR) in Washington, D.C., on 13–15 October 2017. We met Professor Hood, Jr., and presented the rough drafts of the articles. He gave us good feedback and suggested some more articles on the historical and sociological perspectives of religion in our country. Back home, we sent invitations to some scholars to comply with the request. Eventually, all articles were done as planned. Different dimensions of religiosity and spirituality (R/S) have been examined and documented (Hood, Hill, & Spilka, 2009). Nevertheless, scientific studies regarding R/S in Indonesia are relatively in the development stage. We believed that these studies give an essential contribution to amplify scientific studies of religion in Indonesia. As Koenig and Shohaib (2014) stressed that studies for religiosity in Muslim countries and particularly its impact on public 1  Author Note: Johana Endang Prawitasari and Evans Garey, Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana; Ralph W. Hood, Jr., University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Johana Endang Prawitasari Department of Psychology Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana, Jln. Tanjung Duren Raya No. 4 Jakarta Barat 11470 Indonesia. Email: [email protected].

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health as such is essential. Their statement was true since people in Indonesia are mostly affiliated with Muslim. After a significant earthquake hit Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on May 27, 2006, religion became the primary source of coping with disasters. We found that turning into more transcendental praying was calming in facing the calamity. Retaining the sorrow to the Supreme Being was one way to accept fully the loss of beloved ones and the belongings. Working together with their fellow community members, people started to develop their houses and social lives. Life after the natural disaster in the south side of Yogyakarta, including the social conflicts due to the perceived injustice on the aid distributions, was reflected using traditional play and knowledge. The reflection was called Panggung Gembira (Happy Stage), which was based on socio-drama (see PrawitasariHadiyono et al., 2009; Zaumseil, Schwarz, von Vacano, Sullivan, & PrawitasariHadiyono, 2014). Indonesia is a vast country with multi-religious society. Although known as the most prominent Muslim country in the world, Indonesia’s pluralism was commemorated widely. In the first part of this particular section, the articles focus on history, sociology, and psychology of multi-religions in Indonesia. Then, the second part is on the symbol, practice, dispute, and effort in understanding multi-religious in our country. Lastly, the third part is on the measurement of religiosity in Indonesia and empirical studies of religiosity among the students and disasters survival. Denni Boy Saragih wrote an overview of the history of religion in Indonesia. He started reporting the indigenous belief system and the blending of the coming of Hinduism and Buddhism in our history. Islam traders came and started to spread the religion using acculturation approach at that time. There was Wali Songo (Nine Holy Men) from the noble families who peacefully taught Islam, specifically in Java, the most populated and smallest island among the bigger islands such as Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Sumatera, and West Papua in Indonesia. In this article, Denni also described the coming of Christianity brought by the Dutch missionaries. From ancient times to nowadays, religion is part of the life of Indonesians. Sindung Haryanto described further about the history of religion in Indonesia from the sociological perspective. While Denni sketched the Wali Songo, Sindung started his essay by explaining in detail about these religious Sufi leaders who spread Islam combined with indigenous knowledge. He also explained about groups of Islam followers into various groups of people who were more adapted to Islam yet practicing indigenous belief system, and more puritan people who followed the Islam rituals every day. The first group was

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called abangan, and the second group was called putihan. Denni also mentioned these groups previously. Sindung also analyzed the current situation of Islam and the state. He included radicalism among the fundamental Islam followers as well as the issue of polygamy. At the end of his essay, Sindung wrote about the role of social media in affecting the spread of Islam in a more fundamental way that somehow created social conflict, and politically the religion was used to influence users. From the psychological perspective, Retno Hanggarani discussed the Religious Self of Indonesian people living in a place that is multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-language, and multi-religions. Retno presented who we are in the context of religiosity. She started her writing with a Javanese story presented in Javanese words and letters and sequence of the story that was meaningful to the human life experience. In this article, she presented the shadow puppet play or known as wayang. She wrote one famous story about Bimo, who was the second child of the Pandawa, from the story of Mahabharata, searched for himself. He found a miniature of himself who came from his ear when he was in the ocean searching for the true meaning of life. The name of his miniature self was Dewaruci, one of the gods in the story. From this fictional wayang story, she then described a dissertation on Chandra Jiwa written by an Indonesian psychiatrist who defended his thesis in 1956 in Leiden University, the Netherlands. In-depth in this article, Retno discussed the difference between Eastern and Western description of self, including religion and religiosity context in both countries. She ended her discussions mentioning the religions in Indonesia that were required to be announced by its citizens and its meaning in the context of the belief in one God. Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras presented his study on the content and the dynamic of comics series published in Bali, the most famous island in Indonesia. Interestingly, he discussed terms used to categorize the content of the comics narrated during the pre-Islamic period in the history of some Kingdoms long before the Islam traders and the Dutch came to the islands. He referred to Benedict Anderson’s concepts of political communications to explain the symbol used in the comics. The later was a prominent American Indonesianist. In his article, Leonard furthermore analyzed and discussed the content of the comics. He narrated the dynamics of the interactions among the Protagonists of the story. Since the comics were produced in Bali virtually, where the majority of the people were Hindu, and again that the story happened during the pre-Islam era, the dynamic of the political communications on religions was covered. Leonard carefully used the narration of the comics to describe what happened in our country concerning the domination of Islam

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nowadays. He praised highly Benedict Anderson, who presented the egalitarian stance related to the status of our country as was called the developing country to the more developed countries in Europe and North America. Olivia Hadiwirawan, Denny Putra, and Evans Garey presented their study on Christian religion using clergymen and college students. They focused more on the construct of the measurement commonly used with college students in Indonesia and the meaning of the religiosity among the priests in the Christian churches and students of the same background. Qualitatively they collected the data using three focus group discussions (FGD). Two FGDs were done with Christian religious leaders. One FGD involved Christian college students, and their findings are presented in their article. They argued that the studies on religiosity in Indonesia using the quantitative measurement had to be validated using qualitative data. Their study found that there were six themes from the three FGDs. In a further study, they suggested that the themes had to be incorporated in the quantitative measurement when it had to be used in Indonesia. Fuad Nashori, Raden Rachmy Diana, and Bahril Hidayat explained about interventions in Islamic Psychology. They reviewed much research applying what they called interventions using Quran, the Holy book of Muslims, and Hadits as the basis of the methods and techniques in applying the religion-based psychology. Specifically, they divided two versions of interventions. One was pure Islamic versus therapy, and the other one was called ‘integrative intervention’ in which another psychological intervention was incorporated in the version. Variety of techniques that used rituals were claimed to reduce much different physical illness and stress-related complaints. Those techniques included listening to the Quran and the rituals of worshipping in their daily prayers. Other techniques were related to moral values in Islamic psychology. The most studied was gratitude. The interventions in Integrative Islamic approach used a combination of Islamic Psychology and other psychological interventions. Other approaches, correctly, were using worship and moral-based therapies. The authors added their discussions on the Islamization of knowledge. Some international scholars in Islamic psychology were referred to in their analysis. In this case, the state of the art of the intervention approaches was described. Some of the techniques were again being reviewed using Quran verses. To gain evidence that those who were searching for the truth as well as scientific approval, the studies used qualitative and quantitative approaches. To support the evidence that the interventions were effective, mostly they used non-randomized pre-test and post-test design. Their experiments were used on those techniques for specific complaints in some physical illnesses. Moreover, the limitation of those studies was mostly on the limited number of subjects being

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studied. To overcome that weakness, the authors suggested to upscale the studies in various groups of subjects and subject matters. Nina Mariani Noor described Muslim women who organized an interfaith dialogue with women from other religions. The purpose of this organization was to understand each other from different religions as well as other issues related to their children. She named the community Srikandi Lintas Ilmu (SRILLI). Srikandi is an important woman soldier figure in wayang, the shadow puppet plays story. Using a questionnaire and an in-depth interview, she studied this group. She found that in the dialogue, Muslim women from different schools learned much deeper about their religion, including how to explain the rituals when asked by women from other religions. Nina analyzed the findings of this study using some references related to religions in women’s issues. She concluded that women were more religious and applying the rituals more diligently and firmly. The SRILLI community was a famous venue and forum for women from different main religions in Indonesia to communicate their faith and their children-related issues. Therefore, women in this group had a better understanding of each religion, specifically Islam, that the community members may become the sponsor in the interfaith dialogue in Indonesia to prevent the potential horizontal social conflict. Anindito Aditomo presented his study on the epistemology of science and religion. In this study, he discussed how the subjects perceived the status of science and religion in their lives. If they could combine both was the central question in his study. Using college students as his subjects, he did a survey using the Internet to gather the data from the science and social science departments of one university in one of the metropolitan cities in Indonesia. Subjects were Christians and Muslims. Other religions were excluded. He used a nominal scale in collecting the data on what he used the term ‘epistemic cognition’. Using metrics to describe the more scientific and specific issues, he put the categories into ‘religious content (neutral and loaded)’ and ‘domain (social-psychological and biological)’. In-depth, he analyzed the findings into how ‘epistemic cognition’ influenced the way students thought related to science and religion. He found that it was not easy for the students to separate between the scientific issue like the theory of evolution or the religious belief of creation in human development. Religious students believed more on what the scripture in their holy books said on creation than the evolution of the human kind. The implication of this study is the teaching of science in a way to stimulate the students to see the truth from many different angles. Anindito suggested using science to gain knowledge and to use religion as a moral standard in applying science.

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A statistical model in constructing and validating Indonesian psychological scale named the Religious Hope Scale (RHS) was presented by Evans Garey, Ngadiman Djaja, and Ralph W. Hood, Jr. They evaluated the scale using Indonesian college students whose religion was mostly Protestants. There was a small percentage (less than 15%) of students whose religion was Buddhist, Catholic, Hindu, Muslim, and Confucian. Using the Item Response Theory, they analyzed results of the uni-dimensionality of the RHS that the first author was constructing. Instead of using simpler classical item analysis, the RASCH statistical model was incorporated in the data analysis. They concluded that the new psychological scale of RHS was valid and reliable enough to be used to describe Indonesian college students’ uni-dimensionality of hope in their religious experience in their daily lives. The conclusion was that the study needed to include more Islam representative samples as this religion had significant followers in Indonesia. Petrayuna Dian Omega and Ngadiman Djaja described Hope and Religious Orientation of college students in religion-based University and non-religionbased universities in Indonesia. The authors discussed their study in those two settings. Separately, they analyzed the data. They found that there were differences in the perception of hope and religiosity orientation among the students from those universities being studied. In religion-based university, the two dimensions of religiosity orientation were significantly predicted hope. In non-religion-based universities, it was only an internal dimension of religious orientation that was predicted hope. Females were higher on their internal religious orientation than males in both universities. Zarina Akbar described spirituality and religiosity among the survivors of natural disasters. She mentioned that religiosity is different from spirituality. Mostly, she reviewed the difference between spirituality and religiosity from many works of literature. Her study on the survivors of natural disasters who experienced traumatic events revealed the fact that they retained to God for whatever happened to them. She wrote that the experience in facing hard life during the disasters might become the source of ethical behavior among the humankind. They began to be kind to others. Helping each other in the community where they experienced disasters together was evident. They were more optimistic that God will alleviate the sorrow. Each author of this particular section independently wrote the chapter. We organized the compilation of their reviews of the literature and research results. We hope that this special section 1 of the scientific study of religion in Indonesia will be interesting to read by international scholars who are in the field of religiosity, specifically from the perspective of the history, sociology, psychology, measurement, and current studies in Indonesia.

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We thank you the contributors for making this special section 1 manifest and ready to be published even though the time frame was a little bit extended. For sure, we thank you our readers of this book. We hope that we will receive good reviews from them. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana who has supported us with funding to be used for meetings, proofreading, and editing the special section of scientific study of religion in Indonesia. Special thanks to Anita Novianty who has put a lot of effort in contacting contributors, preparing meetings and make sure that deadlines are met. Her input, as she also read all the articles, is greatly appreciated. References Hood, R. W., Jr., Hill, P. C., & Spilka, B. (2009). The psychology of religion: an empirical approach (4th ed.). New York: Guilford Press. Koenig, H. G., & Shohaib, S. A. (2014). Health and well-being in Islamic societies: Background, research, and applications. Cham Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/ 978-3-319-058733. Prawitasari-Hadiyono, J. E., Paramastri, I., Suhapti, R., Novianti, L. P., Widiastuti, T., & Rengganis, N. (2009). Social artistry, lokales wissen und konflikte nach einem erdbeben. Z Psychodrama Soziometr, 8, 277–295. Zaumseil, M., Schwarz, S., von Vacano, M., Sullivan, G. B., Prawitasari-Hadiyono, J. E. (Eds.). (2014). Cultural psychology of coping with disasters: The case of an earthquake in Java, Indonesia. New York: Springer.

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Chapter 4

Religions in Indonesia: a Historical Sketch Denni Boy Saragih Abstract Religion plays an important part in modern Indonesia. To understand its contemporary outlook, this chapter offers a historical sketch of the arrival and development of religion. It proposes that the process involves three important stages, namely syncretism, polarisation, and Islamisation. The complex process of the making of religions in Indonesia has distinctive features from their origins. Early in history, religion in Indonesia was a blend of animism and ancestor worship, but with the arrival of new religions there was syncretistic blend between the old and the new beliefs. Later on with the development of religious institution, there was polarisation between the purist and the syncretistic camps. This is true in general, but the divide between putihan (purist) and abangan (syncretistic) was particularly important in the case of Islam. The modern outlook of religion in Indonesia is greatly affected by the process of Islamisation and the shift from abangan majority toward putihan majority.

Keywords religion – Indonesia – islamisation – putihan – abangan

The purpose of this paper is to give a historical sketch of religions in Indonesia and to provide a necessary background to those with little familiarity with lived religions in contemporary Indonesia.1 In contrast to Western hemispheres, such as Europe and North America, religion is living and breathing in every aspect of Indonesian society. People live with religion in every stage of life, from beginning early childhood, entering adolescence, starting a family, becoming old, to death. Religion plays essential roles in education, politics, economy, and 1  Author Note: Denni Boy Saragih, Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Denni Boy Saragih School of Humanities and Social Sciences Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana, Jln. Tanjung Duren Raya No. 4 Jakarta Barat 11470 Indonesia. Email: [email protected]. © Denni Boy Saragih, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004416987_005 BY-nC 4.0 license. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the CC BY-CC © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004416987_005 Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

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cultural life. From primary school to university, religion is part of the education process; from banking systems to favourite music and entertainment, we can feel the atmosphere of religiosity; from political debate to cultural engagement, perspectives of religion plays an important role in raising issues and resolving differences. Indonesia, as a country with the world’s largest Muslim population, 87% Muslim population, 9.8% Christianity, including Protestant and Catholic, 1.6% Hindus, and 0.7% Buddhist (BPS, 2010, p. 10), Islam permeates every aspect of the country and its society; even in regions of non-Muslim majority (e.g., Bali, Papua, Minahasa, and North Tapanuli), the influences of Islam are still strongly felt. The main bulk of this paper sketches the interaction between society and religion in negotiating the interplay between beliefs and practices in the real world of Indonesia by outlining the process of how religions, particularly Islam, enter and permeate every aspect of the society. The first part will sketch the synthesis between the old and the new religions with the coming of Islam beginning in the twelfth to fourteenth centuries and the major coming of Catholic-Protestant in the sixteenth century. This part will highlight the negotiation between old mystics and new religions in society to form a new synthesis through a process of adhesion (Ricklefs, 2006). The second part will sketch the birth of various forms of Islam in Indonesia which can be broadly identified as putihan (the white ones) and abangan (cultural Islam), in other words between those who adhere to a Quranic Islam and those who prefer a synthesized Indonesian Islam (Geertz, 1976; Ricklefs, 2007). The third part will sketch the new outlook of Islam in which previous division becomes less apparent, i.e., putihan and abangan can still be identified, but the majority will have the outlook of putihan Islam while retaining the wisdom from contextualisation processes (Ricklefs, 2012). In several parts of this chapter, we will include a general observation of how non-Muslims understand and practice their religions in such a context. 4.1

Mystic and the Adhesion of New Religions

Before the coming of Islam, two religious expressions were shared in various parts of archipelago presently known as Indonesia. The first were indigenous religions, found in different regions and had a blend of animism, dynamism, and pantheism (Danandjaja & Koentjaraningrat, 1970, p. 50). In North Sumatra, there was local religion, the Parmalims, worshipping Debata Mula Jadi na Bolon (the Great Creator God) and spirits of past leaders (Sukamto, 2018, p. 10). In Kalimantan, we could find the Kaharingan, worshipping spirits and powers that grant streams of life to the people (Patji, 2010, pp. 43–44). In West Java,

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we could find Sunda Wiwitan, worshipping ancestor spirits, a creator god, and a god of destiny (Sucipto, Limbeng, & Maria, 2007, p. 37). These are examples of indigenous religions that have modern versions and continue to exist as a minority in contemporary Indonesia. From various artefacts and ancient sites, many other forms did not survive (Sukamto, 2018, pp. 15–18). Dutch historian Bernard H. M. Vlekke in his classic book on the history of Indonesia, Nusantara, describes that these religions share animistic and pantheistic beliefs that everything has spirit, and that among these spirits some are stronger than others and could exert significant influence in the human affair (Vlekke, 1977, p. 14). Furthermore, they believe that the spirit of the dead continues to exist alongside the living and play an essential role in guiding the community (Vlekke, 1977, p. 14). Some of these beliefs continue to exist despite being anathematised by mainstream religions in Indonesia, particularly by the official teachings of Islam and Christianity. Warning against believing in the spirits of the dead is common, but among ordinary folks, it is not abandoned. Among other things, these beliefs continue to gain currency in the form of honouring ancestors and the dead, belief in local ghosts, belief in the mystical power of trees and stones, awe and trembling in trance dance, and even popular ghost themes in TV’s soap opera. In contrast to Western culture, they are not yet demythologized from popular imagination. The other religious expression was a synthetic form of Hinduism and Buddhism. When precisely these religions first entered Indonesia is a matter of debate. However, there is evidence of official religions very early on, even before the birth of Islam in Arabia in the seventh century. The earliest record is the Hindu Kingdom Kutai from the fourth century in East Kalimantan (Pusponegoro & Notosusanto, 1993, p. 31). Around the fourth to sixth century there was also the Kingdom of Tarumanegara in Java (Munoz, 2016). In this era, religion and politics interacted to provide official support to each other. This interaction was done by legitimating kings and princes as the descendants of gods or sometimes their reincarnations (Sukamto, 2018, p. 27). Around the seventh century, the famous Buddhist Monk I-Tsing visited South Sumatra and found an ancient Buddhist university in the Kingdom of Srivijaya (Takakusu, 1896, pp. 10–11). By the time Majapahit, the largest Hindu-Buddhist kingdom in Indonesia history, rose to power in the fourteenth century the two religions had been negotiated into a synthetic form. The key to the synthesis was the political decision of the kings that the incorporation of new elements into the old religion was not considered heresy (Vlekke, 1977, p. 55). They did not force their subjects to follow a single form religion, in fact, the synthesis was seen as the proof of the mystical power of the kings who were able to join the

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two religions into one (Vlekke, 1977, p. 55). The two largest ancient temples in Indonesia, Borobudur and Prambanan, constructed consecutively as Buddhist and Hindu temples, stand as historical proof of the political acceptance of the religions by the ancient kings. In contemporary Indonesia, the Hindus’ narrative of Baratha Yudha and Ramayana continues to be part of everyday language and conventional wisdom. For example, in contemporary Indonesia, the figure of true lovers is not Romeo and Juliet, but Rama and Shinta from the story of Ramayana; the figure of powerful being is not Hercules, but Bima the second son of Pandava from the story of Baratha Yudha. Although now Hinduism mostly found in the Island of Bali, its narratives influence in much broader areas. Folks from different stripes enjoy historical interpretations of the stories in the various forms of storytelling, including Wayang (a popular form of puppet storytelling) and dramatic play. More importantly, they evoke wisdom and insights in people’s minds for decisions and guide in everyday situations. Parents, elders, and political leaders often cite examples from these stories to communicate an important point. Based on the available evidence, Islam had existed in Indonesia as early as the thirteenth century (Kersten, 2018, p. 14). By the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, based on burial sites, the religion had been part of everyday life (Kersten, 2018, p. 15). There is evidence that in the sixteenth century, Islam began to have a more dominant influence compared to Hindu-Buddhism. On the other hand, the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms in Bali continued without any significant influence from Islam. This case is mainly because of the geographical reasons (Lansing, 2005, p. 745), and the same reason that drove HinduBuddhists who sought religious sanctuary to move to Bali when Islam became more dominant in Java. In the past, scholars tended to assume that Islam only penetrated the surface of society and religious life in Indonesia, particularly in Javanese society. It was proposed that only in the northern coastal Sumatra and in the inland west Sumatra Islam penetrated deeper into society. For example, the works of Clifford Geertz (Religion of Java) and Robert R. Jay (Religion and politics in rural Central Java) both proposed that Islam only thinly penetrated the religious life of the Javanese (Geertz, 1976; Jay, 1963), while the essential worldview was still that of Hindu-Buddhism. The proposal lacks an understanding of the uniqueness of Indonesian way of Islam where it does not necessarily conform to the stereotype of “the intense moralism, the rigorous concern with doctrine, and the intolerant exclusivism” (Geertz, 1976, p. 160). Islam came in various ways, mainly from Arabia, but also through India and China (Johns, 1980, p. 164). One of the distinctive features of these arrivals was a peaceful adoption of Islam by

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the society in various adhesions and adaptations. There are many proposed explanations for this phenomenon, but one that gains more and more agreement among researchers is the vital role of Sufism. According to this thesis, from the birth of Islam to its coming to Indonesia, there was enough of a period of development of the various schools of Islam, and the one that was influential in Indonesia was Sunni-Shafiʾi with a strong tradition of Sufism. Merchants who spread Islam in Indonesia aimed for both successful trading and spiritual enlightenment (Kersten, 2018, p. 17). They carried with them certain flexibility and creativity in their interpretation of Islam concerning the local customs. This condition sits comfortably with traditional and oral self-explanation of many Muslims in Indonesia that the earliest local missionaries of Islam were holy men (Wali Songo, the Nine God’s Emissaries). To date, the largest population of Islam in Indonesia is that of traditional Indonesian Islam that is more peaceful and receptive to different religious experiences and beliefs. M. C. Ricklefs’s Mystic Synthesis in Java examines various literature of Javanese Islamic mystics that provide evidence for assimilation of Islam into a deeper layer of belief system and lived religion during the fourteenth to early nineteenth centuries (Ricklefs, 2006). In seventeenth-century Java, Sultan Agung, the greatest among kings of the Kingdom of Mataram (the most magnificent Islamic Kingdom ever existed in Java), began a politically-backed reconciliation process between Islam and Hindu-Buddhism, a process that was continued by his later descendant, Pakubuwana II in the eighteenth century (Ricklefs, 2014, p. 410). Because Sufism was able to provide spacious room for religious adaptation, the synthesis was in harmony with the previous adaptation of Hindu-Buddhism with indigenous religions. There were several significant achievements in this process. The first was, sociologically; it helped Javanese to adopt a new religious identity (Ricklefs, 2014, p. 411). The people were slowly attuned to the conviction that being Javanese was very close to being a Muslim. Islam was not considered as a foreign and imported (Arabic) religion, but a genuinely local religion. Second, between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, there was evidence that the five pillars of Islam were becoming more and more commonly observed (Ricklefs, 2006, p. 204). The five pillars: confession of faith, daily prayers, alms, Ramadhan fasting, and pilgrimage to Mecca, become part of everyday life, though for economic and transportation reasons not many were able to fulfill the pilgrimage to Mecca (Ricklefs, 2014, p. 411). However, by the early nineteenth century, it was reported that many villages had an ulama (religious leader) who managed to make a pilgrimage to Mecca (Ricklefs, 2014, p. 411). Thirdly, the form of Islam during this period continued to honour the reality of local spirits and old gods in guiding the

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community and in deciding for political, social, and economic purposes. While practicing the Islamic five pillars, people continued to revere semi-deity figures from local legends such as Ratu Kidul, the Queen of South Java See, Ruler of Lawu Mountain, spirits of villages, caves, trees, lakes and valleys, and also various figures from Hindu-Buddhism legends (Ricklefs, 2014, p. 412). Although the mystic synthesis was a predominant form only in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it continues to exist in the present day. Explanations for events and incidents in localities, e.g., mountain eruptions and earthquakes, often invoked the roles of these figure as part of the local belief system. They are still real figures in the religious imagination of many. At the same time, they are also a hotly-debated subject concerning attempts of religious purification from syncretistic practices. 4.2

Polarization of Religions

Around the thirteenth century, there was a record of the existence of Christianity in Baros, North Sumatra (Aritonang & Steenbrink, 2008, p. 5). Some suggest that Christianity arrived in Indonesia as early as the seventh century, but evidence for this is not very convincing (Aritonang & Steenbrink, 2008, p. 6), nevertheless at around the fourteenth century there was a record for the existence of Christianity in Java, South Sumatra, and North Sumatra. These are a minority report to the significant coming of Christianity in later centuries. Between sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Christianity arrived in Mollucas, Minahasa, and Sangihe-Talaud, and in the nineteenth century, it arrived in Bataks in Sumatra (Aritonang & Steenbrink, 2008, pp. 23, 529). Christianity did not penetrate society as well as Islam, and it only exists in some regions of Indonesia, such as North Sumatra, Moluccas, Minahasa, and Papua. The close connection between Christianity and Dutch colonization tarnished its reputation as the religion of the foreigner. Nevertheless, during the flourishing of independent movement in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, most of the Christian leaders opted to support independent national movement and turned their backs on their spiritual brothers, the Dutch. Because of their strong allegiance to the independent movement, they were able to persuade the founding fathers to make a concession and to form a nation for all religions and not an Islamic state (Latif, 2011, pp. 83–84). Indonesia as we know it today is neither an Islamic nor secular nation, but a political compromise between religious and secular systems, a country that is not based on religion but where religion plays an essential role in government and politics.

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1830 turned Java officially into a Dutch colony, and most people underwent a truly colonial experience (Ricklefs, 2014, p. 412). In this context, Islamic reform movements spread and many middle-class Muslims were attracted to the notion of purer Islam and its incentive for an independent movement or war against the foreigner. Furthermore, as Indonesian economy grew, many were able to travel to Arabic countries, to fulfil hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca), and to connect with Islamic centres in the Middle East (Ricklefs, 2014, p. 412). One significant development during this period was the blooming of many religious schools (pesantren), and the students of the school were beginning to be called the white ones (putihan). For example, they wore white clothes and aspired to observe a pure form of Islam in contrast to traditional folks who were mostly syncretistic in their beliefs (combining elements of Islam and Hindu-Buddhism; Ricklefs, 2014, p. 412). Geographically, the locations of these movements were mainly in coastal areas and cities. In this period, there were a growing number of preachers who condemned local spirits and mysticism. They forced people to replace syncretism with Sunni orthodoxy. In reaction to the orthodoxy movement, many people, mainly those from the agrarian districts, rejected the form of Islam that discarded traditional wisdom. Because they were mostly farmers and workers who dealt with red/brown soil, the term that was used for them was abangan, meaning red or brown, and was formerly a term of derision of the putihan camp (Ricklefs, 2007, p. 84). However, later on, the term was received with pride and came to mean a different way of being Muslim during the nineteenth century. The development of the group abangan continued to be an essential process, and they created a distinct identity and in the early twentieth century spread across the island and became the majority Islam in Java (Ricklefs, 2007, p. 103). Strong Islamic identity and strict observant of the five pillars of Islam became more and more the signs of putihan, while abangan was less strict in these two and the only group that indeed held to the synthesis of Islam and local beliefs, particularly belief in spirits and semi-divine figures (Ricklefs, 2007, p. 104). The difference between putihan and abangan was significant in the early twentieth century as these two forms found its way into polarising institutions and political aspirations (Ricklefs, 2014, p. 413). The difference between ways of being Islam then became more important than social class, e.g., between those of the peasant and those of the priyayi (nobleman), and between those from different economic backgrounds as compared to different Islamic expressions. Around the same time, Christianity began to flourish in Java and other areas in Indonesia. A former student of the Islamic school and a charismatic leader Kyai Sadrach Surapranata (c. 1835–1924), led the most successful

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proselytization among Javanese (Ricklefs, 2007, p. 114). His method sparked off an intense public debate with Islamic religious leaders, but the distinct approach that differentiates him significantly from Dutch missionaries was his incorporation of Javanese culture as part of the faith rather than viewing it as heathen practices (Ricklefs, 2007, p. 116). He used the name Ratu Adil (Javanese saviour) for Jesus Christ, kept circumcision according to Islamic tradition, called the church Masjid (mosque), and separated the seats of male and female in worship (Ricklefs, 2007, p. 115). During his time, around 6,200 people were converted to Christianity, the most significant number ever during the period. This development was problematic both to Muslim and to the Dutch. During the late nineteenth century, many churches were burned by Muslims, and often Christians were driven out of their villages. At the same time, his method was suspect to the Dutch officials. Sadrach’s incorporation of Javanese culture into Christian faith provided a competing, but accepted model that being a Christian did not contradict to being a Javanese. The model of faith that he promoted later greatly influence the way Catholics and Protestants contextualized their religions in Indonesia. The development nevertheless added more polarisation into the society; as such, during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, society in Java was greatly polarised according to religious sects and social aspirations. 4.3

Contemporary Outlook: Islamising Society

From the period of the early twentieth century to the present day, we can see that Islam in Indonesia has become less and less abangan. Three crucial events shape this landscape. The first was Indonesian independence in 1945. During this early independent period, there was a sharp polarisation between the religions. With political instability during the first thirty years of independence, the society underwent great turmoil while the first presidency experimented with a possible synthesis of religion, Communism, and nationalism. This condition turned out to be a political disaster. Abangan took its home in nationalism and Communism parties, while putihan took its home among Islamic parties. The period of social instability ended abruptly with a national tragedy of 1965, or what is known as the Revolution Day of 30 September. This second event was a complicated one, but during this period the Communist Party was dissolved, and hundred thousands of its members were killed in historical chaos that gave birth to the New Order regime under Soeharto. With the new regime, religion was entirely on the watch of the government and

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became a tool of social-political control (Ricklefs, 2012, p. 221). In the aftermath of communism disbandment, the opposition of abangan to Islamisation took a different route in which many of them turned to Hinduism, Buddhism, and surprisingly even many more were converted into Christianity, e.g., a study found that from the period of the ‘60s to ‘80s the members of five church denominations grew drastically over 220 percent (Ricklefs, 2012, p. 142). In this era of abangan form of religiosity had no means of expression and was sociologically and politically weakened. On the other hand, putihan became the primary expression of Islam, but at the same time, it grew in various directions while entirely under the control of educational and developmental programs of the New Order with a strict interpretation of Pancasila, the five basic principles of the Indonesian Constitution (Ricklefs, 2014, p. 414). Other religions were also forced to conform to the New Order program, and when it was necessary, the government might take part in the election of the leaders within the organized religion. The third event that shaped the landscape of modern Indonesia was the Reform in 1998, where civil society with the back-up of politicians and military powers toppled down the Soeharto regime. In contrast to Soeharto’s era, religion made a significant comeback and became genuinely prominent in politics and society (Hefner, 2013, p. 194). Furthermore, some forms of radical Islam became very active. This era shaped the present situation of Indonesia in which one of the main features is what Ricklefs termed as “an Islamising Society” (Ricklefs, 2012, pp. 274–317). Islamic actors came into prominence to replace the role of the military and become a dominant voice in the public sphere. The Council of Indonesian Ulama, also known as MUI (Majelis Ulama Indonesia), can issue Fatwas (Islamic Edicts) that have a substantial effect on the society as a whole. Islamic militants became very active and gained support from MUI, and often dominated the news media, enjoying the freedom of press policy (Hefner, 2013, p. 194). Islamic parties of various stripes gained available supports as religion and politics very much intertwined in the society as a whole. What follows is an outline of three examples in which the influence of religion has reshaped the outlook of modern Indonesia. Firstly, in popular culture, religiosity became part of contemporary lifestyles among the young generation (Ricklefs, 2012, p. 296). Religion is not perceived as a tedious affair and it is common to read T-shirts that claim that studying religion is fun, and Qurʾan ngaji (traditional studies) is a cool thing. In high schools, many join religious groups to study Islamic teaching and spirituality. The same can be said of Christianity and other religions. Many state universities have Christian groups that worship in the campus and study the Bible as

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part of their co-curricular activities. Some Buddhist temples open a kind of Sunday school for young people to deepen their understanding of Buddhism. Much popular music group promotes Islamic piety, and some of them are inspired by Sufism in their lyric composition (Ricklefs, 2012, p. 297). Almost all TV stations have some sort or religious programs that are routinely aired. Many favourite preachers rise into national celebrity where people from nonIslamic religions also listen to their spiritual encouragement, especially when it is enriched by popular psychology. During Ramadhan, the fasting season, religious teachers might be swamped with invitations to deliver religious teaching to groups of people, from woman groups, office groups, and local-area groups to even ethnic-based groups. So popular are these religious groups that they can put pressure on major Islamic organisations such as Nahdatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah. Besides, it is interesting to note that favourite teachers in these groups often become strong candidates for political offices. Also, these informal religious groups become so influential in society and social media, especially in big cities, that the government tries to require the qualifications for religious preachers. Secondly, in the business arena, Islamic-style commerce has been blossoming. Bank Muamalat, which uses the shariʾa system, was established in 1991 and became a prevalent business model that many traditional banks start to open a sister company using the model (Ricklefs, 2012, p. 299). In the marketing world, many companies use religion as their promotional tools. Big companies in tobacco industries, automotive, and telecommunication make use of religious duties, such as a pilgrimage to Mecca, to attract shoppers for their new products. Books and religious publications are also part of the growing industry. Novels and children stories that include religious teachings in their content have become very popular, and people spend a considerable amount to buy these kinds of books. Some radical groups try to pressure the business world to follow Islamic seasons such as closing night entertainment and forbidding alcoholic beverages during the fasting season. It is common that the groups act like shariʾa police that carry out a routine street raid to ensure market place respect Islamic teaching and practice, e.g., during Ramadhan all shops must not sell alcoholic beverages, and during the Christmas season, Muslim workers must not be forced to wear attires or symbols that are in any way related to Christmas. Thirdly, concerning woman and Islam, there is a growing acceptance of polygamy in society. During the New Order Era, many people aspired to make monogamy an ideal practice, and Soeharto himself exemplified a model of husband with only one wife. After the reform, the desire to accept the Islamic

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license to have more than one wife grew in popularity. Some prominent religious preachers showed on TV and social media that it is possible to practice polygamy and to have a happy family. Islamic dress is also trendy. While some interpret jilbab (hijab) as intended for modesty, in contemporary Indonesia, it becomes part of world designers, and many famous designers offer their trendy and fashionable jilbab products (Ricklefs, 2012, p. 293). The change in perception of religious dress has rapidly unfolded in the last twenty years. A striking example is female students at Gadjah Mada University, a famous state university in Jogjakarta, whereas in the 1970s those who wore jilbab was less than 3%, and in the early 2000s, the number was 60% (Ricklefs, 2012, p. 293). The trend is part of the development in which many actresses, models, and famous socialites wear jilbab in a way that combines piety and fashion, and show that being religious does not prevent them from being beautifully trendy. In this context, non-Islamic religions are also flourishing. They have their own cultural and religious expressions, but they do not have a separate business, music or dress culture that form a sub-culture of the society. Buddhism made its presence through new temples in cities and active humanitarian works. Hinduism is still the main religion in Bali and shapes the culture of the society as an open, friendly and hospitable for tourism. Bali represents Indonesia in some ways to the world as a symbol of a hospitable nation. Christianity, for a short period in the post-Soeharto era, managed to form a few political parties but they were later dissolved because they failed to meet the electoral threshold (previously 2%, but in the latest election it is raised to 4%). In contrast to Islamic organisations, most religious institutions are not affiliated to the political party. Christian politicians mostly join nationalist parties and involve themselves in national affairs within the platform of nation-building and pluralism. Mystical synthesis in all religions are increasingly challenged on different fronts of religious institutions, sometimes on the ground of original religious teaching, and at other time based on scientific discovery. While non-Muslim is only around 12% of Indonesia’s population, in general, they enjoy the freedom and independence to practice their faiths and religious duties. 4.4 Conclusion The purpose of this chapter is to offer a historical sketch of the arrival and growth of major religions in Indonesia. It is part of a recurrent feature that old and new religions are negotiating everyday existence in a dynamic that is

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more and less peaceful. Synthesis and purification are also part of the process. It achieves different forms of Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, and Buddhism that continue to show the characteristics of the original but are also creatively contextualized in conversation to achieve a new synthesis. Islam nevertheless is the majority, and it was achieved through synthesis with the local beliefs, which later on was challenged by reformist Islam. In these processes of the political situation, the decisions made by the kings or the presidents play essential roles in the contemporary situation of religion in Indonesia. We can note two forms of Islam, putihan, and abangan, and in the last fifty years, putihan has become the majority of Islam and composes up to 80–90% of Indonesian Muslims. Nevertheless, the wisdom of abangan Islam continues to exert its influence through the appreciation of traditional Muslim of mystical Sufi experience and its interactions with Hindu-Buddhism tradition. In the contemporary outlook, Indonesia is characterised by an Islamising process in the area of popular culture, economy, and family. In other areas, religion also plays important roles that cannot be underestimated. As a modern country with a population of more than 260 million, Indonesia shows little signs of secularisation, and religion will continue to play an essential role in society. This situation has had no signs of change in the last fifty years and possibly will remain so. References Aritonang, J. S., & Steenbrink, K. (2008). A history of Christianity in Indonesia. Leiden: BRILL. BPS. (2010). Kewarganegaraan, Suku Bangsa, Agama dan Bahasa Sehari-hari Penduduk Indonesia. Jakarta: Badan Pusat Statistik. Danandjaja, J., & Koentjaraningrat. (1970). Penduduk Kepulauan Sebelah Barat Sumatra. Jakarta: Penerbit Djambatan. Geertz, C. (1976). The religion of Java. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Hefner, R. W. (2013). Islamization and the changing ethical imagination in Java. Indonesia, 96(1), 187–202. Jay, R. R. (1963). Religion and politics in rural Central Java. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Southeast Asia Studies. Johns, A. H. (1980). From coastal settlement to Islamic school and city: Islamization in Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and Java. Indonesia: the making of a culture (pp. 163– 182). Canberra: ANUU, Research School of Pacific Studies. Kersten, C. (2018). A history of Islam in Indonesia. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

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Lansing, J. S. (2005). Balinese Religion. In L. Jones (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd Edition (pp. 745–749). Farmington: Thompson Gale. Latif, Y. (2011). Negara paripurna historisitas, rasionalitas, dan aktualitas Pancasila. Jakarta: Gramedia Pustaka Utama. Munoz, P. M. (2016). Early kingdoms of the Indonesian archipelago and the Malay peninsula. Singapore: Editions Didier Millet. Patji, A. R. (2010). Etnisitas & pandangan hidup komunitas suku bangsa di Indonesia: bunga rampai ketiga studi etnisitas di Kalimantan Barat dan Kalimantan Selatan. Jakarta: Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia. Pusponegoro, M. D., & Notosusanto, N. (1993). Sejarah nasional Indonesia. Jakarta: Balai Pustaka. Ricklefs, M. C. (2006). Mystic synthesis in Java a history of Islamization from the fourteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. Norwalk: EastBridge. Ricklefs, M. C. (2007). Polarizing Javanese society: Islamic and other visions, c. 1830–1930. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press. Ricklefs, M. C. (2012). Islamisation and its opponents in Java: A political, social, cultural and religious history, c. 1930 to the present. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press. Ricklefs, M. C. (2014). Rediscovering Islam in Javanese history. Studia Islamika, 21(3), 397–418. Sucipto, T., Limbeng, J., & Maria, S. (2007). Studi tentang religi masyarakat Baduy di Desa Kanekes, Provinsi Banten. Jakarta: Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata, Direktorat Jenderal Nilai Budaya Seni dan Film, Direktorat Kepercayaan Terhadap Tuhan Yang Maha Esa. Sukamto. (2018). Perjumpaan Antarpemeluk Agama di Nusantara. Jogjakarta: Deepublish. Takakusu, J. (1896). An introduction to I-tsing’s record of the Buddhist religion as practised in India and the Malay Archipelago. Oxford University, Oxford. Vlekke, B. H. M. (1977). Nusantara: A history of the East Indian archipelago. New York: Arno Press.

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Chapter 5

The Sociological Context of Religion in Indonesia Sindung Haryanto Abstract As the largest archipelagic state in the world, Indonesia has a unique and diverse religious landscape in various aspects. The spread of religions in the country that assimilate with local culture results in the difference of religious life in society. Religious politics run by the government and the rapid development of information technology have increased the complexity of relations between various institutions related to religion. Thus, in this context, the religious phenomenon is often a challenging field to study. This paper aims to examine religious life in Indonesia from a sociological perspective by discussing four main sub-themes: socio-historical development, the relationship between the state and religion, religious-based social conflict, and the impact of information technology on religious life in Indonesia.

Keywords religion – sociological context – Indonesia

Since the Enlightenment Era, Western researchers, including prominent sociologists Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber, have made predictions about the decline in religion’s role for human life due to modernization.1 However, the development of religion in the past few decades is in contradiction with their predictions. In many cultures, including in secular and atheist countries, religion now plays a central role. Changes in religious demographics and religious social movements in various countries can serve as indicators for the development of religion. As the world’s largest Muslim country, Indonesia has undergone significant changes in religious life. This paper aims 1   Author Note: Sindung Haryanto, University of Lampung. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Sindung Haryanto, Department of Sociology Faculty of Social and Political Science, Bandar Lampung Indonesia 35145. Email: sindungharyanto@ yahoo.co.id.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden,Ralph 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004416987_006 W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

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to examine various aspects of religious life in Indonesia viewed from the sociological perspective. 5.1

Socio Historical Aspect of Religion in Indonesia

As a multicultural country where the world’s significant religions exist, live, and develop, Indonesia has a long history of the dynamics of religious demographics of its population. Animism and dynamism were Indonesia’s fundamental beliefs far before the religious influences outside Indonesia. Hinduism and Buddhism came under the influence of India from the beginning of the first century, and Islam has grown under the influence of Arabic traders engaging in commercial trades with some monarchs in the archipelago since the 13th century. The European missionaries brought Christianity and Catholicism during the Age of Imperialism in Indonesia. According to Crandall (2012, pp. 18, 155), Islam has developed in Indonesia, especially in the Kingdom of Aceh on the island of Sumatra. Islam spread across Java in the 14th century and other islands in Southeast Asia, including coastal areas of Peninsular Malaysia. In Indonesia, Hindus and Indian Buddhists’ migrations to Java and Bali occurred in the early first century, which were marked by the temple constructions. Bali is the country’s only region with a major religion of Hinduism. However, Hinduism and Buddhism are minority religions in Indonesia. The majority of Indonesia’s population are Sunni Muslims. Indonesia, especially the remote areas of Java, has various beliefs, thoughts, and groups of faith. There are 187 groups of beliefs in Indonesia, and most of them are in Central Java, with 53 groups of faith (https://nasional.kompas .com/read/2017/11/09/12190141/; accessed February 21, 2018). There are at least two reasons as to why the government did not recognize the sect of beliefs as a religion during the New Order Era. First, groups of faith emerged as a reaction to the established religions that ignore the need for mystical expression and experience (Mulder, 2001). Second, the development of kebatinan or Javanese faith is a reaction to modernity with all its impacts. Modernization has the consequence of degenerating morality and the original of Javanese culture and values, so mysticism wanted to restore these high values (de Jong, 1984). The issue of beliefs in Indonesia still faces problems and challenges such as no recognition by the state, in the workplace and social interaction (Mahestu, 2018). The process of spreading religions, especially Islam in Indonesia, is a unique phenomenon. It was practically inseparable from the roles of Walisongo (the Nine Saints), who used a humanistic approach to embrace religious values in the community who at that time adhered to various traditional beliefs. This

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approach succeeded in Islamizing the archipelago without encountering substantial resistance. Nevertheless, there are variations in understanding Islam among the regions as a consequence of the interaction between local culture and Islam. A study conducted by Ali (2011) found the differences in Islamic practices between Javanese and Sulawesi communities. In terms of the religious spectrum, Javanese society is more plural than Sulawesi. The Islamic community in Java has adopted Animism, Hinduism and Buddhism, and Islam into their cultural systems. Missionaries tried to accommodate the local culture on their mission of spreading religions. In Sulawesi, the accommodation of local culture into religion is relatively low. Javanese culture is more open and tolerant towards cultural differences, while Sulawesi shows a legalistic tendency. Dutch historians de Graaf and Pigeaud (1989) stated that the entry of Islam into various ethnic groups in Indonesia did not take place in the same way. The peaceful spread of Islam without any cultural chaos represents cultural strategies used by the propagators of religions or missionaries. According to Johns (1961), Sufism was an essential element for the spread of Islam in Indonesia. Sufis teach patterns of religious doctrine with a personal approach. Sufi is an orthodox Islamic community that has a high moral spirit with a willingness to accept and use elements of Indonesian culture. It offers sound advice about encouraging goodness and preventing evil, also known as Amar Makruf Nahi Mungkar. They also oppose non-Muslim rulers based on the Holy War to gain victory. The Sufis played their roles in spreading Islam. Benda (1962) says that the Sufis were from India. Islamic expansion in Indonesia started taking place from the palaces or kingdoms to the ordinary people. The Sufis’ role in spreading Islam then gains great appreciation from the community, and even then it is kept alive in various traditions in the form of respect for their tombs. The Sufis’ tombs are still frequently visited by people who consider them holy tombs. A study conducted by Puspitasari, Djunaedi, and Putra (2012) shows that in Kampung Luar Batang (Jakarta) there is a Muslim missionary tomb from Hadramaut (Yemen) named Al Habib Husein bin Alaydrus, which is visited by many pilgrims. Activities such as religious ritual, traditional customs, and business are combined uniquely around the tomb. This tradition has been preserved since the Colonial Era. Similar traditions are also found in other cities such as Maqom Habib Noh in Singapore, Maqom Habib in Siak Jambi, Penyengat Island in Tanjung Pinang Bintan, Demak, Cirebon, Madura, Gresik, and Surabaya, as well as in Malaysia such as Melaka and Penang. These places were historically part of the Arabic trade routes during British and Dutch colonies in Southeast Asia. Historically, South Arabic traders developed trade relations with communities around the Persian Gulf and the Indonesian archipelago. According to Hellman (2013), not only is

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the tradition of pilgrimage to the Sufis’ holy tombs attaining personal goals, but also mounting resistance and subversion against dominant political and religious leadership in Indonesia. There was a difference in the way and process of spreading religions because of the influence of local culture, allowing the development of a religion over time. The Qurtuby’s study in 2013 shows the diversity in patterns and dynamics of Islamization, transformation, and religious conversion in Java from Hinduism, Buddhism, Animism, and ‘Javanism’. This difference also occurred in the history of modern Java where there were socio-political forces supporting Islamization. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the Islamization process took place through Islamic boarding schools or religious schools, and economic structures. During the old order period, Islamization was carried out through the political parties’ mobilization, while in the New Order Era it was through school programs and Da‌ʾwah movements. Qurtuby’s (2013) study above also shows that institutions outside of religion; in this case, the state exerted its influence on the development of religion in the country. In the context of Indonesia as a pluralistic country, the interaction between Islamic values as the majority religion and other values becomes a necessity. Religious and secular values are combined to build a nation. Not only is Indonesia’s diversity of religions about quantity or number of religious followers but also the intensity of understanding religion, religious practices, and socialization between generations. In Javanese rural communities, Abangan group is represented formal Muslim, but they do not carry out Islamic Shariʾa such as five-time prayers, zakat (alms), fasting, and Hajj. This Abangan group has different characteristics from the Santri, or those who practice Islamic Shariʾa consistently. This reality is described by Geertz (1963) through his extraordinary work, ‘Abangan, Santri and Priyayi’ groups. The differences in characteristics between the groups reflect differences in understanding of Islamic values, which in turn lead to differences in religious practices. The reality of diversity is also relevant in the context of socialization of religious values among generations. Alimi’s study (2018) describes how people in Sulawesi teach religious values through storytelling which is considered to have a broad appeal and can be understood by various levels of society with different levels of doctrinal understanding. Storytelling can even construct Sharia, which theoretically becomes a discourse only for people with a certain level of religious knowledge. Thus, storytelling is easier to understand for ordinary people. The differences in understanding religion in society have negative consequences such as social conflict. The ideological conflict between Abangan and Santri has been occurring for a long time in rural Java. Abangan tends to be

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syncretic by combining cultural and Islamic values. The practice of syncretism, for example, is reflected in the Selametan ceremony, representing the human life cycle. In the Selametan ceremony, it is a combination between Hindu tradition and Islamic prayer using Arabic words cited in a Javanese accent. However, this ceremonial practice is not accepted by Santri, who purify Islamic teachings based on Prophet Muhammad’s teaching. A study by Sutiyono in 2010 describes the clash of Abangan (syncretic) cultures with puritan groups (Santri) in rural Java. Another phenomenon related to the spiritual reality in Indonesia is religious conversion. Religious conversion is inseparable from the state policy on religion. According to Qurtuby (2013), a massive wave of conversion to Islam occurred after the end of the movement of the Indonesian Communist Party. The government during the New Order era obliged every citizen to adhere to one of the official religions: Islam, Catholicism, Protestantism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Further, Confucianism also became the official religion of the country. Some people were gripped by fear if they did not adhere to one religion, being accused as Communists. This moment was used by Islamic scholars to offer Islam to Buddhist followers in the Besuki area. A study by Duncan in 2003 describes how the Tobelo community in Maluku islands was converted to Christianity peacefully. Other studies such as by Barnes (1995) shows that religious conversion had even taken place in colonial times. In the 17th century, the Lamakera community in Solor was Catholic, but after the Portuguese rebellion, they returned to Islam and allied themselves with the Dutch against the Portuguese. A study by Ali (2007) even shows that religious conversion has been going on since pre-colonial times. Chinese Muslims have been part of Indonesian society since before the Dutch colonialism. After Independence Day in 1945, many migrants and their descendants chose to settle in Indonesia and mingled with the local community. Therefore, there was ‘hybrid’ ChineseIndonesian culture, called Peranakan. For Chinese people, one way to assimilate into local and national communities was to adopt majority religion, i.e., Islam. Religious conversion can also be through interfaith marriage. After Indonesian independence, the religious landscape changed into various aspects. These changes include the relationship between the state and religion, the composition of religious demographics, the degree of religion, and religious expression. In terms of the relationship between the state and religion, the ideology of Pancasila requires the separation of religion and state in some issues. According to Steenbrink (2011, p. 294), the social role of religion is limited to activities related to personal religious practices such as marriage, religious ceremonies, marriage regulations, divorce, and inheritance law. Religion is not formally involved in political practice. The first precept of

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Pancasila, namely the Almighty God reflects the obligation of every citizen to believe in the oneness of God. Practices such as concern for the environment, the poor, economic development, community health, and social harmony, are shared concerns of all religions. The animist and traditional religions in some regions were not previously recognized as a religion. According to Keyes (1996), some animist groups in Kalimantan and Sulawesi declared their religious beliefs and practices. Eventually, they succeeded in convincing the government so that their religion was officially accepted and recognized. Subsequently, Protestant has also been recognized as an official religion and it is more attractive to peripheral communities who are now actively participating in the national economy. Howell’s (2001) study shows that Sufism, which is identical with the traditional rural sector, is still in its existence. The basis of rural, institutional, and classical Sufism, Pesantren and Tarekat remains intact and even shows signs of steady growth related to the adaptive change in structure, recruitment style, and membership. Ironically, at the top of economic development during the New Order Era, Sufism inspired economic activity in the urban middle class, a class that was most intensely involved in modernization and globalization. Sufism is part of a broader Islamic revival to date, characterized by elements of modern science and technology in religious propaganda texts. Changes also occur in religious practices. These changes take place due to changes in government policies as well as natural processes concerning the interaction of sociological factors in society. A study by Suada and Gelgel (2018) shows how the tradition of Masatia tradition in Hinduism, which was banned by the colonial government in 1908, transformed especially into the hair of Masatia. For the Balinese Hindu community, hair is considered the most sacred limb; hair on the head is a crown. As a result, Masatia transformation has involved Tatwa, deeds, ceremonies, and Upakara (offering tools). Another significant change in the relationship between religion and gender occurred in the Post-Colonial Era. According to Price (2008), empirically, individuals living in countries with colonial history are less egalitarian from gender ideology. This relationship occurs after controlling the level of development, democracy and the proportion of the Muslim population. Srimulyani’s (2007) study shows that the acceptance of female students in Islamic boarding schools is a significant breakthrough in the context of Islamic life in Indonesia. This progress leads to the unique provision of Islamic education which is gender segregated, although its level of practice depends on a leader of Pesantren. The prominent role of women in democratization is also a necessary change in the society. A study by Rinaldo (2014) explains that women can facilitate the manifestation of new agencies that are in line with the challenges of realizing

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the development of a more gender-equitable society. Pious Critical Agency (PCA) as a symbol of Islamic revival can attract resources from both religious and secular circles, simultaneously. Leaders of Fatayat and Rahima from the growing urban middle-class society are well-positioned to take advantage of social and political changes over the past 15 years. They train women in various regions to understand Islam, while they are also campaigning for ideas that safeguard women’s rights, equality, and religious pluralism. 5.2

Relationship between Religion and State

The discourse of relations between religion and state covers broad aspects. The aspects cover the philosophical foundation of relations between religion and state, state policies related to official religion, treatment of the state against minority groups/religions, religious affairs which are areas of state regulation, the way the state controls expression religious, and socio-economic impact on the relationship between religion and state—some aspects spark off intense debate. The debate is on the integration or separation of religious institutions from the state. European history before the Renaissance showed a close relationship between religion and the state. Meanwhile, the religious institutions functioned as tools for the political legitimacy of the ruler. However, the conflict relations began to occur when the scientific revolution shook Europe. At that time, new discoveries in the field of science turned out to be contrary to the doctrine of the church. Besides, intimate relations between religion and the state began to be ‘disrupted’ by the development of the idea of democratization. Furthermore, the relationship between the state and religion has a broad impact on people’s lives because the state has a strategic role in taking specific policies that have broad implications. A study by Fox and Tabory (2008), for example, showed that state support for religion was a structural factor that influences religious pluralism. The World Values Survey and the International Social Survey Program in 81 countries found that state regulation on religion significantly affected religiosity. Similarly, Buckley and Mantilla (2013) also found that religious regulation affected religiosity, with the state having much more capacities. According to Buckley and Mantilla (2013), attributes such as state capacity are highly correlated with the level of government religious regulation. However, if the development process increases state capacity and decreases individual religiosity, development can also have an impact on religious regulation through its impact on individual religiosity. On the other hand, using case studies in Indonesia, Buehler (2013) argues that Islamist

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groups are more influential than political parties in influencing policies and the direction of democracy. Previous studies conducted by Langohr (2001) and Freedman (2009) prove that Islamic organizations in Indonesia make a positive contribution to building democracy. Hamayotsu (2002) who conducted a comparative study between Indonesia and Malaysia concluded that ideological character has an impact on national development. Malaysia under the leadership of Mahathir has raised an anti-Western issue to mobilize Malaysian nationalism. The image of Islam that Mahathir wants to create is modern and progressive Islam. The studies above explain that the relationship between state and religion is complicated. Religion can be an independent variable, but at the same time, religion can be a dependent variable. The complexity of the relationship between the state and religion is confirmed by McGregor (2010). According to McGregor (2010), since the strengthening of the influence of modernization theory in the 1950s, religion occupies a marginal position due to increasing secularism. Religion is considered as something taboo and is outside the development discourse. Through his studies in Aceh, McGregor explored the importance of religion in development by tracking the network of development agencies operating in Aceh after the 2004 tsunami disaster. Reconstruction of sites that were considered sacred had difficulties or obstacles. In this sense, the ethical approach is essential. Thus, for more practical assistance, transnational development networks need to pay attention to local issues and priorities by involving religious institutions rather than continuing to promote the culture of secularism. The issue of secularism and democracy in the Western world is like two separate entities. There is a widespread assumption that democratization must be secular; therefore there must be a separation between religion and the state. According to Driessen (2010), this assumption, however, has no empirical basis. Using quantitative data from Grim and Finke (2006) and Fox (2006), Driessen (2010) argues that once the preconditions of core autonomy have been fulfilled, the further separation between the church and the state is not always related to the level of democracy of a country. Data shows that religion has a central role in the country’s political life with high levels of democracy and freedom. Safitri’s study (2010) shows the opposite effect, namely how state policies influence religious life. Some countries were to be sample such as France, Iran, and Indonesia. The result is that there are differences in the policy, for instance, about using headscarves for Muslim women in public spaces. Indonesia takes a neutral path in the use of headscarves for Muslim women, which is different from France, which forbids the practice, and from Iran, which requires women to wear hijab/headscarves.

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Some European countries currently face the problem of religious tolerance, which has an impact on the importance of reviewing the relationship between church and the state. The flow of migration from Muslim countries such as Turkey, Asian, and African countries in recent years has become a new phenomenon and complicated problem for European countries. According to Knippenberg (2006), the Netherlands, a very tolerant country and dominated by Calvinist Church, has experienced severe challenges when Muslim migration has had an impact on the rise of schools and mosques in the country. This impact is possible since the structure of state policies on allowing the establishment of schools and mosques is relatively easy. Eventually, the main Protestant church has failed to integrate immigrants in the Netherlands. The phenomenon of global terrorism adds to the issue of relations between religions and the state in the form of a new gap between Muslims and nonMuslims. According to Henkel (2006), religious landscapes in Germany changed from 1960, when Roman Catholics and Protestant Churches had lost many members, and new religious communities i.e., Turkish migrant workers, arrived. Germany is another example of a tolerant country where state policy allows small churches to coexist with two dominant churches that consider themselves Volkskirchen/the people’s church. The Volkskirchen principle was even introduced to East Germany despite being a minority Christian because of the strong influence of Communism for 40 years. When Muslim immigrants arrived, the country slowly changed its perception to immigrants who need time for migrants to be integrated. In the Indonesian context, the relationship between religion and the state is on the continuum between separate and religious domination over the state. Indonesia, as a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, declares itself not an Islamic state. According to Hosen (2005), Indonesia is also not a secular state, which is characterized by the refusal parliament for secularism which it sees as privatization or decline in the role of religion. The role of religion in public life does not imply that all political institutions are subject to a theocratic system. Based on Article 29 of the 1945 Constitution, religion has a role both in the social life of the community and the state. Seo (2012) also stated that the management of religion carried out by Indonesia was different from an Islamic state such as Saudi Arabia or a secular state like Turkey. According to Seo (2012), there are four regulations relating to the state’s attitude towards religion, namely the 1965 presidential decree on recognized religion, a joint ministerial decree on the construction of houses of worship in 1969 and 2006, the 1974 marriage law, and the 1978 ministerial decree on preaching activities. During the New Order Era, the government managed the

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religion by limiting religious practices, emphasizing more on issues related to aspects of state administration compared to spirituality. Further, a study by Seo (2013) examined the enactment of the 1974 marriage law, which prohibits interfaith marriage. This limitation shows that the state regulates everyday life such as love or marriage. Different religious couples find it difficult to get married, and the solution is that if one partner does not convert, marriage is legalized abroad. As a result, many couples choose to legalize their marriage in Singapore or Australia, which allows their marriage legally. A solution to convert to religion makes interfaith marriage a means of religious conversion in Indonesia. According to Crouch (2012), a draft marriage interfaith law is being produced as an effort to overcome the debate between Muslims and Christians, as well as in the Muslim community itself. This draft of the law was prepared based on the policies of the minister of religion and the MUI (Indonesian Ulema Council) fatwa. Changes in methods of religious regulation by the state relate to dynamics and debate regarding the source of relations between the government and religious authorities in Indonesia. Apart from marriage, another special issue that is also a concern for state regulation is sexuality. The primary debate that takes place in the public sphere is same-sex marriage. The debate has shifted directions from time to time. Blackwood (2007) divided it into three periods, namely the New Order Era until the 1990s, the period 1990–1998, and the Reform Era after the end of the Soeharto regime. During the Soeharto regime, Indonesia sought to control sexuality through gender equality. During the 1990s, Islamic discourse on state sexuality shifted in response to international pressure to support sexual rights and same-sex marriage. Then, at the end of the Soeharto regime in 1998, a conservative Islamic minority encouraged new laws governing sexuality and morality. During this period, the dominant discourse on sexuality shifted from normative gender to the idea of heterosexuality and marriage to regulate heterosexual marriage and criminalize various non-heterosexual sexual practices. The focus of religious regulation by the state is how the state treats minority groups or religions. This aspect is an essential benchmark for the level of religious tolerance. The more discriminatory treatments of the state against minority groups, the higher level of intolerance practices will be taken. Discriminatory treatment can be meted out by state institutions through their policies, organizations, and individuals. The issue of tolerance, however, is complicated in Indonesia where the majority of the population is Muslim. Discriminatory treatment against minority groups comes from differences in understanding the limits of tolerance itself. For some Indonesian Muslims, tolerance is limited to the area of human relations (muamalat) and not concerning God (Tauhid). For this group, the practice or actions of individuals that

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cause potential damage to the relationship between human and God, then it is prohibited (haram). Suwarno (2013), for example, identified some actions such as saying Marry Christmas by Muslims to Christians or praying together with other religions is prohibited. Similarly, the theological foundation is reflected in the actions of the MUI, which rejected the Ahmadiyah (Ahmadiyya) Muslim minority. According to Nasir (2014), the rejection originated from the strict interpretation of tolerance given by the MUI. This refusal, however, reflects the MUI’s ambiguous attitude towards democracy. On the one hand, the MUI has accepted several principles that are prerequisites for democratic societies and countries, such as equality before the law, good governance, human right protection, maintenance of public peace and security, and participation in fair elections. On the other, the MUI rejects the idea of pluralism. A study conducted by Muzakki (2010) describes how minority groups experience discrimination, even though the state has issued a policy in the form of a law promoting the spirit of equality. Ethnic Chinese Muslims are a minority group that has suffered a decline in population since the last three decades. Currently, there is only limited space for this minority group to articulate and express their social-political interests and identities. Even though the government issued a new Citizenship Law No. 12/2006, this group continues to experience discrimination. The law constitutionally guarantees equality in terms of citizenship status, but in practice, it does not eliminate the practice of discrimination at all levels of the bureaucracy. Consequently, the group adopted a humanistic approach that is working with faith-based organizations as a defensive mechanism against the possibility of anti-Chinese sentiment and discrimination and exploitation from both the local community and the state bureaucracy. A study by Duncan (2007) shows that regional administrations also take discriminatory actions against minority groups. Discrimination against minority groups produces different defensive effects and mechanisms among groups. Connolly’s (2009) study shows that Dayak tribes are adopting a religious conversion strategy of turning to Christianity to maintain their ethnic identity from the threat of their Muslim neighbors. Anthropological analysis generally describes this common objection to policies requiring conversion. It is different from research findings made by Prasojo (2011) in his study on the minority Dayak Kebahan group who maintained their ethno-religious identity as Muslims different from other groups. These two minority groups are often exploited as potential political mobilization resources. The decision to maintain ethno-religious identity is a bargaining strategy because in terms of prosperity level, the group has advantages over other groups. There are at least three reasons for defending themselves: 1) historical, socio-,

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and cultural attachments with other Dayak community groups; 2) inheritance identity that connects with the same religious community outside the region; and 3) ease of interaction with non-Muslim groups and Malay Muslim groups that have an impact on strengthening identity double. A study on minority groups shows that although minority groups have suffered discriminatory treatment from state policies and other groups in the community, each group took a different cultural strategy. Empirically, the dynamics of minority groups is a setting of separatist movements. According to Viartasiwi (2013), the practical level is not much under study. Society is not homogeneous, but surely there are minorities that have different aspirations and historical backgrounds. For example, Papuan Muslim groups have an equal identity with the majority of Indonesia’s population, but different from the majority of the Papuan population who are Christian. This group is often marginalized, but their political choices favor the majority of the Papuan population because they emphasize security issues. Gudorf’s (2012) study on Pentecost shows that state policies in the form of restrictions on foreign aid, proselytization bans, and permit requirements for the Forum for Religious Harmony/FKUB to build worship has an impact on the development of religion. State policies and treatment of minority groups are essential as current global issues and, at the same time, these become a benchmark for the maturity of a country’s democracy. Empirically, there have been discriminatory actions against minority groups in various countries in various forms with intensity. According to Sarkissian, Fox, and Akbaba (2011), theoretically, there are at least three critical factors why such discriminatory actions occur. Through their studies on predominantly Muslim countries using a dataset of Religion and State-Minorities (RASM), it was found that these three factors are structural, political, and ideological factors. Structural and political factors further explain why a particular minority group is more a target of discrimination than others, while, cultural factors explain why a minority group faces a bigger problem than other groups. Overall in all Muslim countries, there are differences in the level of discrimination. The following table shows Indonesia’s scoring position in terms of religious freedom. The value of religious freedom tends to be high (5/7), which means that the level of religious freedom in Indonesia is relatively low. Other characteristics of the issue include: religions in Indonesia tend to be regulated by the state, social rules tend to be high on religious life, government intervention in religion is relatively moderate, religious majority regulations/restrictions on the whole religion tend to be low, and discrimination against minorities tends to be low.

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The Sociological Context of Religion in Indonesia Table 5.1

Restriction on religious freedom scores for Indonesia

No. Religious freedom indexes

Score

1

5/7

2

3 4 5 6 7

8

79

Religious Freedom Scale, 1–7 (Low Is More Freedom) 2008 Freedom of Religion, CIRI Human Rights Data Project GRI: Government Regulation of Religion Index (0–10, Low Is Less Regulation) GFI: Government Favoritism of Religion Index (0–10, Low Is Less Favoritism) SRI: Social Regulation of Religion Index (0–10, Low Is Less Regulation) 2002 Religion and State Score (0–100, Lower Is Less Governmental intervention in Religion) 2002 Regulation and Restrictions on Majority Religion or All Religion (0–33, Lower Is Less Regulation) 2002 Religious Discrimination against Minorities (0–48, Lower Is Less Discrimination)

severe/​widespread government restriction on religious practices 6.5/10 7.6/10 9.7/10 45.22/100 6/33

14/48

Source: Lerner, 2013

Discriminatory treatment against minority groups in many cases has an impact on the development of radicalism. According to Sirozi (2005), in the Indonesian context, the outbreak of radicalism in the Reform Era was mostly caused by radical groups in the New Order Era that were under pressure. The Reform Era reviving the spirit of freedom is a momentum to consolidate political power, including playing a role in social, political, and religious dynamics. Historically, research by Aspinall (2008) and Galamas (2015) shows that radicalism has existed in Indonesia for a long time. The phenomenon of radicalism from time to time poses a threat to NKRI and Pancasila because this movement is contrary to the conditions of pluralism in Indonesia (Sulaiman, 2017). These radical Islamic groups are often subject to repressive actions for carrying on polemics over relations between the state and radical minority groups. Therefore, Hilmy (2013) states that the holistic approach needed in a framework of respecting human rights. This approach suffices from the upstream to

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downstream levels. The approach shall involve many stakeholders and adhere to human rights principles. Sociologically, the phenomenon of radicalism in Indonesia reflects the diversity of the political dynamics of Islam. The political dynamics of Islam are strongly influenced by the relationship between the state and religion (Islam). Woodward (1993) notes that in 1985, the parliament passed the Law on social organization stating that every community organization must be based on a single ideology, i.e., Pancasila. This law allows the government to ban organizations that are considered to endanger political and security stability. Through this law, Islamic leaders and modernists are also subject to the provisions not to speak in the area of radical activism. The provision has received reactions from various community organizations such as Muhamaddiyah. Baswedan (2004) argues that the dynamics of political Islamic undergo transformation and diversification. Recent developments show that political Islam is not synonymous with Islamic aspirations as happened in the period of liberal democracy in the 1950s and the beginning of the new order. In that period Islamic politics meant advocating the Islamic agenda. Not only are the politics of Islam represented by Islamic political parties that use the Islamic platform, but also by ‘friendly’ Islamic political parties. Therefore, there were groups called Islamists, Islam-inclusive, or secular-inclusive. The variety of Islamic groups in Indonesia is reflected in their attitude towards contemporary issues (Daniels, 2007). For example, in addressing the issue of blasphemy in the form of caricature of the prophet Muhammad published in one of the magazines in Denmark, radical Islamic groups took the path of domination as an expression of their understanding of the ideology of Jihad. Moderate Islamic groups do not follow such a method. Effendy’s (2010) research also shows that not all Indonesian Muslims support the politicization of Islam. Support for ideological and symbolic Islam turned out to be relatively low in Indonesia. A survey conducted by Sakai and Fauzia (2014) also found a tendency that Indonesian Muslims became less Islamist in politics. Another dynamic of political Islam in Indonesia is the enactment of Sharia law in various regions as a form of democratic development. Through the law on regional autonomy, the application of Sharia laws is possible at the district level. According to Woodward (2001), this phenomenon arises because of the discourse where the implementation of Sharia law, which is developed in the community, is in line with Islamic effort globally. This tendency leads to problems in Indonesia today, namely the negative stigma of Islam due to jihadist movements in the name of Islam. According to Pisani and Buehler (2016), there are at least two motivations for applying Sharia law, namely ideological beliefs on the one hand, and responses to constituent preferences on the other. Dominant motivation can also exert influence on the spirit of law Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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enforcement. Previously, Buehler (2008) saw that this development is in the context of institutional change. The district administration can obtain the flow of funds from the enactment of the sharia law for political consolidation. This action is needed to deal with the new political dynamics in which candidates for regional heads/leaders must contest themselves on direct elections. This direct election system requires significant political sources and capital. The negative implication of implementing Sharia law was also identified by Fanani (2011), where many religious minority groups were forced to follow the law. Sharia law has also caused discrimination against religious minorities. Another problem that arises from the application of this law is, as stated by Siregar (2008), in the form of judicial institutional competence in dealing with Sharia criminal law, especially in the Province of Special Region of Aceh (DI Aceh). Besides implementing Sharia law partially, there is also sharia law implemented nationally in Indonesia, namely in the banking sector, that is Islamic banking. The development of the Islamic bank has a more noticeable impact on society. Since 1992, Indonesia has moved towards the development of Islamic economics and financial institutions with the development of Islamic banking. According to Abduh & Omar (2012), Islamic banking has made its contribution to the improvement of national economic performance. More specifically, Adnan and Ajija (2015) studied that Islamic banking has proven to be effective in reducing poverty. In line with the study by Fianto et al. (2018), micro-credit Islamic financial institutions have a positive impact on increasing rural household incomes. The application of Sharia law in both the economics and other aspects is a strong indication of Islamic revivalism in Indonesia. Other evidence that can be shown is the increasing role of Islamic political parties and the role of women in humanity and the political arena at the regional and national levels. According to Hasan (2009), the main factor that drives Islamic revivalism is the growth of the Muslim middle class and networks allowing the wider community’s involvement through this network, the message of Islamic revival has resonated violently, affecting various social and political fields. According to Latief (2013), the increase in the role of political parties was shown by the involvement of several political parties in social welfare activities through the Islamic charitable organizations they established. This charity practice is a popular way used by politicians to protect their constituents, but at the same time, this practice has weakened the Muslim perspective on social development and change. A study by Rinaldo (2018) shows how women party activists, in the case of Prosperous Justice Party/PKS, show their habitus of piety through their habit in dressing up and marriage. This habit, however, is only one of the Islamic habitus that competes in Indonesia. Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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According to Sakai (2012), the development of faith-based organizations in Indonesia contradicts the secularization process and the modernization theory. The religious-based organization expands its services outside the education and health sectors, namely by offering disaster relief and poverty reduction programs that have yet to be entirely run by the government. Even so, the state considers such organizations as a threat. The Indonesian government would like to be the primary social service provider. Therefore, the policy issued has the effect of a logistical challenge for the survival of such organizations in the future. Besides, theological differences across religious groups have made it challenging to form inclusive partnerships between organizations. This socio-political context limits the formation of effective partnerships to offer coordinated social services. The issue of coordination between the government and social organizations that provide social services was also found by Halimatusa‌ʾdiyah (2015) in her study on the role of zakat institutions in alleviating poverty in Indonesia. The rise of Islam in Indonesia correlates with the increasing involvement of women in civil society. Muslim women’s organizations play an essential role in the development of the nation-state of Indonesia. Muslim women’s groups are incubators for a variety of women’s political activism. The increasing role of Islam in the public sphere has also markedly increased the role of women in national debates such as the problems of Sharia law, abortion, and pornography. Such public space debates have a significant impact on the relationship between religion and the state (Rinaldo, 2008). Through a case study on the ‘polygamy debate’, Wichelen (2009) shows that contestation between women’s groups cannot be reduced to the issues of Islam and gender due to their perspective on polygamy intersects with a political identity which is informed through postcolonial, modernity, religion, nationality, and globalization. Fattore, Scotto, and Sitasari (2010) expressly refute the general assumption that Islam does not support gender equality and democratization. The increase in the number of women who are members of parliament in Indonesia proves that democracy is growing in a country that is predominantly Muslim. Community attitudes towards gender equality are not rooted in their culture or beliefs. Meanwhile, Parker’s (2011) analysis shows that culture and religion are not separate and unchanging. Muslim women involved in the movement in Indonesia utilize Islam to build multicultural discourse. Religion is a cultural aspect and something that is potentially personal. There is overlap with culture; both religion and culture are essential sources of identity for individuals and groups. Both can be used selectively as resources by and for women; therefore, religion and culture must be considered as historically dependent.

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According to Trihartono and Viartasiwi (2015), strengthening this civil society further contributes to maintaining peace, especially in breaking the cycle of violence. Their study shows how the role of non-state actors in supporting the creation of sustainable peace. Civil society is at the forefront of developing community security. Besides, Bagus (2010) shows that Muslim women do not dominate the role of civil society. In Bali, after the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, there is the Ajeg Bali (Bali standing strong) movement; it is a movement to seek and maintain socio-religious traditions based on local culture. 5.3

Religion-Based Social Conflict

Religion-based violence in Indonesia is one type of social conflicts that have existed for a long time. This social conflict cannot be separated from the increasing understanding of radicalism and fundamentalism in society. According to Hamdi (2012), violence in the name of religion has occurred for decades, but the escalation of religious violence in Indonesia has increased sharply after 1998 political reform along with the strengthening of the radical Islamic movement. Religious conflict covers various types. Muqoyyiddin (2012) divided the religious conflict into three patterns, namely: the conflict between different religions, conflicts between one religious community and groups labeled as heretics, and internal-religious conflicts of one religion because of different religious understanding. Meanwhile, Thohir (2010) divides the religious conflict into five categories as listed in Table 5.2: Table 5.2 Taxonomy of religious conflict in Indonesia

No

Category

Actors

Issues

1

Internal—one sect

2

Different political views and interests Group claimed

3

Cross sect in one religion Cross religion

One sect but different political stands Sunni followers and Ahmadiyah followers Muslim with Christian

4

Religion and beliefs

5

Religion and state

Puritan Muslim versus Local or Abangan Extremist groups

Religious building, power and political interests Polytheism; deviation religion Fundamentalism and extremism

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In the context of a wider conflict, religious conflict is one type of social conflict in Indonesia. In this case, Aspinall (2008) divided conflicts into five categories: firstly, separatist conflicts such as those that occurred in Aceh, East Timor, and Papua; secondly, urban riots, especially those that occurred in a number of cities in Java in 1995–1998; thirdly, the ethnic cleansing that occurred from 1997 to 2001, especially in Kalimantan where Madurese ethnic groups were targeted. The last two categories are religious conflicts and terrorism by radical groups to target and attack Christians and foreigners. Many factors are causing social conflict in Indonesia. Ostby et al. (2011) found that provinces with high population growth rates and levels of inequality between religious groups are correlated with the risk of violence. Meanwhile, Pierskalla and Sacks (2016) consider the direct election of the regional leaders and factors of access to public services correlate with violence. Previous studies conducted by van der Kroef (1955) concluded that the factor of public distrust towards Western civilization represented by Dutch colonizers was the cause of contemporary conflict in Indonesia. Van Liere (2009) argues that three factors are leading to social conflict in Indonesia, namely: historical memories of anticolonial struggles, maneuvers of political elites, and globalization. Meanwhile, de Jonge and Nooteboom (2006) consider four factors causing conflict, namely: ethnic composition of the population, cultural attitudes, access to natural resources, and political competition. Other factors are the quality of governance and conflict mitigation capabilities (Brinkerhorf, 2011). Some cases of religious conflict occur due to fanaticism towards the flow of religion or belief and efforts to make truth claims. A study conducted by Hamdi (2012) on the Sunni-Shiite conflict in Sampang, Madura, shows that the religious conflict is essentially a conflict to fight for the basis of the authority of the religious leaders. The Sunni or Nahdatul Ulama clerics are the superordinate groups who have enjoyed their position as religious leaders because of the recognition of Sunni values as legitimate shared religious values. As the ruling class, they try to maintain the status quo. The hatred spread by declaring the Shiite as a heretical group is an attempt to delegitimize the Shiite in order to idealize the values of the ruling class. Still recognizing the religious values of the ruling class by itself is the recognition of the leadership of the group. Judging the Shiite as heretical teachings and expelling them is an attempt by the ruling class to maintain its leadership authority over the community. Meanwhile, a study conducted by Fajarani (2014) explored that NU and Muhammadiyah residents in Tangerang showed the issue of conflict revolving around the area of religion, religious celebrations, religious rites, and different episteme systems. Conflict occurs because of negative stigma, misunderstanding, and also the closure of each group.

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The difference in beliefs and truth is not the only factor in the occurrence of religious conflicts. There is an intersection with other factors such as economics and politics and religion causing conflict. The results of a study conducted by Jati (2013) on the conflict in Maluku between 1999 and 2002 showed that the conflict occurred as a consequence of the injustice and marginalization of certain groups for years. The religious factor is claimed as the main factor in some literature analyses for the conflict in Maluku. However, the case of conflict in Maluku was caused by the struggle for political, economic, and bureaucratic factors. The history of the Maluku conflict was indeed maintained by the practices of domination and subordination from the Kingdom Era in Maluku until the Era of the Republic of Indonesia causing the growing potential of possible conflict. The results of the study confirm the argument of Cassanova (2001, p. 47) stating that conflict among religious communities cannot only be seen from religious conflicts, but also triggering factors, such as political, economic, social, and power motives. It means that religion cannot be separated from public issues in Indonesia related to political, economic, cultural, and social systems. Religion might become a problem when it faces the issue of secularization inherited in public and private space. Other factors causing religious conflict include: erroneous understanding of religious teachings and chauvinistic attitudes (Jati, 2013; Liliweri, 2005), overcrowding of local religious institutions (de Juan, Pierskalla, & Vüllers, 2015), anti-resolution of Shiite (Formichi, 2014), restrictions on freedom of belief for non-orthodox minorities (Lindsey & Butt, 2016), repressive-antagonistic state policies on radical groups (Hilmy, 2015), the role of the government and political elites that are not optimal and lack of communication strategies between groups (Susanto, 2017), and curriculum and teaching methods for religious education only emphasizing cognitive-psychomotor aspects far from religious values with transformative-inclusive. This kind of education model will only produce outputs of ritual piety, magical and naive awareness. This education model does not have a sense of humanity (Mansur, 2015), social and political dynamics in the context of politicized religion, fragmented religious authority, and state power (Hamayotsu, 2014). According to Liliweri (2005), religious people or specific religious groups tend to have a misleading understanding on religious people or other religious groups, who have different ideological backgrounds affecting the way of thinking, behaving, and acting differently than they. The development of fundamentalism and radicalism in society is a threat and challenge to the integration of the nation in the context of multicultural societies such as Indonesia. Currently, the notion of radicalism, especially

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Islam, has developed in some Indonesian people. According to Mubarak (2015), the inherent characteristics of radical Islam are exclusive and legitimate of the use of violence. This attitude grows from an understanding of the Qurʾan and Hadith literally and scripturally which leads to fanatical, exclusive, and ‘blackand-white’ understanding (Mufid, 2016). The country’s response in the form of repressive antagonistic policies towards these groups increases escalation of violence. According to Hilmy (2015), this kind of policy contradicts the development of democracy since radical groups can use a momentum to consolidate and disseminate the ideology of radicalism among the wider community. According to Mahfud et al. (2018), the historical roots of terrorism and religious radicalism, globally, are inseparable from the social, political, and economic landscapes. Hadiz (2008) argues that Islam has been politicized from the beginning of the twentieth century in the context of anti-colonialism. Furthermore, the class-based distribution movement was then destroyed under the burden of the post-colonial authoritarian regime during the cold war. In the Indonesian context, Schulze’s study (2002) identified the main factors namely the inability of the government to manage violence. Laskar Jihad poses a security threat because it has been allowed to maintain the existence of illegal paramilitaries, carries out religious cleansing wars, declares Sharia law, and imposes a late penalty following its provisions, regardless of the state justice system and contrary to the Indonesian constitution. Other factors identified by researchers in this regard include political repression of the ruling regime, deprivation of socio-economic resources, globalization, and support from abroad (Muzakki, 2014). The development of fundamentalism and radicalism in Indonesia, especially in the Reform Era, has to do with various variables as the causes such as exclusivity of dominant religious identity (Ibrahim, Wulansari, & Hidayat, 2018), perception of social injustice (Alamsyah & Hadiz, 2016), holding low belief in establishing peacefully Islam, and high rationalization of violent attacks (Putra & Sukabdi, 2014), and economic distress (Chen, 2009). The development of radicalism in Indonesia has encouraged community elements to play a role in de-radicalization. According to Nurdin (2005), the existence of Liberal Islam Network/JIL is highly strategic in promoting democratic Indonesian civil society, while opposing radical group arguments. Sumpter (2017) views civil society organizations as a better level of trust in the community help effectively deal with conflict. Researchers put forward some recommendations to overcome religious conflicts. They include building commitment to togetherness and supporting for religious leaders, mediating parties in conflict, disseminating universal religious values and local wisdom in order to maintain harmony, and holding open and honest dialogue for respecting

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heterogeneity (Arifinsyah, 2015), conflict mapping (Suratman, 2017), talifusö/ talifus, or the bond of brotherhood that maintains the solidarity between the local and the migrant communities (Rahayu, 2017). Recommendations also include the use of the internet as a propaganda media (Arifudin, 2016), integrated curriculum and useful methodological approaches in boarding schools (Sari, 2016), perspectives between religious groups (Ariyanto, 2008), cultural approaches to reconciliation (Duncan, 2016), innovative approaches to education at the grassroots level that combine Islamic principles of environmental protection with traditional conservation methods (Mangunjaya & McKay, 2012), and multicultural education (Nakaya, 2018). 5.4

Context of Current Religion: Internet Role and Social Media

Religious landscapes in various parts of the world have been revolutionarily changing because of the advance in information technology. In the context of globalization, mainly, the advancement of information technology is like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, religious teachings and values can experience massive dissemination. On the other, there are also religion-based conflicts due to the dissemination of information through Internet media. Various studies show multi-dimensional changes in religious institutions as a direct consequence of the development of the Internet. These changes include politicization of religion that threatens democracy (Herdiansyah et al., 2018), dissemination of ideology or understanding of terrorism (Affan, 2018), dissemination of religious propaganda (Epafras, 2016; Nisa, 2018; Ridwan, 2015), constructing religious group identity (Bräuchler, 2004), and appealing opinions/strengthening student political movements (Kuniawan & Rye, 2014; Weng, 2018). Today, the Internet is inseparable from people’s lives. According to Kompas. com, current Internet users in Indonesia are around 143 million, or 50% of the total population, and about 74% of them are urban society (https://tekno .kompas.com/read/2018/02/22/16453177/). Wider Internet users followed by the development of social media have an impact on various aspects of human life, including religious institutions. According to Iqbal (2016), the development of Internet users for religious purposes is a process of online religious migration as a strategic adaptation and an effort to strengthen the position of religion in a changing environment. The emergence of online-based religion is a counter-effort to predict supporters of secular theory who claim that religion broadcasted through the Internet does not have a significant impact on the real world in both religious organizations and collective identities of

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their religion. Bulliet (2003) calls this phenomenon a ‘media revolution’, where the religious community throughout the world has a personal communication tool enabling dissemination of information more quickly to the public. Theoretically, this development allows the unification of religious people. In the Islamic context, after 14 centuries of decentralization, Muslim communities have a new future with more significant efforts that can be made with technological assistance to disseminate and enforce similar understanding of faith. The most prominent use of the Internet, in this case, is to support activities for da‌ʾwah. According to Ridwan (2015), the Internet is a medium for propaganda to spread more peaceful religious information. Online da‌ʾwah has the role of initiating peace and non-violent practice in day-to-day life. A study conducted by Arifudin (2016) concluded that the Internet is an efficient contemporary medium in dealing with global challenges faced by Muslims such as Islamophobia, extremism, terrorism, and the issue of gender equality. These challenges provide opportunities for Da‌ʾi to improve the situation through many forms of Internet preaching. This medium provides a better understanding of Islam in society. Similarly, Nisa (2018) found that Instagram is currently the Indonesian Muslim youth platform. The various messages uploaded on Instagram through posting and captions have a positive effect on understanding the religion and accentuating the identity of piety and the purpose of life among young people. In turn, the role of young people can influence social media through both soft and lucrative relationships through business. Besides, the use of the Internet allows the creativity of young people, resulting in the acculturation of culture. Anthropological studies by Naafs and White (2012) show how young people connect themselves with trends in global popular culture while drawing inspiration from the latest developments in the local culture, especially in several large cities in Java. Nisa’s (2013) study found that several women wanted the purity of Islam by trying to popularize the veil (face-veiled women) through the Internet. This group seeks to create and maintain subcultures through Salafi women’s groups and a virtual business enterprise. Anantatama and Eriyanto (2018) explain how headscarves were initially less fashionable in Southeast Asia whose citizens are Muslim. When headscarves become prevalent, it benefits the clothing industry even though it has the effect of losing the meaning of the hijab as part of religious teachings. Other studies show how internet usage has an impact on religious knowledge, attitudes and behaviors such as the shaping of public opinion about particular issues (Benzehaf, 2017), consumption of halal cosmetic products (Briliana & Mursito, 2017), consuming halal food (Ismoyowati, 2015), halal tourism (VargasSánchez & Moral-Moral, 2018), recitation of the Koran in the One Day One Juz Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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community (Muslim, 2017), the technique of memorizing the Qurʾan (Dhahir, 2017), long distance counseling (Ardi, Putra, and Ifdil, 2017), sirri marriage (unregistered marriage) (Aziz, 2018), the formation of religion-based social groups in diaspora (Wardana, 2014), reinterpretation of sacred texts of Islam such as pregnancy and parenting, maternal death, abortion, sexual relations and HIVAIDS among students in Java and Madura (Suminar & Trisyoni, 2012), marriage attitude of Indonesian singles (Himawan, 2017), and youth sexuality (Holzner & Utomo, 2004). Other religions also use the Internet as a medium of propaganda. According to Hutchings (2015, pp. 3811–3830), through digital media, Christian leaders spread their messages throughout the world and multiply their influence. Missionaries can find new ways to preach even in dangerous areas. The boundaries between the pastor and the congregation can be renegotiated. A study conducted by Eprafas (2016), for example, shows how Pentecostal Christians use the Internet as a medium to spread their religious teachings, especially among young people. The commodification of human experience through the media produces a new dimension of understanding the religion and religious pluralism in the millennial (Eprafas, 2016). The discourse of religious plurality and interreligious relations are framed in packages that are not merely formalities but are manifested in real social involvement. Social media is a means for the millennial to hone their sensitivity to religious and social issues. This phenomenon has become a religious experience that is more suited to the culture of young people and is another alternative form of religiosity placing excellence on social affirmations. The Internet is also a popular media used by certain religious groups both in disseminating their teachings and in expressing their group identity. A study conducted by Makhasin (2016), for example, shows how the NaqshbandiHaqqani school, which is one of the Sufi groups, is actively involved in the propaganda of its teachings to the general public through the Internet. Propaganda is a response to the influence of political Sufism and Islamism, which is getting bigger among Indonesian Muslims. This propaganda represents the face of Sufism and contemporary Sufi activism in Indonesia. This propaganda has an essential role in raising new Islamic awareness with a greater appreciation of the Sufi tradition among Indonesian Muslims. Sufism has contributed not only to form the discourse or religious morality of society and Islamic consumption patterns among the urban middle class, but also to maintain the peaceful Islam and moderate Indonesian Islam. Bräuchler (2004) also shows how Islamism in Indonesia is transferred to cyberspace by Laskar Jihad in Maluku. Through the Internet, this group develops an identity that was in line with the offline philosophy, but it is extended in the coverage—meaning that online level is connected with offline level. Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Meanwhile, a study conducted by Ida (2016) shows how Shiite groups express their existence and hide their robes through the Internet. This effort turned out to later get a response of anti-Shiite in the form of online publications so that there was a debate about sectarian issues in the past three years in Indonesia. According to Lim (2017), the development of sectarian issues on social media is possible because social media encourages users to practice freedom of speech while silencing others. Through social media, users have the freedom to hate those who are considered opponents. In turn, the polarization of these political groups forms tribal nationalism. Through social media, certain religious groups that have political interests find effective ways to succeed in their political agendas. Herdiansyah, Husin, & Hendra (2018) show how social media has become a contested space for Islamic organizations and groups to show their political position in front of the government. The closer organization to the axis of power causes the stronger tendency of the organization to articulate the interests of the government. In contrast, opposing groups make social media as a tool to delegitimize government power. Social media can also be used to strengthen the discourse of politicizing religion, which has the potential to contradict the ongoing democratization process. Meanwhile, ownership of an excellent international network variable is a determinant of the success of an organization in utilizing the Internet in its activities (Kurniawan & Rye, 2014). The role of the Internet in mobilizing political movements in various parts of the world cannot be doubted. The Arab Spring is clear evidence of the fall of totalitarian regimes in various countries in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula because of the use of the Internet in political movements. In different scales and cases, these phenomena also occur in Indonesia. Political movements being developed in the community use the Internet as the basis for the formation of public opinion and mass mobilization. Until now, the Internet was used by students for their political movements. Communities become aware of internet-based political activities. Internet progress in Indonesia has an impact on behavioral change of young people. Weng’s study (2018) noted that the use of social media is vital to shape public opinion and to urge Muslims to protest; for instance, it was also utilized by Felix Siauw. Lim (2013) identified the main factors that caused populist political activism through internet media to be able to embrace young people, namely the use of contemporary consumption culture principles, namely the light package, headline appetite, and trailer vision. Social media activism is more likely to succeed in mobilizing mass support when the narrative is simple, related to low-risk actions and following dominant meta-narratives, such as nationalism and religiosity.

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The ideas of radicalism and terrorism also spread through the Internet. According to Affan (2018), the Islamic State (IS) group spread terrorism through online magazines in Indonesia. This effort is a threat to Indonesian millennials who actively use the Internet every day. In this way, IS seeks to influence Indonesian millennial Muslims to become their representatives in carrying out independent Islamic operations. Thus, the threat of terrorism throughout the world has also evolved from the asymmetric war to proxy war, especially for millennial Muslims. Today, extremist groups are taking advantage of religious marketing for self-sacrifice (Dorbala et al., 2018). They create confusion by manipulating verses and brainwashing. The main target of the spread of radicalism is a student in which there is academic freedom (Maskur, 2018). Theoretically, the development of radicalism among young people has at least two explanations, namely theological factors and composite social, political and economic variables making young people desperate with their future (Afriyanti, 2012). The prevalence of mental health problems among students in Indonesia is growing, and most are not handled because of the high costs, stigma, and limited service to overcome mental health problems (Rahmadiana et al., 2019). The presence of digital media in society is not always positive. On the other hand, media have the potential to endanger both aspects of security and order and the development of democracy. Dewi and Aminulloh (2016) identified two types of fanaticism that are developed in social media, namely political and religious fanaticism. Both endanger the life of democracy because they do not want differences as the principle of democracy. Meanwhile, Arofah (2018) found that the utterance of hate in cyberspace is one example of this dangerous situation. Hate speech comes from content posted on websites such as opinions and online political news. Most hate speeches ignore aspects of the ethos that provide a source of credibility and trust. From the aspect of pathos, news writers tend to choose words that trigger anger and negative emotions of their readers. While from the logos aspect, some hate speech encourages conclusions due to logical errors and claims made. The rhetoric of hate speech ignores the aspects of ethos and logos, and mostly depends on the tendency of the pathos to persuade readers to hate. A study conducted by Kadir and Maufur (2011) found that religious communities have similar concerns about the impact of globalization, but their responses tend to sharpen the problems caused by globalization, rather than providing solutions. This response is probably related to the low level of media literacy among the urban middle class as found by Arifin (2017). Through social media, volunteers have dedicated themselves to counter the spread of radicalism and Islamic violence. According to Schmidt (2018),

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volunteers who fight radicalism on social media use memes, hashtags, comics, and videos as their weapons of choice. The authority of traditional religious leaders has been transformed into a national defense against radicalism; another media resistance to radicalism is online media (Rahman, 2017). Online media contextualizes the interpretation of jihad through the mainstream of Indonesia’s majority moderate Muslims. Amalia’s (2013) study shows how multicultural education that is used as a compulsory subject in school is part of the response to various problems in society, especially religion-based violence. Such education contains basic principles such as democracy, humanism, and pluralism or inclusive religious values. In general, Internet users in Indonesia have great potential to fight radicalization and counter-terrorism in cyberspace, even though they still face various challenges (Lubis, 2017). The increase in political radicalization in recent times has become a severe problem for the nation. Religious intolerance is suspected to be one of the causes of various acts of religion-based violence in the regions in Indonesia. According to Hamayotsu (2013), there are at least two explanations for this. First, liberals take advantage of the unlimited freedom of media and the expression of alternative religious visions, but they have limited access to traditional political and religious institutions and resources to influence state policy regarding religious affairs. Also, their religious interpretations and visions of society are seen as too secular and close to Western interests; therefore, it is a distance away to most Muslim communities. Second, the emergence of conservative religious politicians in the country has contributed to the decline of tolerance and religious freedom. Meanwhile, Islamic conservatism and radicalization in post-1998 Indonesia cannot recognize minority rights as a cause of religious intolerance (Sarhindi, 2017). References Abduh, M., & Omar, M. A. (2012). Islamic banking and economic growth: The Indonesian experience. International Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Finance and Management, 5(1), 35–47. Adnan, M. A., & Ajija, S. R. (2015). The effectiveness of Baitul Maal wat Tamwil in reducing poverty. Humanomics, 31(2), 160–182. Affan, M. (2018). The threat of IS proxy warfare on Indonesian Millennial Muslims. Indonesian Journal of Islam and Muslim Societies, 8(2), 199–223. DOI: 10.18326/ijims. v8i2. 199-223. Afriyanti, D. (2012). Islamic education and youth extremism in Indonesia. Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, 7(2), 134–146. DOI: 10.1080/ 18335330.2012.719095. Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Seo, M. (2013). Falling in love and changing Gods. Indonesia and the Malay World, 41(119), 76–96, DOI: 10.1080/13639811.2012.750104. Siregar, H. B. (2008). Islamic law in a national legal system: Study on the implementation of shariʾah in Aceh, Indonesia. Asian Journal of Comparative Law, 3(1). DOI: 10.2202/1932-0205.1056. Sirozi, M. (2005). Radicalism in Indonesia: The intellectual roots of Islamic radicalism in Indonesia Ja‌ʾfar Umar Thalib of Laskar Jihad (Jihad Fighters) and his educational background. The Muslim Word, 95, 81–120. Srimulyani, E. (2007). Muslim women and education in Indonesia: The pondok pesantren experience. Asia Pacific Journal of Education, 27(1), 85–99. DOI:10.1080/ 02188790601145564. Steenbrink, K. A. (2011). The Pancasila ideology and an Indonesian Muslim theology of religions 280. In Bryan S. Turner (Ed.), The Sociology of Religion. California: Sage Publication. Suada, I. N., & Gelgel, I. P. (2018). Transformation of Masatia tradition towards Hindu religion in Bali. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2(2), 226–242. Sulaiman, R. (2018). NKRI and the phenomenon of religious radicalism. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research (ASSEHR), 129, 232–234. Suminar, J. R., & Trisyani, M. (2012). Online course: Media empowering in education. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 67, 203–207. Sumpter, C. (2017). Countering violent extremism in Indonesia: Priorities, practice and the role of civil society. Journal for Deradicalization, 11, 112–147. Suratman, Y. P. (2017). The use of counter-intelligence operation strategy in coping with cyber threats. Jurnal Pertahanan & Bela Negara, 7(2), 1–17. Susanto, E. H. (2017). Conflict between groups of different religion and beliefs posing as threat to heterogeneity in Indonesia. Modern Applied Science, 11(12), 22–35. Sutiyono. (2010). Benturan Budaya Islam: Puritan & Sinkretis. Jakarta: Kompas. Suwarno, P. (2013). Depiction of common enemies in religious speech: The role of the rhetoric of identification and purification in Indonesian religious conflicts. Walisongo, 21(1), 1–18. Thohir, M. (2010). Fundamentalisme keagamaan dalam perspektif kebudayaan (Religious fundamentalism in the cultural perspective). Analisa, 17(2), 165–173. Trihartono, A., & Viartasiwi, N. (2015). Engaging the quiet mission: Civil society in breaking the cycle of violence in the post-conflict Poso, Indonesia. Procedia Environmental Sciences, 28, 115–123. van der Kroef, J. M. (1955). Social conflict and minority aspirations in Indonesia. American Journal of Sociology, 55(5), 450–463. DOI: 10.1086/220585. van Liere, L. (2009). Gestures of the evil mind: Interpreting religion-related violence in Indonesia after 9/11. Exchange, 38, 244–270.

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Chapter 6

Religious Self: The Multi-Construal Model of Indonesian Self Retno Hanggarani Ninin Abstract Indonesians have historically believed in the reality of God. God-self connectedness is a spiritual matter of socialized intergeneration and a foundation in which individual self-growth should be grounded. When religions entered Indonesia in the 14–16th centuries, those religions merely supported the devotion that had become an essential feature of the Indonesian self. Indonesian individuals grow up being taught to assign spiritual meaning in everyday experiences. The central purpose of the socialization is to ensure a consciousness of the presence of extraordinary power in everyone’s life, that is, God, the creator of the universe and humans. Indonesian people live the reality of God through spiritual experience, or rituals and practices until they uncover the truth of the spiritual existence they believe in.

Keywords God – religious self – Indonesian – spiritual

The Indonesian national foundation is Pancasila (The Five Principles).1 Its first principle is: “The Belief in One God” or “Belief in the One and only God”. Consequently, it is mandatory for every Indonesian citizen to adopt a religious identity. Their identity card must include religious identity. In Family Card, each member of a family must mention their religious identity, even if s/he is under one year old, meaning that the infant is not yet fully aware of itself. For 1  Author Note: Retno Hanggarani Ninin, Universitas Padjajaran. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Retno Hanggarani Ninin, Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Psychology Universitas Padjajaran Jl. Raya Bandung Sumedang km. 21, Jatinangor, Sumedang 45363 Indonesia. Email: [email protected].

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Indonesians, at the early stage of his life, their religious identity is an ascribed identity (Schaefer, 2009), just like ethnic identity or gender identity. Since religious identity is an ascribed status and obligatory, the state introduces God to society through formal education. In general, Indonesian society is also aware that families and communities are responsible for introducing God to their community members. Hence, God and its attributes become “objects” that are socialized and internalized by Indonesian individuals, which then influence every individual of the Indonesian people. In Indonesia, as well as family and culture, religion is also in authority to disseminate knowledge about God and ensure the application of worship by its affiliates. With that understanding, the more religious an individual is, the more s/he senses the closeness with God. In the sense that adopting religion means acknowledging God, then a person who adopts religious identity could be interpreted as religious. Accordingly, a person, or self, connected to God is likely to be conceptualized as “religious self”, a model of self that is hypothetically suggested of an Indonesian self. 6.1

Historical Roots of Indonesian Self

In Indonesia, the idea of self that involved the conception of the divine has been discoursed for a long time, as Indonesia historically is a nation that believes in the existence of God. Predominantly, those are scripts consisting of contemplation or opinion; hence, basically, it is an intuitive knowledge (Ihsan, 2010). Some of those Javanese writings were Dewa Ruci, Wedhatama, Kalatidha, and Sastra Jendra. But even before the Javanese writings were created, in essence, the Javanese letters themselves comprised natural consciousness of the Indonesian ancestors, the existence of God. The twenty Javanese letters are related to the story of “Aji Saka”. The first five letters are ha na ca ra ka. They can be combined into the Javanese words hana caraka, which means, “there are messengers”. It is said that Aji Saka gave an order to two messengers with a specific task for each and both of them should work together to finish the task. Philosophically, Aji Saka symbolizes God, and the two messengers symbolize humans, indicating the Indonesian ancestors’ consciousness of being a messenger. This positional awareness that one’s self is the messenger generates awareness of the existence of the sender, that is God, the Creator of man, or whatever his name is. The following idea that emerged is that whenever there is a messenger, there would be a message or a job to be completed.

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The second five letters make up the Javanese phrase datan sawala, which means “no denial”. This sentence is a statement asking humans to accept their duties. For example, a man should be a male or a father or a husband, and a woman should be a female or a mother or a wife, as they are given capacities needed to carry out their obligation. The idea is that God created each with their best talents to be valuable and should live up life with their best potential, one of which is to know God and worship Him. In Islam, it is called fitrah (Ancok & Suroso, 2011), while Hinduism calls it dharma (Wijaya, Bagus, Paramartha, Suastika, & Nuarca, 2013), and in psychology, it is known as innate potential. The third line of the Javanese script displays the phrase padha jayanya, which means “equally successful”. In carrying out the duties as a messenger, one should employ ways that satisfy both himself and his counterparts. Considering the interests of others is essential for Javanese people. The last five characters from the sentence are maga bathanga, which means “until death”. It can be inferred that performing life’s duties is a longitudinal effort as long as one lives. The Javanese letters are also used by Balinese and Sundanese people, carrying out a similar philosophy. It indicates that positional awareness as a messenger is not only a fundamental thought for Javanese society, but also the Balinese and Sundanese societies. As it happens in Javanese society, the story is told as part of family socialization. The primary value of the story is to teach children that humans are in a lifelong hierarchical relationship with God. The practical implications of this relationship awareness are the willingness to discover one’s best potential and to carry it out in society. If it is traced, Javanese script is found in temples, inscriptions, and ancient Javanese manuscripts from around the 8th century. Then, the awareness of piousness had become a fundamental consciousness within Javanese society long before Islam entered Java in the 14th century. Piousness awareness existed when Hindu and Buddhist kings still governed the kingdoms in Java. Although it did not use the term “God”, but the notion embedded in the word “messenger” or “decree” implies a belief in the existence of supernatural powers that create and directed human beings. Culturally, the idea that the spiritual dimension is part of Indonesian self is at least as old as the Kingdom Era in Java Island (Rickels, 2012). Based on that history, the God-self connectedness in Indonesia is something that is culturally based, which is being socialized intergenerationally. Individual self-development must take place by God-self connectedness. When Islam entered Indonesia in the 14th century, and Christianity entered Indonesia in

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the 16th century after that, these religions only affirmed the piousness that has become a fundamental part of the Indonesian self. It is reasonable that the founding fathers of Indonesia established “the belief in one God” as the first principle of the national foundation of Indonesia. From that time on, religion became the obligatory identity for Indonesians. Five organized religions in Indonesia were recognized first, along with an acknowledgment to the agnostic community. In 2012, Kong Hu Cu was recognized as the sixth organized religion in Indonesia. The discussion of Indonesian self was first studied scientifically by Sumantri Hardjoprakoso, a psychiatrist who needed to understand Indonesian self for psychotherapy purposes. The theory is based on an intuitive knowledge that has been transformed into scientific knowledge, titled Candra Jiwa (Hardjoprakoso, 1956). Candra Jiwa is a self-concept that focuses on the framework of human anatomy and psychology as a spiritual being. Candra Jiwa can be categorized into the concept of self because its psychological construct is similar to self in terms of sense and function. The paradigm that underlies the concept of Candra Jiwa was that man is a spiritual being who seeks the absolute transcendence manifested in him. As a system, the self-structure consists of some vitality centers, the immaterial center (a psychological factor whose existence comes from God), and the material center (a psychological factor whose existence is related to the existence of the material unit as part of the individual). It is said that the center of immaterial vitality is the cause of the “consciousness” of the individual, characterized by the presence of two determinants. First, Sukma Kawekas, the will determinant, which is the manifest nature of God in individuals and produces similar consciousness in all human beings, functions to categorize various traits and behaviors into right-wrong and good-bad classifications. Jung calls this as a collective unconscious (Jung, 1938). Second, intellectual powers, the material influenced by immaterial determinant, produce “individualistic sovereignty” to approach or to separate themselves from the first. The quality of self depends on the placement of the gravity/domination center: whether it is at the immaterial center or the material (one of intellectual power, will power, and the emotional life), and the dynamic consequences arising from the interaction between those centers. The self, with an emphasis on the immaterial center, is the ultimate goal of the Indonesian people’s self, which is called the ideal self. The definition of Candra ideal contrasts with Western ideal self. In Western culture, the ideal standard is set by the self (owner) based on his/her consideration and becomes their personal goal. Meanwhile, Candra ideal contains native characters located in an immaterial center of personal self, generally latent

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(similar to the dormant genetic genes, which “exist” but are inactive, and is activated to use) or in reduced form. Some people may have activated it; others may not. It is inferred that Candra ideal varies among individuals. Having this idea in mind, then, the community usually will force their members to comply. Compliance to the community values is the primary goal of socialization from parents in most of Indonesia’s traditional families, without neglecting the variations associated with parenting patterns (Hood, Hill, & Spilka, 2009). In the current psychological terminology, what is conceptualized as Candra Jiwa is self. 6.2 Self In the Dictionary of Psychology, a self is defined as a set of consciousness of one’s unique existence, traditionally referred to by philosophers as a personal identity (Reber, 1985). Adler considers that self is an inner force that plays control and regulatory functions (Calhoun & Acocella, 1990). Some equate self with personality (Quinn, 2006), based on the idea that self is a kind of mental representation. Bennett (2011) calls it personal self, the self whose definition focuses on idiosyncratic (individual) features such as personality traits. The primary purpose of self is to control individual responses, included internal psychic processes such as classifying and selecting responses, making decisions, and displaying behavior (Schmeichel, Vohs, & Baumeister, 2003). Self is also studied in the area of neuroscience, based on the idea that humans are biological beings; thus the individual neural self-representation may differ across cultures (Ng, H, Ha, & Lai, 2010). Sociologists acknowledged self as a product of social factors (Schaefer, 2009), and since it varies across society, then at the individual level, self could be very diverse. Cross-cultural surveys after that period (Hepper, Sedikides, & Cai, 2013) and social identity-based surveys (Bennett, 2011) support Durkheim’s claim that self is the product of social factors. Study of self in psychology has come up with a more specific extent such as personal self, social self, relational self, true self, ideal self, and independent-interdependent self. Those terminologies focus on self as a psychological process rather than a cultural concept since self has been an object in the field of sociology and anthropology. True self and relational self are among concepts emerging through the psychological approach. The true self is a set of permanent innate characteristics in an individual that must be self-discovered for an individual to have a meaningful life (Schlegel & Hicks, 2012). Self Determination Theory (SDT), defines true self as an aspect

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of self that contains appreciation of personal freedom in determining its individuality, caused by internal factors, meaning personally, and directed by itself. The notion of true self regards true self as a manifestation of one’s individuality core, including spirit, soul, true meaning, and fundamental nature. This theory sees self as something experienced by the individual. The frame of reference is the individual. The idea of true self is in line with the idea of religious self in two ways: 1) as an innate characteristic that can be found by the individual, and 2) a manifestation of spirit and fundamental nature. The idea is also following (Frager, 2012) who says that a human is not an empty being, but he is a spiritual being who has spiritual aspects. Then, in the course of his religious life, he is only trying to find spirituality in himself and not seeking it outwardly to be incorporated into himself. This paradigm also underlies the meditative practices of Buddhism (Brahm, 2006), which is a quiet awareness that allows individuals to find the true self that is conceptualized by Brahm as spirit, soul, real meaning, and fundamental nature. Relational self emerges in the theory of interpersonal social-cognitive theory (Andersen & Chen, 2002). The theory assumes that each person has some self-appreciation that each grows and develops through interaction with others throughout his life. This assumption is in line with Gergen (Slife & Richardson, 2010), who states that no self grows apart from the social environment; individuals exist in the world of co-constitution, where each person is the product of some relationships. The central argument of relational self is that self is fundamentally relational, related to a significant party, and the relationship affects the definition, evaluation, self-regulation, and personality functioning. In relational self, one’s knowledge of himself is related to his knowledge of others significant to him, as well as his knowledge of every relationship that builds self-other relationships. Such knowledge requires an individual’s capacity to activate the mental representation of a significant relational partner to him, both in physical presence and in symbolic presence of that person. Relational self inspires the emergence of self-constructs involving consistent connectedness of individuals with his external factors. For relational self, these factors are significant others, while for religious self, the external factor is God. Psychological processes that occur in religious self is relatively similar to the psychological process in relational self, namely the existence of thoughts, feelings, motives, and self-management strategy (self-regulation). The distinction between relational and religious self is that relational self works when the individual is in the context of individual-significant other relationship, while religious self functions in individual-God connectedness. Since God appears for the individual symbolically, then, the context in which

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the individual connects with God is very personal and very spiritual. The analogy is like when someone holds the phone at any time, and he has control to contact someone. There are individuals who feel always connected to God (it is analogous to What’sApp, in which the status is “available”, it means s/he is ready to be contacted at any time), and others who feel only connected with God in specific situations which he has set on his own, such as at praying time. It is called spiritual because God is not formally present, but in a symbolic form or image, which can be felt confidently, steadily, and it is vague, or even wholly nonexistent. One’s spiritual capacity strongly influences the quality of God’s presence for the individual. The previous discussion has explained that Indonesians grow not only in the religious environment but also in cultural context. Each of these external factors disseminates different things, thus forming a different self. Therefore, Indonesians develop a self that could be classified as multiple or multi-construal. Construal is a term in social psychology to explain the way or process of the individual accepting, understanding, and interpreting his world so that the world can be understood in such a way one enables to determine appropriate action against it. Multi-construal self means that the individual has more than one self-functioning system that alternately functions when it experiences various contexts during its life. As Indonesians grow in the context of local tradition, religion, and global culture, it is possible that self-formation is multi-construal. The development of self-theory supports the possibility that in each person there can be some selves that make up the total self in general. Some of them are personal self, moral-ethical self, and social self (Fitts, 1971; Kim, 2011), relational self (Andersen & Chen, 2002), true self (Miller, 1991), and independent/ interdependent self (Xie, Leong, & Feng, 2008). When every single self is based on a specific reference, then it created a multi-construal self. Religious self is one of them. 6.3

Religious Self

So far, the development of religious concepts or religiosity in the field of psychology has increasingly placed religion as merely an institution or organization. The choice raises consequences of the applied psychological concept, e.g., involvement and loyalty to religious institutions, with objective measurement such as religious knowledge and frequency of participation in practices or rituals organized by religious institutions (Glock & Stark, 1969). Piety is increasingly separated from the religious area by “shifting it” into the subject of

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spirituality. Therefore, the term “spiritual but not religious” (Curlin, Lantos, Roach, Sellergren, & Chin, 2005; Fuller, 2001) emerged in Western countries, although it was opposed by clerics who said it was unrealistic (Daniel, 2011). In Indonesia, individuals grow up being told to give spiritual meaning to daily events. For example, the success of addressing a problem should be defined as “God helped us” instead of “we can solve the problem”. The fundamental reason of the socialization is to have an awareness of the existence of a higher power in his life, that is God who created the universe, including humans, although the terms used to name it are quite varied. Gusti, Gusti Allah, Allah, Sang Hyang Widhi, and Brahma are some names that refer to the thing that creates and controls the universe, including human life. Acknowledgment of the existence of God is performed by following the rules set out by the religion with which they are affiliated. Therefore, for Indonesians, those who worship God or treat themselves as servants of the Lord are considered religious. The religious self is a concept whose construction relies on pre-existing concepts and theories of self, religiosity, and spirituality. In general, the visualization of the religious self is seen as follows:

Religious Self Self

Religiosity

Spirituality

Figure 6.1 The building block theories of religious self

To understand the religious self as a multi-construal model, understanding the sense of self-construal needs to be done early, in which the original idea is to distinguish the characteristics of self between Western and Eastern. Western culture views the individual as independent, self-contained, and an autonomous entity composed of some internal attributes that make up unique configurations and behave from those internal attributes. This picture is not appropriate to describe the individual selfhood in the East. Eastern self could not be separated from the cultural context (Markus & Kitayama, 2003). As has been pointed out, Eastern worlds grow and gets exposed in the norms, rules, and cultural values that characterize almost all aspects of their lives, including their diverse lives, more specifically the life of their own. Markus and Kitayama refer to the self as self-in-relation-to-other (interdependent view of the self), a self-looking way of seeing oneself in relationships with others. Individuals who are interdependent tend to feel connected to others or social context, which tends to be more flexible and easily influenced than independent individuals (Boucher & Maslach, 2009). At the same time, it has a definite implication that

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individuals who always feel connected to others will try to keep their relationship by forcing themselves to align themselves with those who are significant to them. Therefore, the cultural tendency to always connect with others becomes a potential that enables people in the East to receive parental socialization about God, including obedience to parents and the groups they are part of. The independent self-construal in the Western societies arises because of its cultural norms that tend to encourage individuals to become independent through discovering and expressing unique attributes that make an individual different from others (Markus & Kitayama, 2003). Markus and Kitayama mentioned some concepts inherent in this self-type, including individualist, separate, autonomous, and self-contained. They argued that in social situations, individuals with independent self tend to respond to social stimulus not for the response itself, but on the basis of the need to strategically determine the best way to express their internal attributes to others, so that others perceive them as they want, not as what the others want. The development of interdependent self-construal in Eastern society is based on the reality found in Eastern culture in terms of emphasizing the importance of connectedness and interdependence with others. A person with self-interdependent considers others as an integral part of the situation or context in which the individual is involved. In almost all domains of social life, the psychological attributes of interdependent-self such as characteristics, opinions, and abilities, must be placed in the primary function of maintaining interdependence with others (Markus & Kitayama, 2003). Relational-interdependent self-construal (RISC) is the tendency to think of oneself in terms of relationships, close relationships, and cognition (e.g., closeness, commitment, perceived similarity) (Morry & Kito, 2009). If independent self-construal defines itself with internal attributes such as traits, abilities, values, and preference, and interdependent self-construal defines themselves concerning others (Markus & Kitayama, 2003), then, how about the construal of religious self? Why is it called multi-construal? Research shows that religious self is a self-system whose structure is built by the awareness of individual hierarchical connectivity with God (Ninin, Iskandar, Sumintardja, & Siswadi, 2018). In this system, the individual defines himself based on religious cognition (religious belief and religious knowledge); that is, how he is in God’s sight. Self-definition in this way at the same time is interdependent, i.e., defining oneself in relation to God, but at the same time independent, because individuals are free to choose to take which God’s perspective will be taken as a reference, among the many references available to God’s commandments, God’s will, and God’s nature.

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The term “religious” comes from the word religion, and self is more or less the personality or the soul. Thus, the religious self is a religious soul. Based on the Indonesian dictionary on religion, the religious self is the self that is grounded on the belief in God. The primary consideration of using the term in Indonesia is that religion is an institution that provides what individuals need to learn to relate themselves to God. The Indonesian dictionary defines religion as faith or piety to God (Kemendikbud Republik Indonesia, 2019). Accordingly, the more religious an individual is, the closer he is to God. Religion in the context of religious self is placed as a medium that facilitates a relationship with God, rather than as a social category that forms social self (Bennett, 2011). In religious self, there are personal beliefs about piety and awareness of God-self relationship. Both are in the cognitive domain. The religious self also involves affective domains, such as feelings that accompany awareness of God-self relationship, and the motivational domain such as the urge to obey God’s will. Therefore, it is logical that religious self is a psychic construction that includes cognitive, affective, and motivational domains. However, various concepts of religiosity are not based on these domains. One of the established theories of religiosity was initiated by Glock and Stark who began their research in the 1960s, explaining that one’s religious systems could be differentiated into ideological dimensions, ritual dimensions, experiential dimensions, intellectual dimensions, and dimensional consequences (Glock & Stark, 1966). Another concept of religiosity establishes three components of determinants of religiosity: religious practice, daily spiritual experiences, and religious/spiritual coping (Jackson & Bergeman, 2011). There is also religiosity seen through common indicators, such as the frequency of attending church and self-rated religiousness and spirituality as well as measuring them with concepts related to physical and mental health, such as closeness to God, religious orientation and motivation, religious support, and religious struggle (Hill & Pargament, 2008). In the psychological dictionary (Reber, 1985), religiosity is defined as “involvement, interest or participation in religion”. Although the term is used by some authors to denote a high degree of religious involvement, it properly refers to a continuum of participation degrees in religious rituals and practices, and one may also characterize a person whether they are displaying low or moderate religiosity. The psychological dictionary affirms religiosity as something related to religion, not God, which consequently creates terms of involvement and participation. Piety may enter into the subject of religiosity through ritual activities and religious practice, as we assume that rituals and practices are related to worship to God. However, the reality is not that accurate. Some experts who are deeply concerned with religiosity assume that ideologies such as Marxism and socialism also meet the criteria of religion

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in terms of the religious factor or religious determinants (Glock & Stark, 1969), such as belief, knowledge, affect, ritual, and practice. The boundaries of religiosity arise from the definition of religion in the same dictionary (Reber, 1985): Basically, a system of beliefs with either an institutionalized or traditionally defined pattern of the ceremony. Religion is regarded by many as a cultural universal, which emerges invariably as an outcome of the need to understand the human condition. Most, although not all, the supreme being(s), the promises of a pathway to an ideal existence and an afterlife. This definition shows that most religions involve the concept of God. Some­ times the term referring to God is not explicitly stated “God,” but “supreme being”. The ideologies adopting this way referring to God as “supreme being” are among others Marxism, socialism, and Confucianism. By definition, the measurement of religious self will be difficult to determine. How is it concluded, if the determinant of one’s definition is related to a ritual, for example, how often a ritual is performed, so that it can be inferred that ritual becomes an indicator of high religious appreciation? Furthermore, what kind of rituals or practices of worship are considered the benchmarks of spiritual quality? Is it the sum of money given for charity or donation? Imagine the rich who donated Rp.1,000,000 and the poor who donated Rp.100,000 for help in a disaster. Does it mean the rich are more religious? Then, how about the types of rituals, such as mandatory rituals and optional practices? How often must these things be done, so one is considered religious? These questions suggest that the standard of religiosity, when its definition focuses on its affiliates, will lead to an infinite variation, yet at the same time does not measure the spiritual aspect of religion, which is called spirituality. The current literature on religiosity and spirituality shows that the boundaries of both remain unclear (Dowling & Scarlett, 2006; Parrinder, 2000). Some clearly distinguish spirituality from religiosity (Paloutzian & Park, 2005; Rankin, 2008). In terms of Godliness, spirituality focuses on the personal and subjective experience of human beings concerning God. It is in contrast to religiosity that is more associated with the quality of one’s relationship to a religious group or institutions. The famous phrase in Western society that describes this group is “spiritual but not religious” (Fuller, 2001), although religious groups oppose the claim through the belief that there is no spiritual reality without religion (Daniel, 2011). The phrase is used to identify the individual when he has a personal perspective of spirituality that rejects the traditional religions’ viewpoint about it. They usually believe in the existence of God and interact with God in their way without being affiliated to any religious institution, so they

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are also called unaffiliated or freethinkers. Their images of God and their attributes are not always the same as God’s definitions contained in traditional religions. They also tend not to use the term “God”, but Supreme, or Supernatural, for the reason that anything about “God” seems to be the exclusive right of the religious institution. In Indonesia, these traditional groups still exist, such as Kejawen and Kawruh Jiwa. Almost all religious groups in Indonesia also include spirituality. When talking about spirituality in religion, it means looking at certain psychological aspects that are generated or underlying religious practices and rituals. The role of spirituality in religion is reflected strongly on Muslims and Buddhists, through the concept of “dead before death” in Islam (Frager, 2012; Perreira, 2010), or called “anatta” in Buddhism (Brahm, 2006), which puts death not as the end of life, but as something learned to experience many times in one’s life, instead. Anatta means the loss of self-will (the Buddha calls it “silent consciousness”) and the will of God rest (Perreira, 2010). This concept is an individual self that is in line with God’s will. Literature in transpersonal psychology and Sufi psychology addressing aspects of human spirituality mentions that man is not an empty creature who seeks spiritual values, but spiritual beings who always seek to find spiritual values in him (Frager, 2012), indicating that an ideal standard of a religious self presents. Performing rituals and practices recommended in religion is one way to discover spiritual values within the individual. Frager says that religion (in this case he epitomizes Islam) usually teaches to discover spirituality not only through practice and ritual but also through “reading” God’s messages presented in life events. Through practicing to interpret events with God’s references, then the soul becomes well-trained. Further, an individual would be able to think, feel, and act following God’s will. This concept is the ideal self, which is the ultimate goal of spiritual self-development. In a construal perspective, this is an independently-interdependent construal relationship, in which self defines itself by freely choosing to read in the way God looks at things. In Western countries, the development of religiosity and spirituality, either academically or linguistically, leads to some different issues (Paloutzian & Park, 2005). First, religiosity is a concept relating to religious institutions, by looking at religion and religiosity as a social phenomenon. Meanwhile, spirituality is understood as a phenomenon at the individual level. Second, religiosity must be rooted in existing religion or religious institutions, with relevant concepts including religious involvement and ritual activities, where spirituality is related to meaning, and personal and subjective experience. Third, those who identify self-identify as religious usually imply that God is more judgmental than

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those who identify themselves as spiritualists, e.g., Omnipresent (Parrinder, 2000), “having the will/sunnatullah/natural law.” Omnipotent means “determine human destiny” and Omniscience “means watching people” (Laurin, Kay, & Fitasimmons, 2012). Instead of making a judgment, spiritualist usually evaluates God or Supernatural objects with more gratitude and positive affect (Dowling & Scarlett, 2006; Frager, 2012; Murakami, 2006). The non-religious spiritualist perspectives are dealing with the views of the clergy. The clergy argues that the statement of spirituality without religiosity is a form of personal arrogance, as it considers itself to be able to think deeply and define God without involving the consideration of other people who take in God earlier. Those who invest more time to think about the reality of the divinity consider these non-religious spiritualists as self-centered individuals who separate themselves from their community rules. The phenomenon of non-religious spiritualists is proliferating in America. The survey data at Gallup.com shows the increasing proportion of individuals who identify themselves as non-religious spiritualists, ranging from about 10% in 2005 and reaching 33% in 2010. The teenage group is even estimated to reach a proportion of about 70% (Gallup, 2014). Although the empirical evidence has not been found, in secular countries like most countries in continental Europe where religious identity is not mandatory, the raising of non-religious spiritualist phenomena also occurs. Addressing the dialectic between both “the spiritualist should be religious” and “spiritual but not religious”, the author arranges to acknowledge non-­religious spiritual existence, based on the fact that in Indonesia there are many communities that have traditional-based spiritual beliefs inherited by the ancestors, culture-based kinship traditions, and animism (Hadiwijaya, 2010; Kopassus, 2012) The Indonesian government in the official Indonesian language dictionary (Kemendikbud Republik Indonesia, 2019) distinguishes religion with spirituality. “Religion” is defined as: “the system governing the order of faith (belief) and worship of the Almighty God and the rules of association with human and human interaction and man and his environment”; and establishing the notion of “religion” as “belief in God”; belief in the existence of supernatural powers above man; trust (animism, dynamism). It is clear that the Indonesian government explicitly mentions the concept of “God” in the definition of religion and spirituality. What distinguishes the meaning of religion and spirituality in the dictionary is that “religion” is regarded as a social system, which means a social world, while “spirituality” is a belief system that resides in an individual/individual psychic world. Furthermore, in the same dictionary, “religious” is defined as a matter of religion, while “religiosity” is devotion to religion, piety.

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The author positions itself to refer to the religious notion of faith, belief, or piety to God. Therefore, a person who (according to Indonesian dictionaries) is religious, or is called religious, is the most believing, faithful, and devoted to God. In other words, the more religious an individual, the more ideal he will orient himself to God. When suggested an analogy of a scientist who refers to his actions on his knowledge, then a person with the heart would make his heart a reference for his behavior. By this argument, the author raises the term religious self, with the sense that religious self is “self which worships God”. With both definitions of spirituality and religiosity, the term “religious based spirituality” means a psychological, mental, or spiritual aspect of belief in God. Scientists in Indonesia use spirituality as an effort to understand and identify the psychological foundations that influence religious life in various religious groups in Indonesia. Research on spirituality in Indonesia is overgrowing in Center for Neuroscience, Health, and Spirituality (C-NET) Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta. They compiled various religious texts and succeeded in discovering the four spiritual dimensions that were claimed to be the general factors of official religions in Indonesia. Those are the meaning of life, spiritual experience, positive emotions, and ritual (Pasiak, 2012). It also explained that the institute has even produced an ISHA (Indonesia Spiritual Health Assessment) tool that enables to map one’s spirituality, such as a personality mapping, as a reference for a psychiatrist to diagnose one’s spiritual problem and further do the necessary intervention. Spirituality as an issue in religious self is not what C-NET outlined, although its dimensions are derived from the scriptures. Even though the spiritual concepts of C-NET and religious self have a shared domain of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains, they differ in some other domains. The research team at C-NET examines spirituality with objective measurement of neurological symptoms (Pasiak, 2012), while spirituality in religious self is seen through individual subjectivity. The spirituality that is part of religious self is the spirituality of Godliness, that is God in the sense of power that creates the universe, including men, controls the universe through the laws (of nature) it governs, and has a relationship with men, either through nature or through direct experience with humans, the experience of hierarchical relationship with God. The notion raises two issues, based on the fact that in Western society, defining God can only be done by religious leaders who are supreme leaders of religious institutions. The first issue understood by the author is that issues about “God” can only be defined, interpreted by, and communicated with a religious leader. Such religious provisions generate a reaction to those who have experienced a divine experience or spiritual experience, an experience that makes them able to feel

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the presence, help, or direct involvement of God in their lives. This individual usually refuses to recognize that they are religious; instead, they say they are spiritualists. Those who declare themselves spiritual but not religious reject the definition of God according to the religious institution they know because the divine attributes that exist in the definition are not deemed accommodating their divine experience. They also judge that religious leaders propose exclusive rights compared to an ordinary individual. These people believe in God, they are not atheists, but they reject the concept of “God” whose definition refers only to the conceptualization by religious institutions. They admit believing in the existence of “Ultimate Power” which creates nature, including humans and themselves, that the power works against itself. They do not want to call it “God”, because their understanding and experience of “Ultimate Power” is not recognized by the institution that has the authority to define God. It can be inferred, “God” here is something that is believed to exist as a reality by these people based on their personal experience, but at the same time, they reject their “God” concept. This group is not atheist (Fuller, 2001). They are known as agnostic, i.e., godly but non-religious individuals. The second issue is the debate over the fact of God. This issue arises in groups of people, including scientists of materialism, which put “empirical” condition as a requirement for reality. According to them, God as reality is something that is still debatable, because the existence of God could not be proven in an empirical approach. These people assume that God is a reality constructed by culture; thus, the measure of truth is pragmatic truth: as far as benefit to that cultural society exists, that reality is real. It can be inferred that God is not an objective fact or reality, but a constructed reality. God only exists or is right for the people who recognize the construction. Groups that do not recognize God as a reality belong to the atheist group (Fuller, 2001). Religion, based on the concept of religiosity (Glock & Stark, 1969), undeniably, can also be interpreted as two things: religion as an institution, and religion as a culture. As an institution, the subject of religious affairs has religious involvement scope. Its religious dimensions are involved in religious activities, not connected with God. Religious people in this understanding must join one religious organization or religious institution to be religious. Religion means a religious organization, and active involvement in the organization, including religious knowledge and religious ritual, are indicators to measure the religiosity level. The indicator of religion as a culture is values internalized through norms and rules in culture, thus, raising the issue of people who adopt religious values and making those values as a reference to their behavior, without involving

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themselves in religious institutions or organizations. Religious people in this understanding arise in societies whose cultural values are inseparable from religious values. With the understanding of God and religion as explained, then came three groups of people (Fuller, 2001): 1. A person who believes in God as a reality and acknowledges the concept of “God” defined by a religion, usually s/he has a God and religion. 2. People who believe that God “exists” as reality, but do not call it “God”, are usually Godless but they are not religious (they call themselves spiritual but not religious or agnostic). 3. People who do not believe that God exists, so do not believe in any institution that involves God, therefore, disbeliever or an atheist. From these groupings, the religious self can be applied to groups of people in category 1 and 2. Religious self cannot be applied to groups of people in category 3, because God and religion are not really for them. Supports are mentioning God’s spiritual aspect is part of the religion and are related to thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (Abdul Rauf, 2004; Chittick, 2007; Frager, 2012). Furthermore, the spirit of the divinity did not only include recognition of the human obligation to conform to God’s will but also involved the acceptance of human beings’ privilege among other creatures. This makes humans carry out the task of becoming the Khalifah (the representative of) Allah in the world (Frager, 2012) or the image of God/Imago Dei (Glock & Stark, 1966), representing Him in spreading the grace and compassion to the world and governing the universe according to the will of God. Being a representative of Allah means that all behaviors performed related to Allah, ideally completed “on behalf of the one he represents”. This concept is reflected in a statement commonly preceded by every Muslim and Christian behavior in Indonesia, namely “in the name of God Most Merciful” (Islam) and “in the name of the Jesus” (Christian). The idea that individuals and God are related in a hierarchical connection is in the spiritual domain, whereas the second idea involves the psychosocial domain, which promotes respect for the welfare of others as opposed to his desires, and encourages individuals to take responsibility for the public welfare. The difference is, in religious understanding, that attitude and encouragement are related to the awareness of one’s relationship with God. From a self-construal perspective, this is an interdependent self-construal. Based on the ideal principle of religious self, if all single individuals in the society applied such interdependent self-construal, then it would create a harmonious life in society. Unfortunately, the reality tells otherwise. At the same time, when there are various reports on groups of people who are very inspirational through their contribution in society, there are much more acts committed by

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religious individuals who precisely seem to do the opposites. Such actions include deprivation of property rights (invasion, evictions), disruption the right to life (killing), and the right to seek a decent living (corruption, embargo). This condition raises a question why many behaviors not oriented towards the welfare of others are observed, especially those are done by people who have a particular religious identity that should have a religious self who can control his behavior. If every religious person adopts the spirit of God and understands the responsibilities following their profession, then why is their behavior still not oriented towards the welfare of others? Free will is a concept that can explain the situation. It is mentioned in various religious literature such as Qurʾan surrah 18:23; and also in Psalm, John, Josephus, Al-Ashʾari, Bhagavad Gita, and Moses Maimonides (Parrinder, 2000). Free will is an opportunity that man has to determine his thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, which enable him to choose beliefs, define attitudes, and decide specific actions, even including the free will to acknowledge or not to acknowledge the existence of God, or in other words, freedom to do not only positive things, but also mistakes (Abdul Rauf, 2004). In a self-construal perspective, this is an independent self-construal, causes religious self a multi-construal model of self. Humans do have a free will to choose their spirituality, but only spirituality that produces behavior concerning for peace and public welfare that is categorized as religious spirituality. Religious spirituality brings values, in which the literature of monotheistic religions shows that the values lie within the conscience of every person, in the definition of conscience as a reference that contains the standard of natural obedience or piety (Abdul Rauf, 2004), or jiwa bathiniah, the inner soul (Frager, 2012). Those are natural, as implanted in everyone by God, is imprinted in the blueprint of life (gene) as a potential good or a tendency towards compassion, generosity, benevolence (Murakami, 2006), before being mixed with the values embraced and instilled by parents and community through family socialization. Neuroscientists call it the gene of faith (Newberg & Waldman, 2006). Abdul Rauf further argued that all religious thought about the world and the universe, fundamentally based on the most profound conviction of a man that everything in the universe was created. Westerners call it Causa Prima (the earliest cause of everything, which causes the existence of everything). Admitting God as the Creator of the universe leads to religious thought that all creation including a human being is following the will of God who created it. As creatures, humans by definition will be subject to or obey the laws or the will of their creator. For example, God creates a human that relies on food to live. Therefore, no man can reject his hunger. He must comply with his hunger,

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which later moves him to have no choice but to seek food. Kind of food he is looking for, in what way he eats, where he will eat it and with whom, are the space of human free will. This is the situation of human free will within the boundaries of God’s will. The Qurʾan contains it in Surrah 17:13–15 with the parable of “like a necklace to his neck”, i.e., it can rotate into various positions but still hanging on the neck of the wearer. In the various limits of God’s will that raises individual needs to struggle for their survival, there is also God’s will, that the needs frequently could be fulfilled through interaction or exchange with others. God’s love for humans is expressed through numerous rules that guide how humans can interact with each other in ways that will mutually flourish. God wants people to work together through love so that this love will raise the urge to treat each other properly. Since it is mandatory for Indonesians to have a religious identity, by choosing one among the six official religions acknowledged by the Indonesian government, the discussion of religiosity and spirituality needs to be explained from the perspective of the six religions. Based on the census data of the Indonesian population in 2010 (still five religions, Confucianism was not included), the profile was 87% Islam, 7% Christian, 3% Catholic, 1.7% Hindu, 0.7% Buddhist, and 0.6% “others”. Next is to look at the religious-self according to the religion’s perspectives. Islam. Islam has an understanding of the relationship of creature-creator between human and God. The religion said that the purpose of humans being created is that they serve God as stated in the Qurʾan Surrah 51:56, “I do not create jinn and man but for them to worship Me”, and to become a representative of God (caliph/leader) to manage the earth in order to bring the welfare of all life in it, in the Qurʾan Surrah 2:30, “… I will indeed make a Caliph on the earth….”, and in the Qurʾan Surrah 11:61, “I created you from the soil, and I made you prosper”. Representing God on earth means making decisions and acting in reference to God’s rules. In Islam, there are 99 attributes of God introduced to their adherents, but Muslims are required to act only on behalf of “the Most Merciful and Compassionate” (Qurʾan Surrah 27:30). In other words, Muslims should be loving and compassionate to other creatures, including humans. What are the driving factors that make Muslims motivated to commit themselves to God’s provisions? Islam recognizes life after death as a time to assign one’s responsibility to God for his conduct in the world, where a person who complied with God’s command would live happily in heaven; otherwise the disobedient would live in misery in hell. Qurʾan Surrah 3:132 states that “obedience to Allah and the Messenger will result in the coming of God’s grace”, and Qurʾan Surrah 40:51 states that “God helps person whose believes

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on the accountability day”. Belief in God is asking for human responsibility, and is an antecedent factor that leads an individual to develop self-control and self-regulation to act from a place loving and caring for others as required. Christian. Christianity has the terms omnipotent and omniscience to describe God’s attributes related to man, that God is the ultimate determinant of the human effort (Omnipotent) and that God sees all that man does (Omniscience) (Laurin, Kay, & Fitasimmons, 2012). The belief demands a man to always behave in one way, and at the same time when facing any situation, whether his efforts are successful or failed, man must be assured of miracles, because the end of man’s endeavor is not dependent on man itself, but on God’s plan or will. Another thing that is related to godliness in Christianity, according to Armstrong (2009) is the belief that man lives by carrying original sin from the predecessor of man due to his transgressions to the rules of God, which place humans in eternal punishment. Such beliefs are part of the spirituality that sets limits on how individuals think and behave in their lives. This concept is an interdependent self-construal aspect. In terms of the nature of God in Christianity, Armstrong (Armstrong, 2009) concludes that in the Bible, God is explained by numerous features and actions that make Him objectively challenging to characterize. Is he a friendly creator? Alternatively, the most destructive creator? Armstrong said that in the end, each human mind constructs his image of God, including his attributes and actions. In this position, the researcher identifies the Christian beings as an aggregate that meets the religious definition of religion, an aggregate dealing with the awareness of godliness, with the self-construal interdependent and independent at the same time. Catholic. Catholics recognize the Ten Commandments of God that become the reference for the individual to control himself and direct his behavior. The Ten Commandments are (BibleGateway): 1. You shall have no other gods before me. 2. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. (You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.) 3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God (for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name). 4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. (Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth,

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the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy). 5. Honor your father and your mother, (so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.) 6. You shall not murder. 7. You shall not commit adultery. 8. You shall not steal. 9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 10. You shall not covet (your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or) anything that belongs to your neighbor. Among the ten commandments of God, three devoted commands on God require the Catholics to obey, while seven of which are references for interacting with others. There are variations of one denomination with one another (Orthodox Catholic, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, Reformation, and Protestant) in terms of the order, but the contents of the command are similar. Having these seven commandments makes loving others central to Catholicism. That is, a religious individual, who is positioning himself to worship God, will realize the logical consequence of his devotion, that is to behave toward others with the basis of love and compassion. Hindu. Hinduism in principle embraces monotheism, known in its religion as Adwaita Wedanta philosophy, which means “second to none”. The concept considers God to be the center of all life in the universe. In Hindu, God has another title of Brahman, a Sanskrit term meaning “The Everything” (Armstrong, 2009), believed to be the whole reality, the essence of existence, the foundation of everything that exists; there is itself, a power that unites the universe together and allows it to grow and develop. Armstrong explains the existence of Brahman to the universe using parables commonly referred to by its adherents, which is like saltiness in salt-water. We cannot see salt in that salt water, but the salt is in it. We know the existence of salt in salt water because the water is salty. Salt makes the water salty. Similar to salt, Brahman cannot be seen, but He exists because there is life. This life is proof that Brahman exists. He is in every living reality. Since we are living beings, then Brahman is within us. The belief in Brahman’s presence within, in Hinduism, is not communicated through various doctrines to be believed by Hindus, but through ritual practices guided by the Vedas in such a way that the culprit will find his own spiritual experience of Brahman’s presence, which later makes them see the world differently. The attainment of the self that lives in the presence of Brahman is called Atman (Armstrong, 2009), the “self” in an individual identical to Brahman. Hinduism aims to attain the Atman, a quality of self-identical to the Brahman’s qualities, in contrast to the individualist self that is characterized by selfishness, greed, and self-absorption, inherent in human thought and behavior as well as the source of suffering.

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The characteristics of Brahman are then manifested into various forms of gods, such as Vishnu, Brahma, Shiva, Lakshmi, Parvati, and Saraswati, each of which has a particular trait transformed from Brahman. The reason behind this manifestation is because Brahman is challenging to articulate and imagine; therefore, symbolization is more easily understood by humans. In Hindu Dharma religion in Indonesia (especially in Bali), Brahman is represented through the concept of Ida Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa (Wijaya, Bagus, Paramartha, Suastika, & Nuarca, 2013) which is a form of Balinese monotheism. People adopting Hindus are required to display good deeds as a condition for reaching moksha when they die. Moksha is a happy state that can be achieved only by behaving well during life, or only if s/he was an atman (eternal self). It is reasonable if an egoistic-self convert to atman, humans are not egoistic when experience hunger, thirst, pain, sadness, and various other situations. S/he tends to be calm, restrained, and happy. In the atman-self, egoistic-self is absent (Armstrong, 2009). This concept is due to the systematic collapse of instinctive behavior, and the typical mindset is replaced by self-awareness of unity with all that exists. As soon as the egoistic self is distorted into an atman, objects are no longer seen through the lens of egoistic need, but, rather, they are seen as part of the “world” and that “world” is part of the inner world. Atman is a religious self. If people who profess Hindu choose to apply it, he has an independent and interdependent self-construal. Buddhism. Buddhism is unique compared to the other four religions in terms of the more prominent Buddhist character as an exemplary figure in religion, rather than either the existence of God or his relationship with humans. His followers call Buddha the “Blessed One”, “the Fully Enlightened One” (Anuruddha, 2011), whose teachings focused on attempts to understand the way phenomena [work according to the law] as it appears to his mind, is not the hidden number of phenomena behind the phenomenon, not the phenomena in itself, however, are the fundamental components of the actuality (Anuruddha, 2011). Buddha made an analogy of a human-God relationship with the situation when a person has just been shot by a poisoned arrow and wants to know who the assailant is and where the attacker came from. Buddha considers that in such situations the information the victim wants to know is less important than the treatment for his wound (Armstrong, 2009). The Buddhist analogy seems to be based on the assumption that Buddha considers human life in the world as a state of sickness, sadness, and hurt, and God causes all those. However, the reality is not as aforementioned. The Buddha sees that pain, sadness, and sorrow in humans will remain, with or without the knowledge that

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God is the One who created the situation (Armstrong, 2009). It is this focus on the human situation that makes Buddhism focus on two poles of doctrine, the suffering and the cessation of suffering (Anuruddha, 2011). In the case of human suffering, Buddha does not say that God does not exist or that God created that suffering. The situation is that God cannot be defined theoretically or understood by faith alone. The individual must understand through his own experience, which according to Buddha, will be obtained through various exercises to reach anatta (the state of “without self”), or silent consciousness (Brahm, 2006), or perfect holiness (Anuruddha, 2011), which is not an abstract doctrine, but a program of action (Armstrong, 2009), which is an attempt to permanently liberate the mind from all defilements such as greed and hatred (Anuruddha, 2011). Anatta can be achieved through either temporal or everlasting behavior oriented to other’s shared feelings, in a way that Armstrong describes as “deriving itself from the throne of his world center and putting others there.” The author translates anatta in the perspective of religious self at the level in which the quality of thoughts, feelings, and motives are not assigned to negative instinctive impulses, but the “conscience” of God’s features that, according to the biological perspective, God gives humans potential which is ready to be activated (Newberg & Waldman, 2006). Buddha assumes, according to Armstrong (Armstrong, 2009), that placing oneself as the center of orientation, reflected through the discussion of “I” and “mine,” is a kind of self that will easily develop competition over ownership with others. Anuruddha (2011) mentions that such an inward orientation must have its roots in greed and hatred. According to self, anatta or “without self” occurs when a person has managed to free his mind from his self-orientation in a way that there is no greed over the world, no addiction to the world, and he experiences peace, eternity, and a more prosperous life, which is what the Buddha called Nirvana. In Indonesia, Buddhists who have reached that stage are often said to achieve the state of brahmavihara, which is characterized by love and compassion for others. An achievement of Buddhism‘s ultimate goal is personal liberation through non-attachment (Anuruddha, 2011). In this position, the author has difficulty in identifying the existence of a divine spirit in the individual of people who profess Buddhism; therefore, Buddhism can be summed up as a non-theistic religion. Confucianism. Confucianism is the sixth recognized religion in Indonesia. Confucius, sometimes called merely Kong Cu, was a favorite teacher of his time, also known as a social philosopher (MATAKIN, 2010). His philosophy puts forward personal morality, which governs the conduct of his followers. Kong Cu, Kong Zi, or Kong Fu Zi is considered a prophet, and his name is used as the

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name of this religion. His disciples held it with Tian Zhi Mu Duo, which means “the Spiritual Gentleman of God”, that Thian (God the Almighty) has sent him as the Prophet of All Time, Complete, Great, and Perfect (Ji Da Cheng) (Wikipedia, 2011). In terms of God, people who profess Confucianism call it “Thian”, with his religious path referred to as the “holy way” as mentioned in the chapter of Tiong Yong (Middle of Perfect), Main Chapter, verse 1, i.e., “The Word of THIAN (God Almighty) True Character. Life of one who follows the True Character is named the Holy Way. The guidance of taking the Holy Way is called Religion” (MATAKIN, 2010). The Word of God and the relationship with others in Confucianism have expressed in the scriptures “Su Si”. When he is high-ranking he did not underestimate his subordinates, and in a lowly position he was not a sycophant to his superiors; he aligns himself and does not fool others. Thus, he has no regret. Upward he does not regret God Almighty and down does not blame his neighbor MATAKIN, 2010

In Indonesia, Confucianism began to formalize its existence as a religion around 2011. MATAKIN is an organization that embodies this religion, which stands for the Confucian Supreme Council of Indonesia, founded in 1955 (Matakin, 2011). The historical development of Confucianism shows that this religion was originally known as the religion of Ru jiao, which means “the necessary person” (Wikipedia, 2011). In the reference, it is also explained that the use of Chinese characters in the word Ru jiao implies a philosophy contained in Confucianism. The first is “Ru”. In Chinese language “Rou” which means good and putting morality. Then, the Chinese character “Yu” which means the main one, which prioritizes good behavior. Next, the Chinese letter “He” that means harmonious and aligned. Thus, “Ru” implies sowing goodness or self-purification. The second word “jiao” consists of a Chinese letter “xiao” which means devotion, and “wen” means scripts or doctrine. Therefore, the whole “jiao” means doctrine or literature to worship. Overall, Ru jiao means a doctrine or religion to worship, for a gentle and kind man who must put good deeds, harmony, and good (MATAKIN, 2010). After reviewing the scripture “Su Si”, it can be concluded that Confucianism is a theistic religion, while the understanding contained in the term Ru Jiao can be understood that, by definition, this religion already contains values of noble character, prosocial behavior, and harmonization in social interaction. The author developed an interpretation of Confucianism’s definition from the perspective of religious self, that the goal of Confucianism is to achieve a self that meets the character of virtuous character, a self that is colored by tenderness,

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and a self that is motivated to display social behavior in harmony with God’s words. People who profess Confucianism call themselves Kuncu, which means “moral being”, or “perpetrator of moral deeds” (MATAKIN, 2010). In general, through various concept of the reality of God from recognized religions in Indonesia, the author concludes that there is a reality which is realized to “exist”, with a similar description, that it originates within and transcends, cannot be described in words but can be lived by those who can restrict or control their ego (having optimal self-control). That reality, if one has been living in its existence, will make the individual appear as a person who is not overpowered by his ego, able to put respect and goodness toward others, and shows an emotional state of tranquility, happiness, and peace. The reality is conceptualized with many concepts such as God, the Eucharist, the Brahman, and the Holy Reality. However, there is a similarity that concerning the person, the existence of “reality” cannot be lived through sound knowledge (Ihsan, 2010) or consensus knowledge (Abidin, 2009). Individuals must go through the spiritual experience themselves, or through ritual and practice until they discover the truth of the spiritual reality they believe. 6.4

Empirical Evidence of Religious Self

Study about religious self has already begun. The study was undertaken from the hypothesis that the religious self is the construct that “exists” in the individual. These results support the author’s previous study on the existence of a religious self-construct within the individual (Ninin, 2015). The results obtained from religious identity clusters show that religious self is proved to “exist” significantly in subjects who identify themselves in theistic religions (Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Catholicism, Confucianism). There is no religious self inferior to subjects affiliated with nontheistic religions (Buddhism) and to subjects that are not affiliated with any religion (Ninin, Iskandar, Sumintardja, & Siswadi, 2018). References Abdul Rauf, I. F. (2004). What’s right with Islam: A new vision for Muslims and the West. (D. Mardina, & M. R. Atmoko, Penerj.) New York: HarperCollins. Abidin, Z. (2009). Filsafat Manusia: Memahami Manusia melalui Filsafat. (S. L. Azizah, Penyunt.) Bandung: PT Remaja Rosdakarya.

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Ancok, D., & Suroso, F. N. (2011). Psikologi Islami: Solusi Islam atas Problem-Problem Psikologi (8th ed.). (M. S. Ardani, Penyunt.) Yogyakarta: PUSTAKA PELAJAR. Andersen, S. M., & Chen, S. (2002). The relational self: An interpersonal social-cognitive theory. Psychological Review, 109(4), 619–645. Anuruddha, A. (2011). Panduan Komprehensif tentang Abhidhamma. (B. Bodhi, A. Ferman, Penyunt., M. Narada, B. Kheminda, & D. Kesuma, Penerj.) —: Karaniya, Dharma Universal Bagi Semua, by arrangement with Buddhist Publication Society. Armstrong, K. (2009). The case for god: What religion really means (Terjemahan. Edisi kedua, Eds.). (Y. Liputro, Penerj.) Bandung: Penerbit Mizan. Bennett, M. (2011, July/August). Children’s social identities. Infant and Child Development, 20(4), 353–363. BibleGateway. (n.d.). Retrieved 03 15, 2019, from bibleGateway: https://www.biblegate way.com/passage/?search=Exodus+20&version=NIV. Boucher, H., & Maslach, C. (2009). Culture and Individuation: The role of norms and self-construal. The Journal of Social Psychology, 149(6), 677–694. Brahm, A. (2006). Mindfulness, bliss, and beyond. (Chuang, Penerj.) Ehipassiko Foundation. Calhoun, J. F., & Acocella, J. R. (1990). Psychology of adjustment and human relationships (3rd ed.). New York, USA: McGraw Hill Publishing Company. Chittick, W. C. (2007). Science of the cosmos, science of the soul: The pertinence of Islamic cosmology in the modern world. (A. Mulyadi, Penerj.) Oxford, England: Oneworld Publications. Curlin, F. A., Lantos, J. D., Roach, C. J., Sellergren, S. A., & Chin, M. H. (2005). Religious characteristics of U.S. physicians; A national survey. Journal of General Intern Medicine, (20), 629–634. Daniel, L. (2011, 08 31). Spiritual but not religious? Please stop boring me. United Church of Christ online magazine. Dipetik 09 01, 2011. Dowling, E. M., & Scarlett, W. (2006). Encyclopedia of religious and spiritual development. California: SAGE Publications. Fitts, W. H. (1971). The self concept and self actualization. Western Psychological Services. Frager, R. (2012). Sufi talks: Teachings of an American Sufi Sheikh (Terjemahan, Ed.). (H. Akmal, Penerj.) Weathon: Quest Books. Fuller, R. C. (2001). Spiritual but not religious: Understanding unchurched America. Oxford University Press. Gallup. (2014). Gallup.com. Diambil kembali dari Gallup.com. Glock, C., & Stark, R. (1966). Beliefs of Christianity and anti-Semitism. New York: Harper & Row. Glock, C. Y., & Stark, R. (1969). Religion and society in tension. Chicago: Rand McNally & Company.

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Hadiwijaya. (2010). Tokoh-tokoh Kejawen: Ajaran dan Pengaruhnya. Yogyakarta: Eule Book (Kelompok Penerbit Pinus). Hardjoprakoso, S. (1956). Candrajiwa Indonesia; Sebagai Dasar suatu Psikhotherapi (Indonesisch Mensbeeid ais basis ejner psycho-therapie). Leiden: Dissertation/ Unpublished manuscript. Hepper, E. G., Sedikides, C., & Cai, H. (2013). Self-enhancement and self-protection strategies in China: Cultural expression of fundamental human motive. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 5–23. Hill, P. C., & Pargament, K. I. (2008). Advances in the conceptualization and measurement of religion and spirituality: Implications for physical and mental health research. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, S(1), 3–17. Hood, J. R., Hill, P. C., & Spilka, B. (2009). The psychology of religion: An empirical approach (4th ed.). New York: The Guilford Press. Ihsan, F. (2010). Filsafat Ilmu. Jakarta: Penerbit Rineka Cipta. Jackson, B. R., & Bergeman, C. (2011, May). How does religiosity enhance well-being? The role of perceived control. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 3(2), 149–161. Jung, C. G. (1938). Psychology and religion. United States of America: Yale University Press, Inc. Kemendikbud Republik Indonesia. (2019). Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia (KBBI), online/daring. Retrieved March 19, 2019, from https://kbbi.web.id. Kim, S. (2011). The anatomy of Confucian communitarianism: The Confucian social self and its discontent. The Philosophical Forum, Inc., 111–130. Kopassus. (2012). Ekspedisi Khatulistiwa 2012: Peduli dan Lestarikan Alam Indonesia. Jakarta: Penerbit Buku Jawa Pos Group. Laurin, K., Kay, A. C., & Fitasimmons, G. M. (2012). Divergent effects of activating thoughts of God on self regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(1), 4–21. Markus, H., & Kitayama, S. (2003). Culture and the self. Implication for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Dalam M. A. Hogg (Ed.), Social Psychology (Vol. IV). London: SAGE Publications. MATAKIN. (2010). Su Si (Kitab Yang Empat): Kitab Suci Agama Khonghucu (Cetakan XII ed.). Majelis Tinggi Agama Khonghucu Indonesia. Matakin. (2011). http://www.matakin.or.id. Dipetik 2015, dari MATAKIN. Miller, R. (1991). Educating the true self: Spiritual roots of the holistic worldview. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 53–67. Morry, M. M., & Kito, M. (2009, June). Relational-interdependent self-construal as a predictor of relationship quality: The mediating roles of one’s own behaviors and perceptions of the fulfillment of friendship functions. The Journal of Social Psychology, 149(3), 205–222. Murakami, K. (2006). The divine code of life: Awaken your genes and discover hidden talents. (W. Prasetyowati, Penerj.) New York: Beyond Words Publishing, Inc. Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Newberg, A., & Waldman, M. R. (2006). Born to believe: God, science, and the origin of ordinary and extraordinary beliefs. (E. Y. Nukman, Penerj.) New York: Free Press. Ng, H. S., Ha, S. M., & Lai, J. C. (2010). Dynamic bicultural brains: fMRI study of their flexible neural representation of self and significant others in response to culture primes. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 13, 83–91. Ninin, R. H. (2015, May 30). The self of sundanese ethnic: Interdependent construal and religious self. Asian Social Science, 11(16), 1–8. Ninin, R. H., Iskandar, Z. I., Sumintardja, E. N., & Siswadi, A. G. (2018, April). Diri Religius: Suatu Model Konseptual tentang Diri (Religious self: A conceptual model of self). Journal of Psychological Science and Profession ( jurnal.unpad.ac.id/jpsp), 2(1), 114–126. Paloutzian, R. F., & Park, C. L. (2005). Handbook of the psychology of religion and spirituality. (R. F. Paloutzian, & C. L. Park, Penyunt.) New York: The Guilford Press. Parrinder, G. (2000). The Routledge dictionary of religious and spiritual quotations. London: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group. Pasiak, T. (2012). Tuhan dalam Otak Manusia. Bandung, Jawa Barat, Indonesia: Mizan. Perreira, T. L. (2010, April 13). “Die before you die”: Death meditation as spiritual technology of the self in Islam and Buddhism. The Muslim World, 100(2–3), 247–267. Quinn, N. (2006). The self: Anthropological theory. Journal of Historical Sociology, 6(3), 362–384. Rankin, M. (2008). An introduction to religious and spiritual experience. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. Reber, A. (1985). Dictionary of psychology. USA: The Penguin Books. Rickels, M. (2012). Islamisation and its opponents in Java. (F. D. Sunardi, & S. Wahono, Penerj.) Singapore, Singapore: NUS Press. Schaefer, R. T. (2009). Sociology: A brief introduction. USA: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Schlegel, R., & Hicks, J. (2012, 12 5). The true self and psychological health: Emerging evidence and future directions. Social and Personality Psychology Compass. Schmeichel, B. J., Vohs, K. D., & Baumeister, R. F. (2003). Intellectual performance and ego depletion: Role of the self in logical reasoning and other information processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(1), 33–46. Slife, B. D., & Richardson, F. C. (2010, March/April). Review of relational being: Beyond self and community. The Journal of Social Psychology, 150(2), 226–230. Wijaya, I. N., Bagus, I. G., Paramartha, K., Suastika, I. M., & Nuarca, I. K. (2013). Dinamika Budaya Hindu Dharma di Indonesia. Denpasar: Udayana University Press. Wikipedia. (2011). Wikipedia Bahasa Indonesia. Dipetik 2014, dari Wikipedia Bahasa Indonesia. Xie, D., Leong, F. T., & Feng, S. (2008). Culture-specific personality correlates of anxiety among Chinese and Caucasian college students. Asian Journal of Social Psychology.

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Chapter 7

An Inverted Quest: Cosmopolitanism and Religion in Baladeva Comics Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras Abstract As demonstrated by Benedict Anderson, media are powerful means in creating imagined community, and accordingly, mighty poles of both nationalism and cosmopolitanism. While the former gains much popularity in scholarly analysis, the latter needs to be considered as well, in understanding religious expression in present-day Indonesia, and both in particular with regard to the tensions of “nationalism” (often appeared in term of neo-tribalism and political populism) and religious transnationalism. The present article takes Anderson’s insight and through it explores the rhetoric represented in the series of historical comic entitled Baladeva, published by Tantraz Comics Bali, Denpasar. The analysis sought inspiration from the notions of micro-cosmopolitanism and cosmopatriotism. A micro-cosmopolitanism is a cosmopolitanism from below that is concerned with freedom, openness, tolerance, and respect for difference, while cosmopatriotism is a double articulation of patriotism and cosmopolitanism that grapples with the condition of territorialism and de-territorialism in the context of postmodern society. Through those conditions and framing, the analysis might reveal the complicated meaning of cosmopolitanism, beyond the popular understanding of the celebration of being the global citizen and the transcendence of traditional and national boundaries. Taking the last period of the Medang Kingdom (Hindu-Buddhist Mataram) as the historical context of the comic’s plot, the author consciously portrayed the glory and power of the pre-Islam, pre-colonial ‘Indonesian’ past. This narrative directly and indirectly became a critical position against the present condition of Indonesia, which is presumably Westernized, modernized, and implicitly Islamicized. Balinese socio-political and religious dynamic as the immediate context for the author is also part of the equation. Hence, the analysis might touch upon where the pressing questions of nationalism and cosmopolitanism, counter-transnational religious discourse, and religious minority are played out.

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Keywords micro-cosmopolitanism – cosmopatriotism – Tantraz comics – religion in Indonesia

7.1 Introduction1 In a chapter of his book Language and Power (1990), entitled “Cartoons and Monuments: The Evolution of Political Communication under the New Order”, Ben Anderson was discussing the genres of political communications, which he divided into the modes of “direct speech” and “symbolic speech.” For the latter, it includes cartoons and monuments, in which he analysed the works of two cartoonists that came from different generations: Sibarani (Augustin Sibarani, 1925–2014), who was active during the Sukarno Era, and Johnny Hidajat (b. 1942), who worked on a comic strip in the New Order Era (Anderson, 1990, pp. 152–193). Anderson demonstrated that both visual arts were sites of ideological struggle, representations of the spirit of the age, and a “social commentary” upon contemporary issues (cf. Berman, 2001). Likewise, those were the summation of numerous subtexts of ideological leanings, religious narratives, such as in Sibarani’s work, and manifestations of public mood, such as in Hidajat’s, where open critique to the government was restricted. By the way, cartoons are seemingly an intersection between collective consciousness and politics, at least politics as a “half-autonomous realm of human interaction” (Anderson, 1990, p. 162). And as an end-product of print-capitalism (Anderson, 1991, p. 43), it was for him a public channel for public that have no access to power. He asserted that “[c]artoons were a way of creating collective consciences by people without access to bureaucratic or other institutionalized forms of political muscle” (Anderson, 1990, pp. 162–163). Anderson’s chapter initially was an article published in 1973, hence the notion of printing technology as the vehicle of nationalism that was instilled in his Imagined Communities (1983, 1991, 2006), and was yet to develop. But indeed his discussion echoed this concern, and moreover reflecting the earlier traces

1  Author Note: Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras, Universitas Kristen Duta Wacana. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Leonard Chrysostomos Epafras, Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies, Universitas Gadjah Mada Graduate School, 3rd floor, Jl. Teknika Utara, Pogung, Yogyakarta 55281 Indonesia. Email: leonard_epafras@ staff.ukdw.ac.id.

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of the idea of cosmopolitanism, profoundly appeared in Sibarani’s, which situated the Indonesian struggle of nationalism within the larger international context, and induced by the heteroglossic of terminologies he employed: a combination of Indonesian language and foreign jargons. Even though, the pre-independence pergerakan (anti-colonial movements) was seeing the nation as an enterprise and defining it in “a complex project of juxtapositions and separations between the ‘foreign’ and the ‘indigenous’ ” (Anderson, 1990, p. 166), at this juncture, nationalism might be conflated with cosmopolitanism, in the sense that subconsciously, the rhetoric of nationalism could not survive without the international atmosphere. The post-Reformation Indonesia (post-1998) and the global context in the new millennium remained a transitional period and a dynamic cross-current condition that rendered the feeling of unstable social, cultural, and political bases of society. Some felt that there was an increasing (religious) intolerance in Indonesia, of which the latest episode was the struggle of the gubernatorial election of Jakarta, which was seemingly a convenient culmination of the mood (cf. Lindsey & Pausacker, 2016). In the larger context of a growing networked global society (Castells, 2000), we also testify to the process of deprivatization of religion (Casanova, 1994), post-Islamism (e.g., Bayat, 2007), neo-tribalism (James, 2006), and conservative turn (Aslan, 2010; Bruinessen, 2013; e.g. Çarkoğlu & Kalaycıoğlu, 2009; Sutton & Dochuk, 2016). Those currents often appeared in public in the peculiar mating of (religio-)nationalism and populism, garbed with masculinity, which are reflected in the cases of Brexit, in the popularity of the rightist politicians in many countries in the world—Donald Trump, Rodrigo Duterte, Marine Le Pen, Gert Wilders, and others, easily snap in our minds—and in the growing dislike toward cultural and religious difference (see e.g., Cooperman, Grim, & O’Connell, 2014). Those indeed give a breath of highly complicated social processes that are not entirely comprehended. Indonesia also testified the increasing public piety and religiosity, salient in the media, new media, and socio-religious activities. This, however, does not necessarily increase the public morality, address the social problems, and enhance transcendental issues, as it is more on the governmentality upon moral conduct (cf. Epafras, 2020, forthcoming; Postill & Epafras, 2018). To the latter, the construction of public civility in many respects pushed toward religious conservatism rather than deployed a pluralistic society; the process often at the cost of some religious minorities and non-mainstream beliefs such as Shiʾism, Ahmadiyya, atheism, and other new religious movements, in particular when there is a tandem of the state apparatus and religious authority via mobilized suppressors, in disciplining those groups.

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While pan-ethnic religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity defied territorial and ethnic constraints since the beginning, the present globalized world presented a new trajectory. Migration, transportation, and information technologies were not only transporting and communicating people, but also exciting and nourishing religious imagination. Some research suggested there is a correlation between migration and religion (cf. Sheringham, 2014). Hence, religious transnationalism is tapping perfectly with globalization and furthermore, religious fundamentalism is a consequence of the increasing networked society in which religious identity is flowing and barricading altogether (Castells, 2004, p. 9; cf. Meyer & Geschiere, 1999). Beyond the Dutch colonialism and European missionary works, which was the main factor for the presence of Indonesian Christianity, the emergence of the “Third Stream,” the Evangelicals and Pentecostal churches (Steenbrink & Aritonang, 2008, p. 867ff.), could be seen as a kind of a new wave of transnational religious movement, as the expansion of the earlier period of the “Protestant International” (Clark & Ledger-Lomas, 2012). On the other hand, the toughening of political Islam, induced by global Islamic movements such as Salafism (Meijer, 2014), urban Sufism (Howell & Bruinessen, 2013), and the rhizomic actors of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (renowned as ISIS), displayed perfectly the ongoing blurring transnationality and locality boundaries. Practical and more conservative versions of Hinduism appeared in the present day Bali Island, partly stimulated by the intensification of the India and Bali Island connection, and challenged the establishment of traditional Hinduism and religious hierarchy. Along with it is the growing Balinese “ethno-nationalism” as a counter narrative of Islamism (cf. Muhajir, Artawan, & Adnyana, 2013). The emergence of new Jewish communities in Indonesia, in which the Internet became a significant vehicle for the retracing and reinventing the new identity (Epafras, 2013), accentuated the religious transnationalism. Against those complicated processes, but without necessarily being swayed by the negative mood those rendered, in the present article I am expanding Anderson’s insights in analysing a comic series published in the early part of the second decade of the millennium and situated it in the aforementioned context. I sought to learn whether the comic under scrutiny reflected certain social struggles, henceforth to investigate the tie between the rhetoric of nationalism and cosmopolitanism in the context of new millennium Indonesia. The analysis is in significant ways represented by a Balinese perspective as the locus of the research. Within this constellation, I touched upon as well how religion—in this regard Indic religious tradition, signified in Balinese Hinduism—became part of the equation. Cosmopolitanism and religion

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affected the way gender and body are represented visually, hence these are taken into account as well. The comic under scrutiny is a series entitled Baladeva, produced by Denpasar-based Tantraz Comics (hereinafter Tantraz). Baladeva is only one out of several comics, literatures, and Instagram Stories produced by the company. The first Baladeva comic was launched in 2013, and most of the editions, except the first edition, are only available in electronic version, through the access of Android and iOS’s Tantraz apps. The reasons for this option are suppressing cost production and expanding the global readership. Katurnusantara is Tantraz latest non-profit initiative to spread out Indonesian legends and fairy tales through the Instagram Story facility. Katur is an abbreviation of kartun bertutur (cartoontelling), and “Nusantara,” is an Old-Javanese term, signified in the Indonesian archipelago. The paperless and multimedia options mark the shift in the comic industry, which is directly responsible for the decline of printing production (cf. Kristi, 2016). This, however, does not necessarily become the only logic to protect the market exposure. In some cases, the other way around is also happening. The popular comic of an eccentric character, Si Juki (illustrated and produced by Faza Ibnu Ubaidillah/Faza Meonk) initially appeared in an online version, but after it gained considerably popularity, it expanded into the printed version. Baladeva is a historical fiction, adventure, and action/martial art comic that takes the last days of the Medang Kingdom as its context. Medang is a popular name of Hindu-Buddhist’s Mataram Kingdom (ca. 752–1006 CE) in Java Island. This powerful kingdom may be considered as the seed of Javanese civilization, in which the later Hindu-Buddhist’s Majapahit (ca. 1293–1500 CE) and Islamic Mataram Sultanate (ca. 1570–1755 CE) maintained a cultural bond with it. Up until the writing of the present article, there are ten editions published, which the story building is still ongoing. The comic is divided into two parts that are each called parva (‘chapter’ in Sanskrit), following the division of Indian classical books such as in Mahabharata. According to the blueprint laid by the director of Tantraz, Putu Gde Ary Wicahyana (Wicahyana, 2016, 2017 henceforth Mr. Ary), Baladeva is the first part of a trilogy, of which the other two parts will be Airlangga and Calon Arang. Central to the story is the journey and adventure of Kebo Parang—the main character of the story—from Medang to India/Tibet to seek the cure of his spiritual and internal illness after his clash with a monster via a meteorite in earlier episode of the story. The difference of Medang and India/Tibet is seemingly not a naïve presentation of location and context of the story but manifesting the social struggle of the present Indonesia, in many ways exemplified

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by local social, political, and to a degree religion of Bali and the Balinese. The two places might symbolize the conditions of ‘nationalism’ and ‘transnationalism’ that are encapsulated in the cosmopolitanism of the self. Within this scheme, the Kebo Parang’s journey could be framed as an ‘inverted quest’ in which India/Tibet is not only considered as the traditionally point of departure of the Hindu-Buddhist heritage of Indonesia, but also as a terminal of spiritual journey that began from Indonesia. Along with it is the projection of the glory of Indonesian past, which is envious and desirable by the others, including presumably the Indians. In the present article, I argue that cosmopolitanism is embedded with the idea of nationalism and multiculturalism. Furthermore, it is a manifestation of a fractured, troubled identity, and the multiple directions of identity formation, which embraced in the notion of micro-cosmopolitanism and cosmopatriotism. A micro-cosmopolitanism is a cosmopolitanism from below that is concerned with freedom, openness, tolerance, and respect for difference (Cronin, 2006), while cosmopatriotism is a double articulation of patriotism and cosmopolitanism that grapples with the conditions of territorialism and de-territorialism in the context of postmodern society (Jurriëns & Kloet, 2007). Likewise, the interplay of nationalism and transnationalism, seemingly become the space of contestation in comics, not only in Baladeva comic, but also I found similar claim by Indonesian Buddhist and Muslim comic producers (Amalee, 2016; Banthe Dharmawimala, 2016; Lubis, 2016; cf. Salim, 2004, 2016; Vijjānanda, 2016; Waluyo, 2016). Meanwhile, Indonesian Christian comics in large part do not pursue similar concerns, as those mostly deal with biblical narrative and Christian lives, except in one Korean translator of Bible comics, which displayed the reason behind the translation was to eschew from dominant American style and metaphors induced into the Christian comics (Renata [pseud.], 2016). 7.2

Comic and Indonesian Comics

Though they seemingly have a strong affinity as both are visual art, comics and cartoons have differences. Cartoons are a visualizing freezing moment, while comics are the motion of images along the kinetic lines; in a simpler words, comics are a sequential art (Eisner, 1985). History taught us that such art arose from a desire to visualize and reflect the mental processing of human and material mobility. Lascaux paintings, panels of Egyptian hieroglyphs, Pre-Columbian and Borobudur temples’ reliefs, Bayoux tapestries, and some others, were those the realization of this desire.

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The dynamic of this visual art, with the development of the industry, the emergence of a new generation of artists, and significantly, the proliferation of the new media and literary genres challenged the traditional way of “reading” text and images. The factors explained for this development, especially in the post-New Order were registered by John Lent, which include the emergence of new publishers, comic studios, artist communities, indie comics, Indonesian-style comics, and professionalism of the art (Lent, 2015, p. 149; cf. Tajudin, 2005). Hence, in the present day Indonesian comics, there are a number of genres, techniques, and presentations offered, for instance nomik (“novel komik,” comic-novel), such as Catatan Harian Olin (Olin’s Diary, 2000–2005), multimedia comic, which combined images, text, audio, and even augmented reality technology, such as Ensiklopedia Bocah Muslim (Muslim Kids Encyclopedia, 2015), infographical essays such as Felix Siauw’s Khilafah: Remake (2015), and Webtoon mobile applications. The latter is associated with LINE messenger application, which produced distinct way of consumption. This might be the latest development of social media discourse, in which it is an attempt to monopolize the digital human experience by incorporating the different purposes (messaging, news reading, and comic consumption) into single-entry service. A refined definition is, however, required as the above development necessitated and for the present undertaking that focuses on more than just the form of the art, as it investigates as well the motif, rhetoric, and intended effect of the art production. Scott McCloud described comics as “juxtaposed pictorial and other images in deliberate sequence, intended to convey information and/or to produce an aesthetic response in the viewer” (McCloud, 1994, p. 9). Furthermore, apparently comic is a form of reading and derived the technology from textuality. As sequential and repetitive imaging, combined with words, then becomes a “cross-breeding of illustration and prose … regimens of art (e.g., perspective, symmetry, brush stroke) and the regimens of literature (e.g. grammar, plot, syntax) become superimposed upon each other” (Eisner, 1985, p. 8). Comics, as one of the technologies of enchantment, allow for the unending image, fantasy, and dream production. But since comic is also a “text,” the aesthetical interpretation and meaning production might be restricted by the cultural convention, though indeed this is arbitrary. However, in the case of Indonesian comics in general, and religious comics in particular, the cultural convention, and furthermore, social norms, public demand, and ideology might determine the scope of creativity, especially to those immersed into the mainstream industry. The texture of convention might be visible, such as in the stereotypical presentation of females, male domination and muscularity, and

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in the conservatism of its messages. Often, the narrative of religious figures tended to fall into what Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett called, distory, “wherein only the best of the best, the most attractive” exemplary are presented (in Semmerling, 2004, p. 5). Following the above framing and furthering Anderson’s observation, in which he claimed cartoon as the channel for people who have limited access to the power, in this article I pursue this further by vouching for comic as sophisticated vehicle for different purposes and interests by different segments of the society. This may not imply exclusively to the people who have limited access to the affluent and powerful, as it is more on a space of contestation by those segments. Perhaps, the notion of “the powerful” in this regard needs to be seen in complexity and fluidity rather than portrayed it as a fixed location in the social hierarchy, hence the accessibility to “the power” is embracing the condition of multiple routes and possibilities. That is not to forget the various level of understanding and consumption of comics, notably when the attention directed at religious comics. Anthropologists and sociologists speak about “vernacular religion” (Eller, 2015, p. 202), “everyday religion,” and “the privilege the experience of non-experts” ­(Ammerman, 2007, pp. 5, 9), which allow us to appreciate comics as a way to consume and to express certain religions, as a significant number of them are outside the organized religion. Hence, the question is not merely whether the consumer has access to ‘the power’ but how this medium becomes the reflection of the mundane routines and daily lives, in which religiosity for many remained vital. “It means looking for the ad hoc religious beliefs, practices, and communities,” asserted Ammerman, “that also constitute the presence of religion in society” (Ammerman, 2014, p. 5). Comic as a ‘symbolic speech’ (Anderson) or ‘symbolic dialogue’ (Berman, 2001, p. 14), has been used by the political parties, religious communities, public figures, corporations, the entertainment industry, and other interest groups to enhance their agendas, market, interests, and imagination. The former condition was true during the New Order administration where the public space was squeezed by the authoritarian regime; hence cartoon and comic became a narrow channel for breathing. In the post-New Order, the circumstance has greatly shifted. Comic can also be seen as the perceptive plane in which social imagination is embodied. In it, a symbolic field of interaction is created, and visualized stories and ideas are expanded, exchanged, and resisted. At this juncture, the process is including the Othering, the construction of identity and the technique of translation of the Other that took place in artistic way. The power relation is played out as well, that is the relationship among the self, the Other, and

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the ‘third voice’ reflected in the assemblage of the plot (characters, discourse produced, page layout, etc.), and is in itself generated through the symbolic manipulation of these things. Through this assemblage, the Other(s) are portrayed and objectified, and a new ‘realm/world’ is established as a version of human life might be summoned, confirmed, and resisted, through which, a comic might offer an alternative projection of the self, the human relationship, or even the society itself. This is actually an arbitrary and not a closed system process, since this perceptive plane is made possible through the social and production infrastructure, such as comic artist, capital ownership, marketing, and so on, which in itself is another complex socio-cultural processes. Irrespective, the above complex presentation of comics (and other forms of popular culture genres, such as detective novels, romance stories, science fiction, and so on), the popular understanding excluded it from the belles lettres and perceived it as a third-rate culture, outside the high taste and worth, as it is thought for merely an entertainment consumption (Bonneff, 1998, p. 4; Tofts, 2016, pp. 144–148; Wahyudin, 2002, p. 30). President Sukarno was specifically displeased with comics as they are a “garbage and Western-induced poison, not at all conducive to building a national identity” (Lent, 2015, pp. 134–135). For many people, it is an “unpopular art,” just a “cheap entertainment for children” observed Sjåstad (Øystein, 2015, p. 5); a paraliterature, unofficial, marginal, and unsanctioned by the full-fledge literary tradition (Tofts, 2016, pp. 144–148). However, precisely at this point, as earlier remarked, comics nowadays became the vehicle to win public’s heart for many political, social, and religious agenda, coupling with entertainment and commercial concerns. During the data collection period, I found a number of comic types and genres, excluding magazine and newspaper’s comic strips, which reflected the diversity of comics’ usage and purposes, such as comics about public figures (e.g., Bengkel Buya, 2016; #azkacorbuzier, 2016), multitude religious comics, historical (e.g., Talking About a Revolution, 2016), self-help (e.g., Starting Your Leadership Journey, 2014), peace building (e.g., Peace Ganks, 2016), city lives (e.g., Kota Gede dalam Komik, 2010; Melihat Jakarta, 2016), etc. Backing up a bit, Indonesia has a long history of visual arts, markedly among others, appearing in reliefs such as in Borobudur and Prambanan temples, which tell the sacred and mundane stories of people in a somewhat sequenced manner. It is interesting then, that a project called ‘Borobudur comic series’ organized by a Buddhist comic writer, who also the owner of prominent Indonesian Buddhist publisher, Ehipassiko, Handaka Vijjānanda, visualized part of the 1,460 story reliefs of Borobudur into (thus far) eight volumes of comics. Vijjānanda justified it by calling the reliefs “gigantic comics” (Vijjānanda, 2013, pp. 3, 248; 2015, pp. 4, 128; 2016).

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Wayang kulit (shadow puppet) is also considered the precedence of the Indonesian comic art. Though not strictly speaking a visual art, but a composite of images impressed upon flat material (leather), wayang kulit could give an effect of motion picture like movies (Bonneff, 1998, p. 16ff.). Those examples may be a perfect introduction to the world of comic as sequential art (Eisner, 1985), including the embracing of visual humor and veiled satire elements in it. Wayang remained an important source of inspiration in the Indonesian comic industry up until the present day (Lent, 2015, p. 131). Comics as an industry and as the product of print capitalism, was only realized in Indonesian context probably in 1931 with Put On, which was named as the first comic illustrated by Kho Wan Gie (Kho Wan Gie, 2015, p. v; Lent, 2015, p. 131). It was a comic strip published in a Sino-phone newspaper, Sin Po. The portrayal of the main character, Put On, an urban Chinese single, might have characterized the urban struggle at the times, and hence gave a view “from a down-under, about the roaring and razing urbanization” (Hikmat Darmawan in Lent, 2015, p. 133). This became a paradigmatic model of the later period of cartoons, comic strips, and comic books, which touch upon the urban issues. Since the 1950s, the comic industry flourished, both as books and as comic strips in magazines and newspapers. The indigenous comic produced by Indonesian artists came to its ‘golden period’ in the 1960s and 1970s, with the emergence of great names such as R. A. Kosasih, Oerip, Otto Suastika, and others (Lent, 2015, pp. 133–134). As a colonized nation and later on gaining its independence, Indonesian comics were also affected by the winds of change that blew over the land. Hence, it was in many turns of history flourished as the reflection of the current national struggle. Since its earlier appearance in the 1930s until the early years of the 1970s, it reflected the fixation of nationalism, colonial and occupant propaganda (esp. in the Japanese occupation era), and the ideological competition in the later period. It was then ‘recorrected’ into the Pancasila as the national ideology in the aftermath of the failed coup of the ‘leftist Army’ and ‘communists’ in 1965 (Bonneff, 1998, pp. 19–45). This condition was reflected in the later period comic production, and comic artists created self-censorship management during the emergence of formal artist communities, which interestingly in the early days of the New Order offered themselves for regularly reporting their works to the officials for security check (Darmawan, 2016). Foreign comic and newspaper strips, and their Indonesian adaptations has flooded the media consumption since 1940s, a trend that still current up until the present day, which should be admitted as the part of the evolvement of comic industry in Indonesia. From the United States, Indonesian readers got familiar with Flash Gordon, Tarzan, and others, and Sie Djin Kwei was adapted

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from the Chinese legend (Lent, 2015, p. 133). Their appearance was formative in honing the indigenous comics style (Bonneff, 1998, pp. 1–43). European/ American style in the earlier period marked its influence even to the extent of religious comics such as those that appeared in Islamic magazine, Gema Islam in 1960s, and Christian comics, such as Djalan Penuh Duri (1969). In the present day, manga and American style, in particular DC and Marvel Comics, remains the source of inspiration for many comic productions. Indonesian comic artists are known for their quality, so many of them are recruited as the artists for Marvel and DC Comics production. Many of these artists are located in Bali Island, though not all of them are Balinese. While creatively developed Indonesian style, notably an influence from the wayang-style introduced by R. A. Kosasih, Baladeva comic traced its visual art genealogy to those American and manga styles, while embraced other approaches such as Tony Wong’s style (Ockyno, 2016). Like other historical fiction, such as Wilwatikta: Jejak 700 Tahun comic (Listiarini, Mardiono, & Yuwono, 2014), Baladeva is a perfect space for recreating the glorious past (cf. Otmazgin, 2016, p. 20). Unlike formal and academics discourse of history, comics as an entertaining medium with the combination of real and fictional realms “take a lighter view of historical events” (Berndt in the case of Japanese manga, in Otmazgin, 2016, p. 20). 7.3

Baladeva Comic

As mentioned above, the Baladeva series is still in ongoing process of production, hence the analysis is limited to the existing publications. However, based on the interview with the producer, notably Mr. Ary, the general outline has been laid down, hence to a degree that will be under scrutiny as well. In each volume, the comic on the back, enclosed with the explanation of genealogical line of Hindu narrative, the Theogony (the birth of gods and goddesses), a short history of Medang, and other relevant information. While Mr. Ary resisted calling his product a “religious comic,” at this juncture, the “religious” concern is evidently put forward in a kind of religious education for the non-Hindu consumers. The main character of the series, a young Kebo Parang, started the quest from the Hindu-Buddhist Kingdom of Medang. A giant-sized Kebo Parang is a son of the court advisor and grand priest of Medang, Mpu Daksa, who happened also a Shiva ascetic/priest. Mpu Daksa is also a guardian of Medang’s heirloom before the real king emerges. The beginning part of Baladeva was a story of Kebo Parang spiritual and martial art training, mentored by a beautiful

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hermit, Nyai Kalini. She is in fact, an avatāra of Durga, the goddess of the destroyer. The two characters interact in training, and Kebo Parang developed substantial martial art and spiritual potential. In one occasion, he encountered the god Shiva and learned spiritual principle directly from him. As the training comes to the conclusion, the story shifts to the local and international political struggle, via the edge of war between Medang and its main political and military rival, the Buddhist Kingdom of Srivijaya. Nyai Kalini apparently is a weapon producer who took huge order from the Medang armed forces. The most interesting thing in this part is the presence of vimana (vimâna), an airship of Medang. In Hindu mythology, vimâna (or vilmâna) is a divine chariot that brought the righteous king Janaka in his journey to heaven (Williams, 2008, p. 163). In the comic, it is a military vehicle that brings weapons made by Nyai Kalini. The later part was the story of an air ambush to vimana by a group of barong-like masked attackers that rode skyboards. And further, the plot comes to a decisive moment that gives a justification of Kebo Parang’s later quest. Medang was attacked by a meteorite and Kebo Parang, out of naiveté attempted to divert the meteorite with his new power learnt from Nyai Kalini. The attempt was partly successful, but it cost a significant amount of Kebo Parang’s energy and the power of the meteorite overwhelmed him. With the help of his father and Mpu Agni, his colleague, Kebo Parang survived. But to gain full recovery he has to get a magical cure, the eternal ice flower that only grows in the Ice Mountain (Himalaya). To get this cure is the main motif of Baladeva story. The story is once more shifting to the Medang situation where there is a crisis where the power of the kingdom is encroached upon and slowly eroded by Srivijaya. It sets aside Kebo Parang, as he prepares for his long journey to India and new characters are introduced, including the King of Medang, Samaratungga and his nephew, King of Srivijaya, Sri Cudamani Warmadewa, the descendant of King Balaputradeva, and the brother of Samaratungga. Besides vimana, in many points in the story, terminologies and Hindu characters are presented such as jystagni (magical heirloom/relic), chakram brahma, which are capable of absorbing and diverting energy emitted by other bodies, such as celestial bodies (meteorite), soma shiva, a magical medicine, vajra addana (mystical bell for protection), brahmasutra (one of the sacred texts), athavarna (a Brahmanic rite), and others. Hindu and Buddhist gods and goddesses are also involved in the course of the story, prominently as the figure of Shiva, but also others such as Brahma, Indra and eight vasu (escorts), Parvati, and Ashura. Like classical mythology, there is a continuum between the realm of humanity and gods, spiritual and carnal world, so Shiva

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and Parvati are approachable by humans. Mpu Daksa, Kebo Parang, and Nyai Kalini all have capabilities to approach and communicate with gods through their spiritual power. 7.4

The Cosmopolite Baladeva

Meditating the visual quality of Baladeva comics, which combine the poster graphical technology, with its rich of color, 3-dimensional effect, and dense visual detail, as against, for example manga technology, which minimizes color, and plays on the picture outlining, the comic is sitting at the intersection of art and industry, as proposed by an Indonesian comic observer, Hikmat Darmawan (Darmawan, 2016). Comics are not only independent visual art production, he asserted, but also an industry that mobilizes different means of production and business outlets. Especially in the Baladeva production line, Tantraz collaborated with Indosat mobile telecommunication service and operator to spread out the product by providing free content in its electronic version of the comics. This kind of collaboration is interesting, a rare venue taken by other comic producers, and emphasizing the mutual beneficially between the two, the seemingly unrelated industries to work together. Those are only possible through the digital empowerment of visual art technology, which allows for multiple outcomes and convergences of digital production. According to the coordinator of the production, since beginning Tantraz, comics are projected for the larger and international readership. At the moment this article is written, the company is in negotiations with a French company for cooperation for dissemination of the products. This motif may emphasis the condition of locality and specificity, of the property of the producer, of presumed material, themes, etc., and globality and connectivity of the target market, of the technological platform, mediatisation, and mediation. The rigid demarcation of the definition of religion in the present Indonesia was relativized in the comic. Mr. Ary maintained that in the past there is no “religion” in the modern sense, since accordingly, those were sects of beliefs, i.e., the nine sects, which admits the single source of truth but reflects it in nine ways. The sects according to Goris were Shiava Siddhanta, Pusapata, Bhairava, Vaishnava, Boddha/Sogata, Brahmana, Rsi, Sora, and Ganapatya (Goris, 1974). All of these sects formed a larger religious system called “Shiva-Buddhagama” (Suamba, 2013). The disowning of religious identification of the comics by Mr. Ary, might be explained with the problem of religious definition of Balinese Hinduism in the Indonesian religious landscape and the “over-religious” discourse in Indonesia,

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which is significantly informed by the increasing of political Islam. Regardless, the large hue of Hinduism in Indonesia, it is often overrepresented by Balinese Hinduism. While historically, Hinduism was among the first pan-ethnic religious traditions to set foot in the archipelago, as a definitive and institutional form, it was only in 1958 that Hinduism was accepted as a recognized religion in Indonesia (Picard, 2011b, p. 14). In the case of Balinese Hinduism, there was a debate on defining it as “Balinese Hinduism” (Hindu Bali), a distinct Hinduism adhered by Balinese, and “Hindu Balinese” (Bali Hindu), Balinese who professed Hinduism (Picard, 2011a). The late acceptance of Hinduism in the formal Indonesian system and the Islamic overshadowing of Hindu in history indeed yielded a degree of marginalized sensitivity. Taking these two backdrops into account, Baladeva comics are seemingly an attempt to counter the “over-religious” discourse in public discourse by naturalizing the past religious discourse as a “natural.” The naturalized religious past might be functioning as well as overpowering the present marginalized condition of (Balinese) Hinduism, by “claiming” it as a “core of Indonesian spirit.” “Indonesia” in this regard is signified with “Nusantara,” a Sanskrit word, synonym for Indonesia, which gives a mythico-historical sense. Hence, Medang is seen as the apogee of the past Indonesian glory. In one of the promotional video clips uploaded in Youtube, it says “Mari bangkitkan kembali kejayaan Nusantara” [let’s enliven the glory of Nusantara]. This might be a manifestation of “cosmopatriotism,” through which the micro-patriotism could be a representation (Jurriëns & Kloet, 2007). Like other modern martial art stories, it is centred on the young hero who obtains the power in a short time, skipping the years of practice; like nowadays the tendency for the acceleration of education. Kebo Parang, might fall into the category of ‘hero of romance’ in Frye’s classification, “whose actions are marvellous but who is himself identified as a human being.” He further asserted that [t]he hero of romance moves in a world in which the ordinary laws of nature are slightly suspended: prodigies of courage and endurance, unnatural to us, are natural to him, and enchanted weapons, talking animals, terrifying ogres and witches, and talismans of miraculous power violate no rule of probability once the postulates of romance have been established. Frye, 1973, p. 33

Out of five modes of hero presentation in the European fiction works: divine being hero, hero of romance, high mimetic hero, low mimetic hero, and ironic

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hero, Kebo Parang is a combination of ordinariness, with his naiveté, which could be easily related to the readers’ daily lives with the oscillation of good and bad judgements. But he is also beyond ordinariness with his power and his naïve decision to divert a meteorite from crashing to Medang’s forest; a decision that came from the hubris and euphoria of new power he learnt from his training and from his guru, Nyai Kalini. Kebo Parang and Nyai Kalini interaction in the middle of the jungle is a traditional depiction of the Hindu-Buddhism spiritual training system. Though the dichotomy between civilization centers and wild areas is a universal motif of mystical attainment in many religious traditions. The training site is outside the urban crowd and at the center of power and often focused at the ashram. The more sparse, secluded, and ascetic lives of the hermits and sages, in Java and Bali are called resi and begawan (from Sanskrit ṛṣi and bhagavan) that for their self-imposed discipline preferred remote places for enhancing their spiritual training. It is an exile as an imagination of pristine lives. But probably the interpretation could extend further by imagining that those remote places are an imaginative position that allows for critical stance against and/or complimentary to the central power. In his article entitled “The Idea of Power in Javanese Culture,” Anderson discussed such position taken by religious authority residing outside the political order, which populated by Javanese intelligentsia and religious authorities (kiyais) (Anderson, 1990, p. 63ff.). In the case of the latter, the distance of kiyais and their students is often reflected in the physical isolation of their monastic lives, which revolved around pesantren (Islamic boarding school) from the urban centers. There is a debate as well on whether pesantren tradition originated from the Hindu-Buddhist ashram system (Bruinessen, 1994, p. 131f.). This position might reflect their impotent position but at the same time powerful position (Anderson, 1990, p. 64). These sages often became subversive voices predicting the rise and fall of a dynasty, much like prophets in the Abrahamic religious traditions. The distance from the power allowed them to be critical without the contamination of worldly concerns, especially from pamrih, a Javanese word for “concealed personal motive” (Anderson, 1990, p. 51). But, in fact the reality is more complex and they often embraced the power structure, acting as the ‘voice of consciousness’ for the central power or submission for the power interest. In many other cases, they precisely were casted out from it because of their criticism or became dispensable. In many other cases they are living dual lives within the structure and outside of it. All in all, it seems that these resi and begawan are living in constant vulnerability before the power structure. The depiction in the comic that this resi and Begawan, such as Kebo Parang’s father, Mpu Daksa, and his colleague, Mpu

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Agni, are powerful in terms of spiritual authority and even crucial in maintain the balance of the worldly power and spiritual realm. Mpu Daksa is himself the high priest of the Medang Kingdom. The forest gives protection from the civilization and signifies purity. Following this insight, Kebo Parang’s training place might be an imaginative position to launch criticism toward the political condition of Medang and probably also as the beginning point on to create a new possible social order. However, the presence of an “anachronistic” vimana complicates the stereotypical imagination of the forest. Vimana and other gravity-defying capabilities and vehicles, such as magical leaves, skyboards, the skill of running swiftly, which in the comic is depicted as flying—in Chinese martial art narrative (wuxia genre) is called qinggong—overcome the forest and other territorial-bounded realm. It is by so doing that symbolizes the transgression of boundary, authority boundary, which gives not only the dimension of the modernity of the story but also provides a reflection of cosmopolitanism in relationship with the problem of modern mobility. Indeed, those are not new in fiction and visual arts, notably in the superhero comic genre. However, there is different accentuation when in an interview Mr. Ary disclosed the motif behind the depiction of vimana. He alluded that Indonesian people in the past already own high technology, such as physics to defy gravity—through the technique is called laghima ahgima (becoming almost weightless). Furthermore, he portrayed vimana as an environmentally friendly technology. To this, he believed that even the Indians came to Sumatra (sic), connoted to Srivijaya to study religion and technology. Through which, he finally pointed out the prominent position of Indonesian past relative to other civilization, including India, which is often perceived as the center of the Hindu-Buddha civilization. The airship is not only signified in the ‘non-places’ but also places beyond the conventional rooted dwellings (Urry, 2007, p. 136), hence it became the technology of the cosmopolitan. Nowadays, flying is central for the globalized society (Urry, 2007, p. 135ff.), including its perils and problems, and social inequality as people who can afford flying are only a fraction of global population. The airspace in the comic might reflect the present challenge of ‘aeromobility,’ including the increasing complexity, multi-modal transportation system, commercialization, harsh competition, services, technology, risk, air terrorism, air pollution and others. Vimana in the comic is seemingly more than just a modern imagination induced into the story about the past, but also a resentment toward modern condition of transportation. The image of male and female characters in the comic is another site of cosmopolitan presentation. It is not only a reflection of genre of comic

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illustration but also a gendered imagination through which the cosmopolitan logic might give a specific impetus. It might also concede the logic of the market, in which the “law of attraction” prevails: the muscular male and voluptuous female. The muscular male, and curved and voluptuous female (even in the “light” versions targeted to the younger readers) are not only stretching the imagination to go to the extreme—to the near-sexist presentation—but also allow us to see the unconscious engagement with the comparative imagination, between the power and the powerless, the loss and anti-decayness: bodies that can recreated themselves against the decay. The powerful body that seemingly rendered the fullness of energy and vitality of the male character, the idealized body that might provide assets for finishing the task and survival in the process of challenging the enemies. We might also argue that this is a condition of post-colonial body in which power and the powerful determined by the capacity to progress and control space and time, control history—which in the comics’ images as such allow for the ahistorical location, and beyond a realistic presentation of body. Male narrative in Indonesian society endorses that men have to ‘protect’ women, which in consequence put the female in a vulnerable position. Michael Bodden in his analysis on Ayu Utami’s novels, Saman (1998) and Larung (2001) pointed out that one of the character in Larung, Laila’s mother imagines having small breasts in order to ‘protect’ her from the attempt of men to take advantage of her (Bodden, 2016, p. 433). It is a way to escape from the male gaze. In Baladeva’s comic the logic is seemingly the opposite. Up until the vol. 5 of Dwi Parva, the second part of Baladeva series shows that some of the women characters are not hiding their full body, and even tend to expose their sensuality, seductivity, and curves; to a degree that the male gaze is entertained. Hence in the genderized illustration, the woman body also becomes a woman space. This even more prominent as the main woman character, Nyai Kalini, is the teacher of Kebo Parang in martial arts, spirituality, and manual skill. On the other, the lieutenant in the Medang Air Force, some of the vassals of Medang are also women, even though it is not explicitly specified in the story. While in terms of the look, we cannot easily trace the ‘ethnical’ marker of those women, hence there are cosmopolitan elements of the portrayal. But altogether this gazing could not just be fixing on the “desirable” imagination on certain exposé of the Indonesian male and female bodies, as to take “cosmopolitanism” as a blurring force upon ethnical and national traits. It could be also a desire for new Indonesian bodies, which is imagined as energetic, strong, adaptable, and beautiful, presumably to resist the odds in the domestic and transnational.

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Concluding Remarks

Ben Anderson recalled his anger when the United States government judgingly called the nations in Asia and Africa as ‘underdeveloped nations.’ Out of his sensitivities, as the result of long engagement with some of them, even to the point of engaging with the daily life of the people, he identified his anger the effect of (perhaps) an ‘inverted Orientalism’ (“Introduction” in Anderson, 1990, p. 7). Not ‘Occidentalism,’ as the way of Othering logic pushes to another pole, this statement possibly meant that as a ‘white’ male, he envisioned himself struggling to escape from the ‘Western’ bias and gain a new consciousness of a new civilizational egalitarianism. Indeed, it is impossible to understand his statement in full. But the using of the counter-current connotation is probably a resistive layer that manifested a position against the ‘Western’ narrow nationalism and the redemption is called from the cosmopolitanism exposure he has undergone. Baladeva comics are a limited projection of nationalism that portray a different kind of “inverted Orientalism,” however, it is not coming from a “white” male perspective, but from a group of creative people, based in Bali. The concealed “inversion” appeared in the master plan of the Kebo Parang adventure to find the cure for his illness, after a herculean effort to divert a meteorite attack to his land. The meteorite attack might be a portrayal of “alien attack” of Indonesia, and the Indonesian soul. Because of this process, his body (internal energy) was contaminated and needed a cure in the Himalayas. The quest from his homeland in Medang to the Himalayas in Northern India, might be seen in at least two ways. First of all, it seems obvious that India became the source of Hinduism and Himalaya is the axis mundi of South Asian civilization. Finding a cure in this place might recall and retrace Indonesian sources, in the process itself marshalled the cosmopolitan imagination, not only laid at the “Himalaya-India” signifier, but also included in the outgoing, the trespassing national boundary, and transnational experiences, though in the present stage of comic production has yet to realize. Secondly, as the context is an ‘Indianized’ kingdom of Medang, within the sphere of Georges Coedès called the “expansion of Indian culture” (1968, pp. 14, 186), India became the cradle of Indonesian civilization. Tantraz comics to a degree offered a cynical position toward the present day Indonesia. It is a cynicism toward the raising of transnational religious discourse, probably directed at Islam and Christianity, though not explicitly. It is an argumentum ex silentio. An opinion from the prominent Balinese Hindu theologian, display similar concern.

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Nusāntara … is not only a landscape connecting thousands of island along the equator … it is the landscape of the sterling cultures, distilled from various world civilizations [China and India?]…. The landscape of the best values is incredibly beautiful and could not found elsewhere in the world … Diversity [kebhinekaan] in every walk of lives become the psyche of Indonesian culture … It is a naïve idea when some people think to create monolithic culture, because this is in opposition with the reality of Nusantara people. Suamba, 2009, pp. 29–30, original emphasis

Lastly, taking comics as paraliterature, i.e., the unofficial, marginal, excluded from belles lettres, Baladeva series is not a cheap nostalgic work, but as contended by Pak Ary, it is a space of discussing, debating, and re-insertion of the soul of Indonesia, which in his outlook is rooted in the Indic culture. Acknowledgments The original idea of the present article has been presented in Conference Reviving Benedict Anderson “Imagined (Cosmopolitan) Communities,” held on January 13–14, 2017, in Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is in fact a pleasant incidental outcome of my research project that focused on Christian comics in Indonesia conducted within the period of May–July 2016. The outcome of the project also touched upon the Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist comic productions. The project was supported by the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS). The data gathering was possible by the kind support of Hendrikus Paulus Kaunang from the ICRS. References Amalee, I. (2016, June 19). Interview. Ammerman, N. T. (Ed.). (2007). Everyday religion: observing modern religious lives. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Ammerman, N. T. (2014). Sacred stories, spiritual tribes: finding religion in everyday life. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Anderson, B. R. O. (1990). Language and power: exploring political cultures in Indonesia. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. Anderson, B. R. O. (1991). Imagined communities: Reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London and New York: Verso.

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Aslan, R. (2010). Beyond fundamentalism: confronting religious extremism in the age of globalization (e-Book). New York: Random House. Banthe Dharmawimala. (2016, June 20). Interview. Bayat, A. (2007). Making Islam democratic: social movements and the post-Islamist turn. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press. Berman, L. (2001). Comic as social commentary in Java, Indonesia. In J. A. Lent (Ed.), Illustrating Asia: Comics, humor magazines, and picture books (pp. 13–36). Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Bodden, M. H. (2016). Cosmopolitanism, nation, and the urban–rural split in the novels of Ayu Utami. Bijdragen Tot de Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde / Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences of Southeast Asia, 172(4), 421–448. Bonneff, M. (1998). Komik Indonesia (R. S. Hidayat, Trans.). Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia. Bruinessen, M. van. (1994). Pesantren and kitab kuning: Continuity and change in a tradition of religious learning. In W. Marschall (Ed.), Texts from the islands: Oral and written traditions of Indonesia and the Malay world (pp. 121–146). Berne: The University of Berne Institute of Ethnology. Bruinessen, M. van (Ed.). (2013). Contemporary developments in Indonesian Islam: Explaining the “Conservative Turn.” Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. Çarkoğlu, A., & Kalaycıoğlu, E. (2009). The rising tide of conservatism in Turkey. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Casanova, J. (1994). Public religions in the modern world (Amazon Kindle). Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. Castells, M. (2000). The Rise of the network society. Oxford and Malden: Blackwell Publishers. Castells, M. (2004). The power of identity (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. Clark, C., & Ledger-Lomas. (2012). The Protestant international. In A. Green & V. Viaene (Eds.), Religious internationals in the modern world: Globalization and faith communities since 1750 (pp. 23–52). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Coedès, G. (1968). The Indianized states of Southeast Asia. Honolulu: East-West Center Press. Cooperman, A., Grim, B., & O’Connell, E. (2014). Religious hostilities reach six-year high. Washington D.C.: Pew Research Center. Cronin, M. (2006). Translation and identity. London and New York: Routledge. Darmawan, H. (2016, August 13). Interview. Eisner, W. (1985). Comics and sequential art. Paramus, NJ: Poorhouse Press. Eller, J. D. (2015). Introducing anthropology of religion: culture to the ultimate (Second Edition). New York and London: Routledge. Epafras, L. C. (2013). Yahudi Nusantara: Realitas Sejarah dan Dinamika Identitas. Religió, 3(2), 31–66.

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Epafras, L. C. (2020). “Imagined immunities:” Religion, governmentality and civility in Indonesian cyberspace. In D. Sofjan (Ed.), Religion in public sphere (Forthcoming). Geneva: Globethics.net. Frye, N. (1973). Anatomy of criticism: four essays. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Goris, R. (1974). Sekte-sekte di Bali. Jakarta: Bhratara. Howell, J. D., & Bruinessen, M. van (Eds.). (2013). Sufism and the modern in Islam. London and New York: I. B. Taurus. James, P. (2006). Globalism, nationalism, tribalism: bringing theory back in. London and Thousand Oaks: Sage. Jurriëns, E., & Kloet, J. de. (2007). Introduction: Cosmopatriots: On distant belongings and close encounters. In E. Jurriëns & J. de Kloet (Eds.), Cosmopatriots: on distant belongings and close encounters (pp. 9–18). Amsterdam and New York: Rodopi. Kho Wan Gie. (2015). Put On: Edisi Pantjawarna. Jakarta: Suara Harapan Bangsa & Pustaka Klasik. Kristi, R. (2016, June 17). Interview. Lent, J. A. (2015). Asian comics. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Lindsey, T., & Pausacker, H. (Eds.). (2016). Religion, law and intolerance in Indonesia (Amazon Kindle). London and New York: Routledge. Listiarini, Mardiono, B., & Yuwono, A. (2014). Perancangan Komik Berlatar Belakang Kerajaan Majapahit untuk Menggugah Minat Remaja Terhadap Warisan Budaya Indonesia. Jurnal DKV Adiwarna, 1(4), 1–13. Lubis, I. (2016, June 19). Interview. McCloud, S. (1994). Understanding comics: the invisible art. New York: HarperPerennial. Meijer, R. (Ed.). (2014). Global Salafism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Meyer, B., & Geschiere, P. (Eds.). (1999). Globalization and identity: Dialectics of flow and closure. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Muhajir, A., Artawan, E. J., & Adnyana, P. (2013, January 27). Kontroversi Pengaku Raja Majapahit Bali. Balipublika. Ockyno, A. (2016, May 23). Interview. Otmazgin, N. K. (2016). Introduction: Manga as “Banal Memory.” In N. Otmazgin & R. Suter (Eds.), Rewriting history in manga: stories for the nation (pp. 1–25). New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Øystein, S. (2015). Comics: This bitter art. In R. P. Cortsen, E. La Cour, & A. Magnussen (Eds.), Comics and power: representing and questioning culture, subjects and communities (pp. 2–22). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publ. Picard, M. (2011a). Balinese religion in search of recognition: From Agama Hindu Bali to Agama Hindu (1945–1965). Bijdragen Tot de Taal-, Land- En Volkenkunde, 167(4), 482–510.

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Picard, M. (2011b). Introduction: “Agama”, “adat”, and Pancasila. In M. Picard & R. Madinier (Eds.), The politics of religion in Indonesia: syncretism, orthodoxy, and religious contention in Java and Bali (pp. 1–20). Abingdon, Oxon and New York: Routledge. Postill, J., & Epafras, L. C. (2018). Indonesian religion as a hybrid media space: Social dramas in a contested realm. Asiascape: Digital Asia, 5(1), 100–123. Renata [pseud.]. (2016, June 17). Interview. Salim, H. (2004). Komik Islam: Retorika dan identitas. Mata Baca, 2(11), 26–33. Salim, H. (2016, July 24). Interview. Semmerling, T. J. (2004). Israeli and Palestinian postcards: Presentation of national self. Austin, TX.: University of Texas Press. Sheringham, O. (2014). Transnational religious spaces: Faith and the Brazilian migration experience. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Steenbrink, K. A., & Aritonang, J. S. (2008). A history of Christianity in Indonesia. Leiden and Boston: Brill. Suamba, I. B. P. (2009). Siwa-Buddha di Indonesia: Ajaran dan Perkembangannya. Denpasar, Bali: Program Magister (S2) Ilmu Agama dan Kebudayaan, Universitas Hindu Indonesia & Widya Dharma. Suamba, I. B. P. (2013, March). Siva-Tattva. PowerPoint presented at the Training Program on Indonesian Hinduism, UNHI Denpasar. Sutton, M. A., & Dochuk, D. (Eds.). (2016). Faith in the new millennium: the future of religion and American politics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Tajudin, Q. (2005, March). Suara Zaman dari Bawah Tanah. Ruang Baca, 14, 8. Tofts, D. (2016). Paraliterature. In J. Hartley (Ed.), A Dictionary of postmodernism (pp. 144–148). Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell. Urry, J. (2007). Mobilities. Cambridge: Polity Press. Vijjānanda, H. (2013). Borobudur: Pusaka Abadi Nan Jaya. Jakarta: Ehipassiko Foundation. Vijjānanda, H. (2015). Aparajataka: Kelahiran Lain Bodhisattwa. Jakarta: Ehipassiko Foundation. Vijjānanda, H. (2016, June 20). Interview. Wahyudin. (2002). Komik sebagai budaya tanding. Mata Baca, 1(4), 30–36. Waluyo. (2016, June 20). Interview. Wicahyana, P. G. A. (2016, May 23). Interview. Wicahyana, P. G. A. (2017, September 23). Interview. Williams, G. M. (2008). Handbook of Hindu mythology. Oxford and New York: ABC-CLIO.

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Chapter 8

Exploration of Christian Faith Religiosity in Indonesia Olivia Hadiwirawan, Denny Putra, & Evans Garey Abstract Religious studies in Indonesia mostly examined the relationship between religiosity and student psychosocial variables, such as emotional regulation, self-concept, and well-being in educational settings, but those studies mostly used religious construct from the West while religious construct based on Indonesia seemed to get less attention. Religiosity measurement in Indonesia in the past was an adaptation of religiosity scales developed in Western cultures. Furthermore, the adaptation process was limited by the homogeneity of subject religious belief, which mainly consisted of the Muslim sample. This study aims to explore religiosity within Christians by incorporating local religious leader perspectives on the meaning and expression of religiosity to develop religiosity construct based upon Indonesian context. The data were gathered from focused group discussions consisting of the local representatives of Christian denomination leaders and were analyzed using a thematic analysis. Three themes identified during the discussion were religion as self-identity, comprehensive measurement, and local incorporation. Further studies could include these themes to measure religiosity.

Keywords religious orientation – Christian – religiosity

8.1 Introduction1 In 2009, the Gallup International Survey indicated that Indonesia was the fourth country with the highest religious population in the world (Worldatlas, 1  Author Note: Olivia Hadiwirawan, Denny Putra and Evans Garey, Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana, Jakarta, Indonesia. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Olivia Hadiwirawan, Department of Psychology, Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana, Jln.

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden,Ralph 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004416987_009 W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

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n.d.). There were 99% of respondents who stated that religion was the most essential factor in their daily life. Another survey conducted in 2014 (of 63,898 Indonesian citizens) showed similar results, in which 82% of the respondents believed that they are religious people (Mohhamad, 2015). Pew Research Center (2015) has reported 95% of Indonesian citizen perceived religion as an essential part in life (Fikrie, 2015). Thus, it can be implied that Indonesian people have assured feeling of their religion, claimed themselves as religious people, and put religion as an integral part of their daily life. Research on religiosity for adolescent and college students implied that religiosity could defuse problems that hinder their academic achievement (Burke, Olphen, Eliason, Howell, & Gonzales, 2014; Buzdar, Ali, Nadeem, & Nadeem, 2015; Chen & Tang, 2013; Gomez, Andrared, Izbicki, Almeida, & Oliviera, 2013; Luquis, Brelsford, & Rojas-Guyler, 2012; Park & Bowman, 2015; Wells, 2010). In Indonesia, religiosity is often paired with other variables in educational settings. Religiosity has a significant correlation with morality (Reza, 2013) and self-adjustment (Nadzir & Wulandari, 2013); together with self-control, it has a contribution to premarital sexual behavior (Khairunnisa, 2013), and has a negative correlation with anxiety on students who will face the national exams. In higher education, religiosity has a positive correlation with student wellness (Naini, 2015) and future orientation (Marliani, 2013). Furthermore, it can also be a predictor for student subjective well-being (Utami, 2012), student psychological well-being (Harpan, 2015), student academic achievement (Wahaningsih, 2012), bullying (Umasugi, 2013), and adolescence delinquency (Aviyah & Farid, 2014; Nasikhah & Prihastuti, 2013; Nisya & Sofiah, 2012). The religiosity measurement in various research could unfold further study, especially the dimension of religiosity. Park and Bowman (2015) used the dimension of a religious worldview, self-reported religiousness, religious observance, and religious participation to assess religiosity. Chen and Tang (2013) utilize Allport and Ross’s theory of religious orientation to determine religiosity, while Gomez et al. (2013) used only one dimension: the frequency of church attendance. Most of the religiosity research in America used religious affiliation, religious participation, and religious beliefs. Religious affiliation refers to religion as individual identity, religious participation as personal involvement in religious activity, and religious belief as to the personal belief of his/her religion and God’s involvement in their life. In contrast to religiosity research in Indonesia, most of the research only refers to one religiosity theory proposed by Glock and Stark. According to Glock and Stark, there are five dimensions Tanjung Duren Raya No. 4 Jakarta Barat 11470 Indonesia. Email: olivia.hadiwirawan@ukrida .ac.id.

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of religiosity: experiential, ritualistic, ideological, intellectual, and consequential. There are no variety aspects and dimensions in measuring religiosity in Indonesia. The Religious Orientation Scale (ROS) from Allport and Ross is one of religious measurement applied in religiosity studies conducted in America. The measurement constitutes the intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions of religious orientation conveying that every religious act has a different purpose. Thus, it can reveal individual religious maturity. The latest revision of ROS was conducted by Gorsuch and McPherson (1989; in Darvyri, et al., 2014) and has accommodated changes in adding extrinsic dimension into personal and social extrinsic. Another development of ROS was that the measurement had been used from children until adult in every education stage (Khodaddy & Glovapar, 2011). Revised ROS is also used in other countries, such as Iran (Khodaddy & Golparvar, 2011) and Persia (Khodaddy & Bagheri, 2012), and the last one expanded three original dimensions into seven new dimensions. Other countries such as Athena, Greece (Darviry et al., 2014), and Pakistan (Khan, Ghous, & Malik, 2016) has adapted Revised ROS into Greek and Urdu language and still used the three original dimensions. Few pieces of research in Indonesia have adapted religious orientation into Indonesian language, although they still correlated the variable with other variables, such as premarital sexual behavior (Gunawan, 2013), coping with stress (Kamaruzzaman, 2015), religious attendance (Ellyazar, 2013), and psychological well-being (Arifin & Rahayu, 2011). Previous research has shown a full-range application of religious orientation and advanced psychometric measurement, but there were still a few limitations of Revised ROS nevertheless, such as few cross-culture scale validations. Previous research which aimed to validate the cross-culture revealed diverse results like there was no factor different from the adaptation scale (Darviry et al., 2014; Khan, Ghous, & Malik, 2016), or there were various additions or changes in the number of items after the validity test. There are different methods to assess the validity and reliability of the scales, such as Cronbach’s Alpha and the Pearson Correlation to analyze the item validity with construct, or Factor Analysis to check the factor sustainability. Most of the cross-culture validations have been conducted in Muslim countries such as Iran, Persia, Pakistan, and Indonesia, yet there are few cross-culture validations in the Christian context. Moreover, most of the adaptation process in Indonesia has not included expert judgment from the local religious leaders to meet with the religious context in Indonesia. This research is part of grand research of validity and reliability of Revised Religious Orientation Scale in Christian educational settings. This research applied the qualitative method in exploring the validity of the Revised Religious Orientation construct; thus this

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paper focused on enriching the religious orientation construct based on the Indonesian context, especially among the Christians. 8.2 Methods There were three focus group discussions conducted in this study. Two focus group discussions consisted of ten participants from various Christian denominations. These focus group discussions were conducted between May and June 2017 at UKRIDA campus for about 90 minutes, and involved priests, pastors, and leaders in Christian colleges or schools, whose ages were 40–50 years. One focused group discussion consisted of students (N = 10) who were also part of various Christian denominations. The discussion was conducted in July 2018 for 90 minutes. Topics covered in the group discussion ranged from religiosity description in their daily work or life, the meaning of religiosity, religious activity, the factors that need to be included to measure religiosity, and religiosity measurement in educational settings. The discussion was conducted, audiotaped, and transcribed in the Indonesian language. Thematic analysis was used to describe and analyze patterns from the focused group transcription. 8.3

Results and Discussion

There are six subthemes identified through the coding process: imbalance between religious belief and daily practices, religious feeling, church management, religiosity measurement, femininity and masculinity of God, and local incorporation. Religion as self-identity, comprehensive measurement, and local incorporation are the three analytical themes that describe religiosity in Indonesia. 8.3.1 Religion as Self-Identity In other parts of the world, there are trends of increasing spirituality and decreasing religiosity. Nevertheless, Indonesia showed inverted results, demonstrating a significant increase in religiosity rather than in spirituality. Indonesians were focusing on God and Christ as the center of their religious meaning. Their religiosity was reflected in the relationship with God and the importance of following God. These could be seen as an internal sense of religiosity for Indonesians. However, despite the occurrence of an internal sense of religiosity that supported Allport’s concept of intrinsic religiosity, another concept concerning religiosity arose. Participants also mentioned God’s

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intervention in their religious lives. Religiosity is also perceived as God’s will and God’s choice in their personal lives. These keywords may reflect a reverse direction of religiosity. Instead of focusing on a religiosity that is directed from humans or people towards God, this was a reversal that showed religiosity directed from God towards humans or people. It was apparent here that God’s role was perceived as more active than humans’. The emergence of God’s involvement in individual religiosity could be understood as a particular explanation of what the meaning of religion was for them. They attributed God’s control to make sense of religion for them. It was oriented to the external realm from self, but not the same as extrinsic religiosity. It could be said that it was oriented towards above humans. This finding could serve as a new (third) dimension of religious orientation. However, more evidence was needed to support this finding. “People focused more on symbols, a lot of new churches emerge, churches are maintained by management techniques, and more entrepreneurs become successful priest. There is a price list for song leader and music player. The church has become a market place” (DB, G2). At one side, those phenomena illustrated the need of Indonesian people to integrate their faith in daily life. It reflected how Indonesians took religion as a priority and serious matter; thus they “participate in every religious activity, read the Bible and have time for devotion” (DB, G2) and “churches are open from six AM till eleven PM and never deserted. Lots of people come to pray to Mother Mary” (RH, G1). It was also following the definition of religiosity that “refers to the level of how religion appeared into outward self[…], religiosity functions as an act that reveals how people chose God’s way, and it appeared in the behavior” (RS, G1). Thus, for Indonesians, religion has become part of their identity and expanded into group identity. As a part of one’s identity, people have to maintain their religious identity; thus they “forward everything sacred, whether it is a Bible verse or advice through WhatsApp group messenger or Facebook. They also felt they know a lot about religion just by reading it on Facebook” (CU, G1). They had the urgency to “live spirituality. Every morning they had a daily reflection; thus there are lots of reflective materials, and it has their target market: for children, teens, adult, and many more. It pictured the popular model of spirituality” (DB, G2). Those religiosity acts tend to create a simplistic perception of being religious: “If I share those Bible verses, it will appear that I have figured it out. People will never question (themselves) on how I understand it. Just by sharing it, I can convince myself that I am, indeed, religious. People will see me as a religious person” (RH, G1). People can share anything about everything in this digital era, and others will react to it: share, give affirmation, or even create a

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response discussion in social media. “We cannot deny that social media has become an element of religiosity. The newspaper claimed themselves as social media religious experts. Hence, someone becomes a religious expert just by quoting what has been provided in social media. There are lots of Christians who behave that way. We can see it as there are numerous Christian blogs, healing sessions on television, and attendance of Sunday services by watching it on television. There is an uproar of religiosity in modern time” (DB, G2). With the euphoria of being religious, they are fixated on the outer appearance, how people perceive them as religious people, so they direct their religiosity more in the act and behavior within limited time and inner self to comprehend their faith. At present, the problems have evolved into “I meet a couple who are diligently going to church but having big problems in the family. The children are unattained, etc. […] This is the common imbalance I frequently see as a church leader when the religious expression has become an instrument only for what is important on the outside” (RH, G1). The disparity between the outer (flesh) and inner (spirituality) side grew bigger when people focused more on acts and behaviors without the need to contemplate and reflect their growing faith. People would experience the distance gap between their religious expression and morality problem, “their moral practices are not in line, such as they thought corruption was okay” (RH, G1). Thus, although the religiosity is increasing, it does not indicate that morality and spirituality is at the same level. On the one hand, with the rapid need for people to satisfy their religious practice, churches offered various activities to accommodate them. The new emerging churches, the variation of technology adaptation in providing services, the grandiose musical accompanist, and the availability of services in shopping malls are some aspects of how churches implement their strategies to attract members. “Nowadays, there is no clear perspective on religion. It has become a mammon type of religiosity, in which people only aim for heaven. The theology is that people look to God for blessings, and life convenience. Moreover, the church seems to facilitate that kind of theology. Church today is a tool for praying and gaining wealth” (AS, G2). Religion has turned into a profitable market, “[it] raises gratitude feeling. People are crazy about pleasant things and forget the essence of worshipping God” (AS, G2). Nonetheless, the discrepancy of moral behavior and faith is growing vastly. 8.3.2 Comprehensive Measurement Religiosity itself by definition is difficult to be measured, because it does not only cover what appeared to be a religious act, but also that the motive behind those acts needs to be understood, “Religiosity is a way to reconnect with God

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as the very natural act of creation to Creator. It is supposed to be something from the inside, yet not always identical with what comes from the inside” (RS, G1). Religious Orientation Theory by Allport and Ross has covered these characteristics of religiosity by proposing two types of religious orientation. Intrinsic religious orientation is the “mature” one because the religious act is focused on the ultimate end, while the extrinsic religious orientation is the “immature”, in which the act is more focused on self-serving end (Darvyri et al., 2014). Based on the phenomena that showed the growing disparity between the religious act and inner spirituality, there was a concern to look into one’s religiosity by taking much more overall life values into consideration, “Life in church and life in society need to be balanced” (CU, G1). The religiosity needs to be compared with people’s values, “morality values, such as honesty” (RS, G1), although “it possibly will seem to contradict within the values” (RH, G1). It is quite interesting to develop measurements about religiosity that also covers a person’s value, by notably different values. Another method to measure religiosity is to compare daily practices with one’s belief; one way to evaluate is through “people talking. Religious patterns could be detected from what people say, so we could understand the extrinsic religiosity […] For example, during the services, I observe people’s testimonial. Even though they said ‘God’ repeatedly, we need to understand what is the point being emphasized” (AS, G2). This qualitative method will support the quantitative method of understanding people’s religiosity. 8.3.3 Local Incorporation The adaptation of Revised ROS needs to consider the context of Christianity in Indonesia: how Christian faith is implemented in Indonesia, and if there any local wisdom that colors Christianity. Indonesia has several denominations reflecting the local culture, such as Batak and Javanese. The exciting part is that different cultures could influence person’s spirituality type, “Javanese people like the contemplative styles such as meditation and the Rosary prayer, whereas the Batak will storm the Bible Study Group, just like their dynamic culture, they like to discuss the Bible” (RS, G1). Nevertheless, the culture itself did not seem to have any influence from Christian dogma, “we, from the very beginning, have been bombarded with the notion that our culture is a sin, our culture is not part of the Bible […] That is the pattern why there has never been the Indonesian context in Christianity” (AS, G2). Thus, the Indonesian context needs to be considered, for the adaptation is more likely about religious practice and the knowledge of Christian dogma. In religious services that entertain its members, there are also people who look for an “adoration kind of service, where people could pray in private

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settings. I see it as a counterbalance to the worship services focusing on entertaining” (RH, G1). It will be complicated when compared with the intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation dimension. While people have a preference in type of worship and service, it does not necessarily express their religious motivation. Indonesia, which put religion as the foundation of its state, acknowledges and accommodates six religions. Although the diversity of religion in the country is maintained and nourished, it still raises lots of issues in the implementation, especially if one religion claims to be the only right way to reach God. One of the implications is: “The religion of Jesus Christ is different from Pancasila religion. Every religion, every church has its mission. People fear ‘Islamisasi’ (Islamization) or ‘Kristenisasi’ (Christianization)” (BY, G2). As a result, while people must spread out their religion, they also need to maintain diversity. 8.4 Conclusion Religiosity has been an integral part of life for Indonesian people, so much as it forms their identity as an individual and as a group. It is crucial for them to manage their religious identity that it then creates the urgency to behave and act religiously. This urgency has produced trends in religiosity in this digital era: People will spread anything and everything that look spiritual in social media. They actively attend every religious meeting, service, fellowship, and Bible study. The church has become another marketplace, where people look for the most entertaining one, and the salvation it proclaims. From the religious leaders’ perspectives, religiosity covers more about what is on the outside rather than on the inside. Further studies can explore these phenomena deeper by doing a discourse analysis of religiosity in social media. Religiosity is seen as an internal dimension for young people. They will call themselves religious if they have a relationship with God and obey God. However, religiosity is also perceived on God’s behalf rather than on human. This attribution on God’s involvement in young people’s religiosity can be seen as a way for them to find meaning in what they believe. Thus, young people may regard religiosity as an internal dimension and above the orientation. Further studies need to explore the possibility of adding a new dimension to religious orientation. Exploration of Christian faith in Indonesia shows that religiosity has several aspects that could contribute to their religious orientation, such as religious identity and God’s will on their life. Further studies will incorporate those two aspects into the Religious Orientation Scale.

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References Arifin, Z., & Rahayu, I. T. (2011). Hubungan antara orientasi religius, locus of control dan psychological well-being mahasiswa fakultas psikologi universitas Islam negeri Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang. Retrieved from: http://ejournal.uin-malang.ac.id/ index.php/lemlit/article/view/1945. Aviyah, E., & Farid, M. (2014). Religiusitas, kontrol diri dan kenakalan Remaja. PERSONA, 3(2), 126–129. Burke, A., Olphen, J. V., Eliason, M., Howell, R., & Gonzales, A. (2014). Re-examining religiosity as a protective factor: Comparing alcohol use by self-identified religious, spiritual, and secular college students. Journal of Religion and Health, 53(2), 205–316. Buzdar, M. A., Ali, A., Nadeem, M., & Nadeem, M. (2015). Relationship between religiosity and psychological symptoms in female university students. Journal of Religion and Health, 54(6), 2155–2163. Chen, Y.-J., & Tang, T. L.-P. (2013). The bright and dark sides of religiosity among university students: Do gender, college major, and income matter? Journal of Business Ethics, 115(3), 531–553. Darvyri, P., Galanakis, M., Avgoustidis, A. G., Pateraki, N., Vasdekis, S., & Darviri, C. (2014). The Revised Intrinsic/Extrinsic Religious Orientation Scale in a sample of Attica’s inhabitants. Psychology, 5, 1557–1567. Ellyazar, Y. (2013). Hubungan antara orientasi religius dan dukungan sosial dengan kedisiplinan beribadah pada warga gereja. Jurnal Penelitian Humaniora, 18(1), 39–53. Fikrie, M., (2015). 95 Persen Warga Indonesia Anggap Agama Penting dalam Kehidupan. Retrieved from https://beritagar.id/artikel/berita/95-persen-warga-indonesia -anggap-agama-penting-dalam-kehidupan. Gomes, F. C., de Andrade, A. g., Izbicki, R., Almeida, M. A., & Oliveira, L. G. (2013). Religion as a protective factor against drug use among Brazilian university students: A national survey. Rev Bras Psiquiatr, 35(1), 29–37. Gunawan, M. K. (2013). Hubungan orientasi religiusitas dengan sikap terhadap perilaku seks pranikah pada remaja salah satu sekolah menengah atas di Tangerang. (Unpublished undergraduate thesis). Harpan, A. (2015). Peran religiusitas dan optimisme terhadap kesejahteraan psikologis pada remaja. EMPATHY Jurnal Fakultas Psikologi, 3(1), 1–18. Hidayatin, A., & Darmawanti, I. (2013). Hubungan antara religiusitas dan self-efficacy dengan kecemasan menghadapi ujian nasional pada siswa kelas XII MAN 1 model Bojonegoro. Character, 2(1), 1–9. Kamaruzzaman. (2015). Hubungan orientasi religius dan koping religius pada mahasiswa. (Unpublished undergraduate thesis). Khairunnisa, A. (2013). Hubungan religiusitas dan kontrol Diri dengan perilaku seksual pranikah remaja di MAN 1 Samarinda. eJournal Psikologi, 1(2), 220–229.

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Khan, A., Ghous, R., & Malik, J. A. (2016). Validation of the Urdu version of Religious Orientation Scale. Journal of Pakistan Psychiatric Society, 13(2), 8–11. Khodadaddy, E., & Golparvar, E. (2011). Factors underlying religious orientation scale. A Journal of Islamic and Religious Studies, 2(2), 215–235. Khodadady, E., & Bagheri, N. (2012). Construct validation of a Modified Religious Orientation Scale within an Islamic context. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(11), 237–246. Luquis, R. R., Brelsford, G. M., & Rojas-Guyler, L. (2012). Religiosity, spirituality, sexual attitudes, and sexual behavior among college students. Journal of Religious Health, 51(3), 601–614. Marliani, R. (2013). Hubungan antara religiusitas dengan orientasi masa depan bidang pekerjaan pada mahasiswa tingkat akhir. Jurnal Psikologi, 9(2), 130–137. Nadzir, A. I., & Wulandari, N. W. (2013). Hubungan religiusitas dengan penyesuaian diri siswa pondok pesantren. Jurnal Psikologi Tabularasa, 8(2), 698–707. Naini, R. (2015). Wellness ditinjau dari religiusitas pada mahasiswa universitas negeri Yogyakarta. Jurnal Bimbingan dan Konseling, 4(4), 1–13. Nasikhah, D., & Prihastuti. (2013). Hubungan antara tingkat religiusitas dengan perilaku kenakalan remaja pada masa remaja awal. Jurnal Psikologi Pendidikan dan Perkembangan, 2(2), 69–72. Nisya, L. S., & Sofiah, D. (2012). Religiusitas, kecerdasan emosional dan kenakalan remaja. Jurnal Psikologi Tabularasa, 7(2), 562–584. Park, J. J., & Bowman, N. A. (2015). Religion as bridging or bonding social capital: Race, religion, and cross-racial interaction for college students. Sociology of Education, 88(1), 20–37. Reza, I. F. (2013). Hubungan antara religiusitas dengan moralitas pada remaja di Madrasah Aliyah (MA). Humanitas, 10(2), 45–58. Rusu, P., & Turliuc, M. (2011). Ways of approaching religiosity in psychological research. The Journal of International Social Research, 4(18), 352–362. Umasugi, S. C. (2013). Hubungan antara regulasi emosi dan religiusitas dengan kecenderungan perilaku bullying pada remaja. Retrieved from: http://download.portalga ruda.org/article.php?article=123292&val=5545. Utami, M. S. (2012). Religiusitas, koping religius, dan kesejahteraan subjektif. Jurnal Psikologi, 39(1), 46–66. Wahaningsih, M. (2013). Hubungan antara religiusitas, konsep diri, dan dukungan sosial keluarga dengan prestasi belajar pada siswa SMP Muhammadiyah 3 Depok Yogyakarta. Jurnal Psikologi Terapan & Pendidikan, 1(1), 1–20. Wells, G. M. (2010). The effect of religiosity and campus alcohol culture on collegiate alcohol consumption. Journal America College Health, 58(4), 295–304. WorldAtlas. (n.d.). Most Religious Country in The World. Retrieved from https://www .worldatlas.com/articles/most-religious-countries-in-the-world.html.

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Chapter 9

The Trends in Islamic Psychology in Indonesia H. Fuad Nashori, Raden Rachmy Diana, and Bahril Hidayat Abstract This writing aims to map the trends in Islamic psychology intervention in Indonesia. The result of the analysis showed that Islamic psychology intervention is divided into two categories: original Islamic psychology intervention, and integrative Islamic psychology intervention. Original Islamic psychology intervention consists of intervention that is based on worship and on morals (akhlaq). The category of original Islamic intervention based on worship includes Dhikr, prayer (shalat), Quranic, and duʾa therapy, while patience therapy, gratitude therapy, and repentance therapy are in the category of original Islamic psychology intervention based on morals. Meanwhile, integrative Islamic psychology intervention covers general integrative Islamic psychology intervention, Islamic psychology intervention based on worship, and Islamic psychology intervention based on morals. General integrative Islamic psychology interventions consist of Islamic cognitive therapy, religious cognitive behavioral therapy, religious coping therapy, and Islamic counseling. Integrative psychology interventions based on worship consist of dhikr relaxation therapy and relaxation by reciting Quran. Integrative Islamic psychology intervention based on morals consists of gratitude cognitive therapy, gratitude cognitive behavioral therapy, and forgiveness therapy.

Keywords Islamic psychology intervention – original Islamic psychology intervention – integrative Islamic psychology intervention

9.1 Introduction1 Islamic psychology is a study of the psyche and human behavior that is based on Islamic perspective (Ancok & Suroso, 1994; Nashori, 2002). The study, with 1  Author Note: Fuad Nashori, Universitas Islam Indonesia; Raden Rachmy Diana, Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijoga; Bahril Hidayat, Universitas Islam Riau. Correspondence

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such an approach, has attracted attention of young people over the last few years. Islamic psychology is one of the Islamic studies that relates psychological aspects and human behavior in order to raise conscious self-quality and achieve life happiness in the world and the hereafter (Mujib & Mudzakir, 2001). Islamic psychology places the Quran and Hadith as primary resources in developing thought, research, and application. The placement of the Quran as a central resource refers to one of the Quranic verses placing the Quran as the giver of explanation on everything: “And we will bring you, [O Muhammad], as a witness over your nation. And we have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things and as guidance and mercy and good tidings for the Muslims” (QS. an-Nahl: 89). In another verse of the Quran, Allah says: “We have not omitted anything from the Book (Quran). Then they will be mustered toward their Lord” (QS. al-Anʾam: 38). Themes of human behavior brought for discussions by the Islamic psychology reviewers and sourced from the Quran and Hadith are among others: gratitude, patience, sincerity, faith, and tawakkal (trusting in God’s plan), tawadhu (humble), forgiveness, hubb ad-dunya (loving the world), and so on. The topic of gratitude had become the biggest research interest for reviewers and enthusiasts of Islamic psychology. Though placing the Quran and Hadith as the primary reference, the truth is also found out from anywhere. Truth can be found by anyone and anywhere (Nashori, 2008). It is in line with the statement made by Muhammad who drives humans to learn truth and knowledge from anyone. “Hikmah (wisdom) is like something lost, if it is found in any place, this will belong to those who find” (HR. Al-Turmudzi and Ibnu Majah from Abu Hurairah). Placed as a foundation in developing Islamic psychology, the Quran and Hadith are also made as references in developing intervention and application of Islamic psychology. Islamic psychology intervention consists of psycho-education, therapy/psychotherapy, training, counseling, and so on. Islamic psychology intervention is a systematic effort made to increase or decrease the dimension of cognitive, affective, conative, and behavior that conform to the principles of a healthy life based on Islamic perspective. Nashori (2015) stated that an intervention is called an Islamic psychology intervention if its material and methods are directly connected with the Quran and Hadith (Nashori, 2015).

concerning this article should be addressed to Fuad Nashori, Faculty of Psychology and Socio Cultural Science Universitas Islam Indonesia, Jl. Kaliurang Km. 14,5 Yogyakarta Indonesia 55584. Email: [email protected].

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At the Inter-Islamic University Conference of Psychology (IIUCP) in 2015, the writer (Nashori, 2015) said that Islamic psychology intervention could be distinguished into two interventions. First, the intervention that is purely sourced from Islamic teaching or can be called as original Islamic psychology intervention. Second, the intervention of Islamic psychology that has been made to integrate perspectives that are sourced from Islamic religion and perspectives that are sourced from thought and research of psychology can be named as integrative Islamic psychology intervention. This writing mentions the second model that is the integration of the Islamic psychology approach and Western psychology approach, as integrative Islamic psychology intervention. These two approach models will be explained in a single file along with the examples of its research results in Indonesia. 9.2

Original Islamic Psychology Intervention

Original Islamic psychology intervention is developed based on an understanding of the verses of the Quran and Hadith along with the interpretations made by the experts of the Quranic and Hadith studies. The Islamic competence achieved by the reviewers is gained through formal and informal education. Most of the competencies are acquired by searching the Quran and Hadith texts. This is how the original Islamic psychology intervention appears. Original Islamic psychology intervention can be divided into worship-based original Islamic psychology intervention and moral-based original Islamic psychology intervention. Several interventions that are based on worship are Dhikr intervention, Duʾa, al-Quran (reciting/listening), Shalah (Sunnat and Khusyuʾ), fasting, hajj, and zakat (alms). Meanwhile, original Islamic psychology intervention that is based on morals covers sincerity, ridho, gratitude, patience, forgiveness, husnudzon (positive thought), tawadhu (humble), tawakkal (trusting in god’s plan), muhasabah, tafakkur, etc. 9.3

Original Islamic Psychology Intervention Based on Worship

Of the various interventions of Islamic psychology based on worship that are recommended by Islamic psychology reviewers, the priority of interventions to be given are dhikr intervention, praying intervention, Quran intervention, and duʾa intervention. Dhikr intervention. Islamic psychologists develop thinking that dhikr can fix someone’s psychological condition. Dhikr is an utterance that is made by

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tongue or remembering God by heart, utterance of the memory that consecrates God. Several dhikr readings are tasbih (subhanallah), tahlil (la ilaha illallah), hasbalah (hasbiyallah), tahmid (alhamdulillah), takbir (Allahu akbar), hauqalah (la haula wala quwwata illa billah), basmalah (bismilahi al-rahman al-rahim), shalawat (Allahumma shalli ʿala Muhammad wa ʿala ali Muhammad). In a broad definition, reading al-Quran and reading duʾa that is taught by Prophet Muhammad are also dhikr. The suggestion of doing dhikr for an individual is made in several Quranic verses. The Quran text which is made as a reference is: “Those who have faith, and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah.’ Look! The hearts find rest in Allah’s remembrance!” (QS ar-Ra‌ʾdu: 28). It is endorsed by the words uttered by the prophet: “A group of people who meets and does dhikr to Allah; they will be greeted by angels. And those angels fulfill them by God’s mercy and give them calmness. Moreover, Allah will also remember them” (HR Ibnu Majah). The favorable Islamic psychology reviewers from either foreign countries or Indonesia, such as Najati (1982), Ancok dan Suroso (1994), Bastaman (1995), or Subandi (2009), are the promoters of this dhikr therapy. Below are some samples of research conducted using dhikr intervention: (A) The training of dhikr to decrease students’ negative affective (Supradewi, 2008). The result of the research showed that dhikr is effective for decreasing students’ negative affective. (B) The influence of training of dhikr on the improvement of the meaningfulness of students’ life (Kurniawan & Widyana, 2013). The results of the research showed that dhikr training is effective in improving an individual’s life meaningfulness. (C) The influence of dhikr therapy on the prosperity of elderly psychology (Wulandari & Nashori, 2014). The results of the research indicated that dhikr is effective in improving an individual’s psychology prosperity. (D) The effectiveness of al-Fatihah dhikr therapy to improve the personal prosperity of drug rehabilitation (Muzkiyyah, Nashori, & Sulistyarini, 2015). This result showed that al-Fatihah dhikr therapy is effective in improving the personal prosperity of drug rehabilitation. (E) The effectiveness of dhikr therapy to enhance resilience to the patient with low back pain (Khairiyah, Prabandari, & Uyun, 2015). This research showed that dhikr therapy is effective in improving resilience. (F) The effectiveness of dhikr training on improving soul calmness towards the hypertension patient (Kumala, Kusprayogi, & Nashori, 2017). This research indicated that dhikr is effective in improving an individual’s soul calmness. The Intervention of Quranic Therapy. Quranic therapy is one of the therapies, besides therapy of dhikr, that is most researched by Islamic psychology reviewers. The primary reference of Quran that is most used is Quran, surah al-Isra verse 82: “We send down in the Qurʾān that which is a cure and mercy

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for the faithful; and it increases the wrongdoers only in loss”. This also refers to Quran surah al-Fushilat verse 44: “Say, ‘For those who have faith, it is guidance and healing’ ”. Ancok and Suroso (1994) and Najati (1984) are Islamic psychology reviewers suggesting this Quranic therapy. Quranic therapy is believed that it can improve the level of calmness, tranquility, and also be able to decrease anxiety and other negative feelings. Quranic therapy can be given through listening (murattal) Quran, and tadabbur (understanding the meaning of the Quran). First is listening (murattal) to Quranic recitation. Some research conducted using therapy of listening to Quran is as follows: (A) The effectiveness of Quranic therapy in lowering depression level on chronic disease patients (Rizki, Antokoratri, Sari, & Primatika, 2008). This result of the study showed that listening to the Quran is effective in decreasing depression level. (B) The influence of listening to the Quran on lowering the level of insomnia students in the psychology department (Wulandari & Trimulyaningsih, 2015). The result of the research indicated that activities of listening to the Quran are effective in decreasing the level of insomnia. Second is tadabbur of Quran. Tadabbur of Quran, according to Al-Lahim (2006), is an effort to think and understand verses of the Quran in order to comprehend and express the meaning, hikmah, and the purpose to be achieved. The following are examples of the study involving tadabbur of Quran: (A) The effectiveness of comprehension and dhikr of surah an-Naas to decrease symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (Fakhruddiana, 2011). The result of the study showed that comprehension of surah an-Naas is effective in reducing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. (B) Effectiveness of training of meaning of surah al-Insyirah to lower the stress of students writing a thesis (Az Zahra & Saidiyah, 2013). This study showed that training of the meaning of surah al-Insyirah is effective in lowering the stress of students who were writing a thesis. (C) The effectiveness of therapy of Quranic tadabbur in decreasing the anxiety of the first childbirth (Prapto, Nashori, & Rumiani, 2015). This research showed that the therapy of Quranic tadabbur is effective in decreasing the anxiety of the first childbirth. (D) The effectiveness of training of Quranic tadabbur for decreasing stress of a patient of diabetes mellitus (Habibah, 2015). This study indicated that training of Quranic tadabbur is effective in decreasing stress of a patient of diabetes mellitus. (E) The training of change of cognitive structure through al-Fatihah to lower the stress of a patient of rheumatism (Yusuf, 2015). The result showed that training of change of cognitive structure through al-Fatihah is sufficient to lower the stress of a rheumatism patient. Praying Intervention. Therapy of praying (shalat) is one that is recommended by an Islamic psychology reviewer. The foundation of Quranic verses of this worship is; “And take recourse in patience and prayer” (QS al-Baqarah:

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45), and also in the other verse: “Indeed the prayer prevents indecencies and wrongs” (QS al-Ankabut: 45). Those Islamic psychology reviewers who recommend praying as therapy are Najati (2004), Ancok and Suroso (1994), and Nashori (2002). There are several themes of praying intervention made by Islamic psychology reviewers, namely khusyuʾ prayer, tahajjud prayer, and training of prayer. The results of the research indicated that intervention in the form of prayer is proven effective in reducing stress and negative behavior. The following are the examples of research conducted by involving prayer intervention: (A) Effectiveness of training of khusyuʾ prayer to control students’ free sex behavior (Suri & Koentjoro, 2014). This study showed that training of khusyuʾ prayer is effective in altering the pre-marriage sexual behavior of students. (B) The effectiveness of tahajud prayer to reduce the stress of santri (Azam & Abidin, 2015). This study indicates that tahajud prayer is effective in decreasing the stress level of santri. (C) Training of khusyuʾ prayer to lower anxiety of a hypertension patient (Wardani, Nashori, & Uyun, 2016). This research showed that training of khusyuʾ prayer is effective to lower anxiety of a hypertension patient. (D) The influence of prayer training to decrease the academic procrastination of university students (Azima, Trimulyaningsih, & Gusniarti, 2016). The result of the study showed that there is no academic procrastination difference between before and after treatment of prayer training. (E) Patience and prayer (shalat) as Islamic therapy in improving quality of life (Wicaksono, 2011). This study showed that therapy of patience and prayer is not effective in improving someone’s resilience. Duʾa Intervention. Duʾa, in a broad definition, is part of dhikr. However, in the specific definition, duʾa is an utterance that is delivered by someone to his God in order to gain a positive life and situation and/or he is released from a bad life or condition. One example of research of duʾa intervention is conducted by Afridah, Wahyuningsih, and dan Nugraha (2018) and states that duʾa takes the useful role in developing students’ emotional prosperity. 9.4

Original Islamic Psychology Intervention Based on Morals

This writing will further show the research developments of original Islamic psychology intervention focusing on morals, such as gratitude, patience, repentance, etc. Training of gratitude. Gratitude, instead of patience, is the most critical moral in Islam. The Islamic psychology reviewers recommend that this moral can be used as Islamic psychology intervention. The foundation of the verse

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mostly used is in Surah Ibrahim verse 7: “And when your Lord proclaimed, ‘If you are grateful, I will surely enhance you [in blessing], but if you are ungrateful, my punishment is indeed severe’ ”. One Islamic psychology reviewer who recommends this gratitude intervention is Nashori (2002). Below are several kinds of research on gratitude therapy using Islamic concepts. Training of gratitude is effective in improving acceptance towards others, quality of life, personal prosperity, and also to minimize the feeling of inconvenience. The results of previous research are explained as follows: (A) The influence of training of thankfulness for reducing the discomfort of working to non-permanent employees. The research result showed that training of gratitude is effective in reducing discomfort of working to non-permanent employees. (B) The influence of gratitude training in improving acceptance of parents of mental retardation children (Aji, Nashori, & Sulistyarini, 2013). The result of the research indicated that gratitude training is effective in improving acceptance of parents of mental retardation children. (C) The influence of training of gratitude is sufficient to improve the life quality of lung disease patients (Cahyandari, Nashori, & Sulistyarini, 2015). This study showed that training of gratitude is adequate to improve the quality of life among lung disease patients. (D) Training of gratitude for improving a teacher’s life quality in inclusion school (Putri, Sukarti, & Rachmawati, 2016). This study indicated that training of gratitude is effective for improving a teacher’s life quality. (E) The effectiveness of gratitude training to increase subjective well-being among hypertensive patients (Rahmanita, Uyun, & Sulistyarini, 2016). This study indicated that gratitude training is effective for improving subjective well-being. Patience Therapy. The Quranic verse that can be made as a reference is: “O you who have faith! Be patient, stand firm, and close [your] ranks, and be wary of Allah so that you may be felicitous” (Ali Imran: 200); and “O you who have faith! Take recourse in patience and prayer; indeed Allah is with the patient” (Al-Baqarah 2:153). One Islamic psychology reviewer who suggests this patience therapy is Najati (1982). Some examples of research on the intervention of patience therapy are: (A) The effectiveness of patience training in reducing anxiety over the decision on outsourcing employee status (Rosanawati, 2010). The results of the study show that patience training is effective in relieving anxiety over decision of outsourcing employee status. (B) Patience and prayer as Islamic therapy improve the subjective quality of life (Wicaksono, 2011). This study showed that therapy of patience and prayer is not effective in improving someone’s resilience. (C) Patience and prayer as a model to improve resilience in the disaster area of Yogyakarta (Uyun & Rumiani, 2012). This study showed that therapy of patience and prayer are not effective in improving someone’s resilience.

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Repentance therapy. Repentance is one of the therapies suggested by the reviewers of Islamic psychology. Several verses are used as the basic foundation of the Quran. One of them is: “Say [that Allah declares,] ‘O MY servants who have committed excesses against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed Allah will forgive all sins. Indeed He is the All-forgiving, the All-merciful” (az-Zumar, 39: 53). One Islamic psychologist who recommends this repentance intervention is Najati (1984). Uyun, Kurniawan, and Jaufalaily (2019) are those who researched on repentance. 9.5

Integrative Islamic Psychology Intervention

Integrative Islamic psychology intervention is a synergic effort combining interventions between the Islamic perspective and contemporary psychology. As mentioned earlier, from the Islamic perspective, several interventions are based on worship and morals, such as duʾa, dhikr, prayer, gratitude, patience, repentance, etc. Meanwhile, from a contemporary psychologist, several therapies are found such as cognitive therapy, behavior cognitive therapy, relaxation, and so on. The perspective and technique developed from these two approaches are synergized to become integrative Islamic psychology intervention. Integrative Islamic psychology intervention is divided into three categories, namely, general integrative Islamic psychology intervention, integrative Islamic psychology intervention based on worship, integrative Islamic psychology intervention based on morals. The following is the discussion of the three categories above. 9.6

General Integrative Islamic Psychology Intervention

Religious Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. One of the integrations is mostly between cognitive behavior therapy and Islamic religiosity therapy. Some research showed that religious cognitive behavioral therapy could reduce anxiety, depression, and improve subjective prosperity. The following is some current research on Islamic cognitive behavioral therapy: (A) Religious cognitive behavioral therapy reduces depression symptoms of high school students (Trimulyaningsih & Subandi, 2010). The result showed that religious cognitive behavioral therapy is effective to reduce depression symptoms of high school students. (B) The effectiveness of religious cognitive behavioral therapy on reducing students’ depression (Yuliza, 2013). This research results indicate that religious cognitive behavioral therapy is

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effective in reducing students’ depression. (C) The influence of religious cognitive behavioral therapy on lowering anxiety of hypertension patients (Irawati, Subandi, & Kumolohadi, 2011). The result of the research showed that religious cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in reducing the anxiety of hypertension patients. (D) The effectiveness of Islamic behavioral cognitive therapy in reducing the anxiety of hypertension patients (Dony, 2012). This research indicated that Islamic cognitive behavioral therapy is effective in reducing the anxiety of hypertension patients. Islamic Cognitive Therapy. This intervention is the result of integration between cognitive therapy and Islamic therapy. The following is the result of the research on the intervention of Islamic integration and cognitive approach influence on individual psychology condition. The research is under the title of effectiveness of Islamic spiritual cognitive training in improving self-confidence (Lestari, 2012). The results indicated that Islamic spiritual cognitive training is effective in improving an individual’s self-confidence. Religious Coping Therapy. This intervention is the integration between coping therapy and Islamic/religious therapy. The research result of Islamic integration intervention and contemporary findings, or religious coping therapy with regard to the effectiveness of religious coping training on improving the resilience of Merapi survivors (Octarina & Afiatin, 2013). This study showed that religious coping training is effective in improving the resilience of Merapi survivors. Islamic Counseling. The result of the study on Islamic integration intervention and contemporary findings; in this case Islamic counseling is in a group. The influence of Islamic counseling in a group is the improvement in spiritual prosperity (Abdiah & Nashori, 2013). This study showed that Islamic counseling in a group is effective in improving spiritual prosperity. 9.7

Integrative Islamic Psychology Intervention Based on Worship

Dhikr Relaxation Intervention. This intervention is the integration between relaxation therapy and dhikr therapy. Some research showed that integration of intervention between relaxation and dhikr is effective in improving positive things and reducing negative things from the individual self. (A) The influence of dhikr relaxation training on reducing anxiety of first-time pregnant mothers (Maimunah & Retnowati, 2011). This study showed that relaxation training by dhikr is effective in relieving the anxiety of first-time pregnant mothers. (B) The effectiveness of dhikr relaxation training in improving subjective prosperity of wives who experienced infertility (Wahyunita, Afiatin, & Kumolohadi, 2014).

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This study indicated that dhikr relaxation training is effective in improving the personal prosperity of wives who experienced infertility. (C) Effectiveness dhikr relaxation therapy in reducing the stress of chronic kidney patients who experienced hemodialysis (Sadif, 2013). The results showed that dhikr relaxation therapy is effective in reducing the stress of chronic kidney patients who experienced hemodialysis. (D) The influence of dhikr relaxation to reduce stress on essential hypertension patients (Anggraieni & Subandi, 2014). This research results showed that dhikr relaxation is sufficient to reduce personal stress. (E) The influence of dhikr relaxation therapy in reducing the anxiety of pre-elderly essential hypertension (Luznizanuri & Nashori, 2013). This study indicated that dhikr relaxation therapy is effective in reducing the anxiety of pre-elderly essential hypertension. Relaxation by reciting the Quran. The following is the result of the research on Islamic integration intervention and contemporary findings, i.e., training of Quran reciting relaxation. The research is on the effectiveness of relaxation by reciting the Quran, which is useful in reducing stress to the patient who has early diabetes (Habibah, 2010). The result of the study showed that relaxation by reciting the Quran is effective in reducing stress to the patient with early diabetes. 9.8

Integrative Islamic Psychology Intervention Based on Morals

Gratitude Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. The following studies are on Islamic integration intervention and contemporary findings, i.e., cognitive behavior-based gratitude therapy. Those studies are on: (A) The effectiveness of gratitude cognitive behavior therapy in reducing depression for adolescents (Mutia, Subandi, & Mulyati, 2010). This study showed that gratitude cognitive behavior therapy is effective in relieving depression for adolescents. (B) The effectiveness of gratitude cognitive behavior therapy in improving self-acceptance to chronic kidney patients who experienced hemodialysis (Safitri, 2013). This research showed that cognitive gratitude behavior therapy is effective in improving self-acceptance towards chronic kidney patients who experienced hemodialysis. Gratitude Cognitive Therapy. This intervention is an integration of cognitive therapy and gratitude therapy based on Islam. One of the examples is the effectiveness of gratitude cognitive therapy in improving meaningfulness of life for drug inmates (Febiyanti, 2011). This research indicated that cognitive gratitude therapy is effective in improving the meaningfulness of life for drug inmates.

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Forgiveness Therapy. The research below is the example of a study on Islamic integration intervention and contemporary findings, i.e., forgiveness therapy by dhikr. Several examples of this study are given as follows: (A) The influence of forgiveness therapy in improving self-acceptance for a breast cancer patient (Rahmandani & Subandi, 2010). This study showed that forgiveness therapy could improve self-acceptance for the breast cancer patient. (B) The effectiveness of forgiveness therapy by dhikr in reducing stress level to the wife of the husband’s infidelity victim (Rosdaniar & Koentjoro, 2012). The research results indicated that forgiveness therapy by dhikr is effective in reducing stress level to the wife of the husband’s infidelity victim. (C) La-Tahzan forgiveness therapy in improving self-acceptance to the women victims of domestic violence on the effect of husband’s infidelity (Khaeryasdien & Koentjoro, 2015). The result showed that La-Tahzan forgiveness therapy is effective in improving the self-acceptance of the women victims of domestic violence. 9.9

Islamization of Knowledge and Islamic Psychology Intervention

Islamic psychology intervention discussed in this writing is part of the knowledge of Islamization ideas. Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas (cited in Ancok & Suroso, 1994) stated that those Islamic thinkers in the 20th century initiated and developed the idea of Islamization knowledge. The main idea of Islamization knowledge is to correct the current knowledge, which is marked by secularization, so that there is a separation between knowledge and religious studies. This correction is made by desecularization through re-unifying the spirit of knowledge building and religious study in the spirit of tauhid. The project of desecularization or Islamization believes all running systems in the universe are based on the law of God (sunnatullah). The science is expected to be able to comprehend the movement of the universe and humans that will bring benefits to all humankind. The knowledge of Islamization ideas has developed into various branches of knowledge. Several Islamization knowledge projects include Islamic economics, Islamic law, Islamic psychology, Islamic medicine, etc. Islamic psychology has developed in many countries thanks to Malik B. Badri dan Muhammad Utsman Najati. Muhammad Utsman Najati (1982, 1988) is a Muslim scholar who was born in Egypt and wrote many books. Two of his books al-Qurʾan wa ʿIlm al-Nafs (al-Quran and Psychology) and al-Hadits an-Nabawiyah wa ʿIlm al-Nafs (al-Hadits and Psychology) are the most cited by Indonesian Muslim scholars. These two books are with the topics on Islamic psychology that is

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resourced from Quran and Hadith, such as motive, emotion, perception, thinking, learning, development phase, and psychotherapy. Malik Babeker Badri (1979) is a Muslim scholar and Muslim psychologist who was born in Sudan who completed his studies in the UK and taught in various Islamic universities in several Islamic significant countries. His most-cited writing is The Dilemma of Muslim Psychologists. This book is about a critical review on the thought of Western psychology, either in its contradiction or appropriateness with an Islamic perspective. Besides writing the book and scientific papers, Badri is founder and mover of The International Association of Muslim Psychologists, an association of scholars who are interested in Islamic psychology. The development of Islamic psychology in Indonesia, Malik Badri often claims in his visits to Indonesia, has always been full of enthusiasm. The Islamic psychology association, an organization and reviewer of Islamic psychologists, is an organization that unifies the movement of Islamic psychology review through the scientific meetings, scientific journals, and the application of knowledge. The students who have interests in Islamic psychology have, since 1992, created a forum of Forum Mahasiswa Muslim Psikologi Indonesia and have now been transformed to Ikatan Mahasiswa Muslim Psikologi Indonesia. Some Islamic institutions that offer psychology programs have also promoted fruitful collaboration by organizing an annual conference, The Inter-Islamic University Conference on Psychology (IIUCP). Some universities have independently organized Islamic psychology conferences; one of them is the National Conference on Islamic Psychology held by Universitas Islam Indonesia (UII). Some topics have received critical reviews from the Islamic psychology reviewers. The most common topics of good morals under discussion are among others gratitude, patience, faith, forgiveness, humility, tawakkal, and hubbdunya. These topics are made to be its construct, measuring instrument, and research both in qualitative and quantitative ways, up to its intervention. Besides the topics of good morals, the Islamic psychology reviewers also explored the roles of worship for the individual psychology condition. Prayer, duʾa, dhikr, and tadabbur of the Quran are mostly areas of research carried out by the Islamic psychology reviewers. They undertake qualitative or quantitative research, but experimental research seems to be the most popular. One of the most exciting discussions centers on the discourse of how Islamic psychology in terms of view, principle, and developing technique can be further accommodated in contemporary Western psychology. Regarding the issue, there are two different sides: first those holding the view that Islamic psychology must be developed by using original Islamic resources, i.e., Hadith and Tafsir (Quranic Interpretation); second, those taking the view that Islamic

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psychology can be integrated into contemporary psychology so long as the primary foundation of the study is the Quran and Hadith. Regarding the two views above, the writers believe that both views, original Islamic psychology and integrative Islamic psychology, have a common goal of developing the discourse of Islamic psychology, particularly in the matter of Islamic psychology intervention: original Islamic psychology intervention and integrative Islamic psychology intervention. The writers believe that there will be a meeting point for both views. On one hand, it means that there should be stronger efforts taken to further delve into the Quranic teaching. It is expected that there will be an original discourse to arise. On the other hand, integration will only be achieved by not intervening Islamic perspective and perspectives that contradict Islamic principles that are tauhid. 9.10

Reflection of Islamic Psychology Intervention

Several issues will be brought up for this discussion. First, it needs an explanation about the effectiveness of Islamic psychology intervention. Based on the prior research, it has been known that Islamic psychology intervention takes an essential role in improving individuals’ positive dimension of humanity, and reducing the negative dimension of the human. How can Islamic psychology intervention improve real dimension and reduce negative dimension? Religious practices such as prayer, dhikr, reciting Quran, and good morals, such as patience, tawadhuʾ, tawakal, and gratitude, are the ways to get the better condition. Allah said, “And take recourse in patience and prayer” (QS al-Baqarah: 45). Worship and good morals can bring an individual to control emotion and also give a feeling of comfort. The individual who has a closeness to his God feels like God will help him. This interpretation refers to the Quran: “Those who have faith, and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance of Allah.’ Look! The hearts find rest in Allah’s remembrance!” (QS ar-Ra‌ʾdu: 28), and also in surah Yunus verse 57: “O mankind! There has certainly come to you an advice from your Lord, and a cure for what is in the breasts, and a guidance and mercy for the faithful”. The verses above clearly show that worship and good morals take essential roles in improving the prosperity of humans, and reducing bad psychological conditions, such as stress, insomnia, depression, etc. Octarina and Afiatin (2013) said that Islamic psychology intervention could bring the individual to have an awareness of his God. The belief that God will help him gives a feeling of optimism and self-confidence in facing a hard

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situation. This feeling will improve resilience because the individual still seeks a solution and will keep working to improve self-condition. In line with the statement above, the importance of religious interventions is of what Ganje-Fling dan McCarthy (McCarthy & Houg, 2008) have explained, saying that divine intervention is useful to build up the relationship between an individual and his God. The relationship can raise hope and belief. Belief and hope are beneficial for a recovery process when he is facing a hard life (Swank & Pargament, 2005). Second, the scientific method is used to measure the effectiveness of Islamic psychology intervention. Bakar (1995) pointed out that Islamic knowledge uses various methods in understanding reality and truth. Methods used in contemporary knowledge are also employed in Islamic psychology intervention. The quantitative, qualitative method and even experiments are used as methods to uncover the truth. Among various designs of the experiment, Islamic psychology intervention is currently dominated by the nonrandomized pre-test-post-test control group design (Seniati, Yulianto, & Setiadi, 2005). This tendency happens because most research on Islamic psychology intervention has a clinical setting. According to Hadi (2015), good experiment design has a comparison. In nonrandomized pre-test-post-test control group design, its design has a comparison between the experiment group and the control group. Unfortunately, this has not been done randomly. Design that is recommended for use in experimental research is a randomized pre-test-post-test control group design and randomized matched two group design. These two designs are more recommended to do rather than nonrandomized pre-test-post-test control group design. However, I shall say that the clinical setting is difficult to do by adopting a random approach. Third, treatment of Islamic psychology intervention needs to be expanded and deepened. Except using Islamic religious worship as mentioned earlier including dhikr, prayer, Quran, and duʾa, for the future, expansion is needed such as fasting therapy, tawadhu therapy, sincerity therapy, qana‌ʾah therapy, courage therapy, facing death therapy, and so on. In addition to expanding kinds of therapies, it needs to carry out a further review of intervention that has been proven to have the capability in improving the favorable psychological situation and reducing negative psychological situation. The existence of intervention needs to be designed further, applied in various groups of the subject, and checked how far its effectiveness goes. For instance, research on many readings of dhikr is needed to uncover the truth of why dhikr reading is most effective in improving an individual’s positive

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quality and in reducing the negative quality of the individual. It is better to know which dhikr reading is the most effective and for what kind of disease, and what proper measurement is needed to gain minimum and maximum results. References Abdiah, N. A., & Nashori, H. F. (2013). The effectiveness of Islamic counseling to enhance spiritual wellbeing. Proceeding of National Conference of Islamic psychology. Semarang: Faculty of psychology Unissula, Semarang, November 9–10, 2013. Afridah, M., Wahyuningsih, H., & Nugraha, S. P. (2018). The effectiveness of Islamic prayer miracle training to enhance emotional well being students. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 10(1), 1–17. Aji, W., Nashori, H. F., & Sulistyarini, I. (2013). The effectiveness of gratitude training to enhance acceptance parent to mental retarded children. Jurnal Psikologi Integratif, 1(1), 97–104. Al-Faruqi, I. R. (1982). Islamization of knowledge: General principles and workplan. Herndon, Virginia: IIIT. Al-Faruqi, I. R. (1988). Tauhid. Bandung: Penerbit Pustaka. Ali, M. S. (2015). The holy Qurʾan: Arabic text and English translation. UK: Islam Inter­ national Publications Limited. Ancok, D., & Suroso, F. N. (1994). Psikologi Islami (Islamic psychology). Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. Anggraieni, W. N., & Subandi. (2014). Effect of dhikr relaxation therapy to reduce stress on essential hypertension patients. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 6(1), 81–102. Azam, S., & Abidin, Z. (2015). The effectiveness of praying tahajud to reduce stress level among students. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 6(2), 151–170. Az-Zabidi, I. (2017). Ringkasan shahih Bukhari. Bandung: Jabal Press. Az Zahra, A., & Saidiyah, S. (2013). The effectiveness of training of surah al-­insyirah meaning in reducing students’ stress who are doing thesis. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 5(1), 25–42. Azima, M. F., Trimulyaningsih, N., & Gusniarti, U. (2016). The effect on shalat’s training to decrease academic procrastination on university students. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 8(1), 109–126. Badri, M. B. (1979). The dilemma of Muslim psychologists. Jakarta: Firdaus Press. Bakar, O. (1995). Tawhid and sciences. Bandung: Pustaka Hidayah. Bastaman, H. D. (1995). Integrasi Psikologi dengan Islam (Integration psychology and Islam). Yogyakarta: Penerbit Pustaka Pelajar & Yayasan Insan Kamil.

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Cahyandari, R., Nashori, H. F., Sulistyarini, I. R. (2015). Effectiveness of gratitude training to increase quality of life on patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd). Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 7(1), 1–14. Dony, R. (2012). The effectiveness of Islamic cognitive behavior therapy to lower anxiety on hypertension patients. Thesis (unpublished). Yogyakarta: Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Fakhruddiana, F. (2011). Efektivitas penghayatan dan Zikir Surat an-Naas untuk mengurangi gejala obsessive-compulsive disorder. Patience and prayer as therapy Islam in improving subjective quality of life. Proceeding International Conference Association of Islamic Psychology 2011. Febiyanti, F. (2011). The effectiveness of gratitude cognitive therapy to improve meaningfulness of life drug inmates. Thesis (unpublished). Yogyakarta: Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Habibah, N. (2010). The effectiveness of training of reciting Quran relaxation to decrease stress towards patient beginner diabetes. Thesis (unpublished). Yogyakarta: Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Habibah, N. (2015). The effectiveness of al-Qurʾan tadabbur training to reduce stress on diabetes milletus patients. Proceeding of National Conference on Islamic Psychology, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta, February 8–9, 2015. Hadi, S. (2015). Metodologi Riset (Research Methodology). Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. Irawati, D., Subandi, & Kumolohadi, R. (2011). Religious cognitive behavior therapy to reduce the anxiety towards death of HIV/AIDS people. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 3(2), 169–186. Khaeryasdien, A. D., & Koentjoro. (2015). The effect of la-tahzan forgiveness therapy to enhance self-acceptance in wife who experienced domestic violence. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 7(1), 15–39. Khairiyah, U., Prabandari, Y. S., & Uyun, Q. (2015). Dhikr therapy to enhance resilience at patient with low back pain. Jurnal Ilmiah Psikologi dan Terapan, 3(2), 336–346. Kuchan, K. L. (2007). Prayer as therapeutic process toward aliveness within a spiritual direction relationship. Journal of Religion Health, 47, 263–275. Kumala, O. D., Kusprayogi, Y., & Nashori, H. F. (2017). The effectiveness of dhikr training to increase soul calmness the elderly who suffer from hypertension. Psympathic: Jurnal Ilmiah Psikologi, 4(1), 55–66. Kurniawan, W., & Widyana, R. (2013). The effect of zikr training to increasing the meaningfulness of life on students. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 5(2), 217–238. Lestari, W. (2012). The effectiveness of Islamic spiritual cognitive training to improve self-confidence. Thesis (unpublished). Yogyakarta: Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia.

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Luznizanuri, K., & Nashori, H. F. (2013). The effectiveness of dhikr relaxation therapy to lower anxiety of pre-elderly’s essential hypertension. Thesis (unpublished). Yogyakarta: Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Maimunah, A., & Retnowati, S. (2011). The effect of dhikr relaxation training to solve anxiety of first pregnant mother. Psikoislamika, Jurnal Psikologi Islami, 8(1), 1–22. McCarthy, P., & Houg, B. L. (2008). The role of spirituality in the ongoing recovery process of female sexual abuse survivors. Dissertation (unpublished). Minnesota: University of Minnesota. Mujib, A., & Mudzakir, J. (2001). Nuansa-nuansa psikologi Islam (Nuances of Islamic psychology). Jakarta: Rajawali Press. Mutia, E., Subandi, & Mulyati, R. (2010). Gratitude-cognitive behavior therapy to reduce the symptoms of adolescent depression. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 2(2), 181–192. Muzkiyyah, L., Nashori, H. F., & Sulistyarini, I. (2015). Effectiveness of al-Fatihah dhikr therapy to improve subjective prosperity of drug rehabilitation. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi. Najati, M. U. (1982). Al-Quran wa ilm al-nafs (Quran and psychology). Kairo: Dar al-Syuruq. Najati, M. U. (1988). Al-Hadits al-Nabawi wa ilm al-nafs (Hadits and psychology). Kairo: Dar al-Syuruq. Nashori, H. F. (2002). Agenda psikologi Islam (Agenda of Islamic psychology). Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. Nashori, H. F. (2015). Towards Islamic psychology intervention. Proceeding of National Conference on Islamic Psychology, Universitas Islam Indonesia, Yogyakarta, February 8–9, 2015. Octarina, M., & Afiatin, T. (2013). The effectiveness of the religious coping training to enhance the resilience level of woman survivor Merapi eruption. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 5(1), 95–110. Prapto, D. A. P., Nashori, H. F., & Rumiani. (2015). Quran tadabbur therapy to reduce anxiety on the first delivery. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 7(2), 131–142. Putri, D. A., Sukarti, & Rachmawati, M. A. (2016). The effectiveness of training of gratitude to improve teacher’s life quality in inclusion school. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 8(1), 2016. Rahmandani, A., & Subandi, M. A. (2010). The effect of forgiveness therapy to enhance self-acceptance in breast cancer patients. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 2(2), 138–140. Rahmanita, A., Uyun, & Sulistyarini, I. R. (2016). The effectiveness of gratitude training to increase subjective-well being among hypertensive patients. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 8(2), 165–184.

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Rizki, B. M., Antokoratri, A., Sari, F. P., & Primatika, F. R. (2008). The effectiveness of Quranic therapy in lowering depression level on chronic disease patients. Semarang: Proceeding of National Conference Association of Islamic Psychology 2008. Rosanawati, T. (2010). The effectiveness of patient training in decrease anxiety towards decision of outsourcing employee status. Thesis (unpublished). Yogyakarta: Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Rosdaniar & Koentjoro. (2012). Effectiveness of forgiveness therapy by dhikr in decrease stress level towards wife of husband’s infidelity victim. Thesis (unpublished). Yogyakarta: Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Sadif, R. S. (2013). The effectiveness dhikr relaxation therapy in decreasing stress of chronic kidney patient who experienced hemodialysis. Thesis (unpublished). Yogyakarta: Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Safitri, R. (2013). The effectiveness of gratitude cognitive behavior therapy in improving self-acceptance towards chronic kidney patient who experienced hemodialysis. Thesis (unpublished). Yogyakarta: Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Seniati, L., Yulianto, A., & Setiadi, B. N. (2005). Psikologi Eksperimen (Psychology of experiment). Jakarta: Gramedia. Subandi. (2009). Psikologi Dzikir: Studi Fenomenologi Pengalaman Transformasi Religius (Psychology of dhikr: Phenomenological studi of religious transformational experience). Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar. Supradewi, R. (2008). The effectiveness of dhikr training in decrease negative affect university students. Jurnal Psikologi (UIN Yogya), 2, 199–215. Suri, P. I., & Koentjoro. (2014). The influence fervent prayer training to reduce premarital sexual behavior on dating university students. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 6(2), 181–192. Swank, N., & Pargament, K. (2005). God, where are you? Evaluating a spiritualityintegrated intervention for sexual abuse. Journal of Mental Health, Religion and Culture, 8(3), 191–203. Trimulyaningsih, N., & Subandi, M. A. (2010). Cognitive-behavioral religious therapy to decrease the symptoms of depression. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 5(2), 180–194. Uyun, Q., Kurniawan, I. N., & Jaufalaily, N. (2019). Repentance and seeking forgiveness: The effect of spiritual therapy based on Islamic tenets to improve mental health. Mental Health, Religion, and Culture, 22(2), 185–194. Uyun, Q., & Rumiani. (2012). Sabr (patience) and salat (praying) as a model for increasing resilience in disaster area Yogyakarta. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 4(2), 253–267.

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Wahyunita, D., Afiatin, T., & Kumolohadi, R. (2014). The effect of zikr relaxation training to increase subjective sell being of wife infertility. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 6(2), 225–234. Wardani, Y., Nashori, H. F., & Uyun, Q. (2016). Effectiveness on solemn prayer training to reduce anxiety in the elderly intervention. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 8(2), 217–233. Wicaksono, S. P. (2011). Patience and prayer as therapy Islam in improving subjective quality of life. Proceeding International Conference Association of Islamic Psychology 2011. Wulandari, E., & Nashori, H. F. Effectiveness of zikr therapy for psychological well being in elderly. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 6(2), 235–250. Wulandari, E. D., & Trimulyaningsih, N. (2015). Listening murattal al-Quran to reduce insomnia level. Jurnal Intervensi Psikologi, 7(1), 40–55. Yuliza, E. (2013). Effectiveness of religious cognitive behavioral therapy in reducing students’ depression. Thesis (unpublished). Yogyakarta: Postgraduate Program, Faculty of Psychology and Socio-Cultural Sciences, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Yusuf, U. (2015). The training of change of cognitive structure through al-Fatihah to lower the stress of patient of rheumatism. Proceeding of National Conference on Islamic Psychology, Universitas Islam Indonesia. Yogyakarta, February 8–9, 2015.

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Chapter 10

Srikandi Lintas Iman: Religiosity in Diversity Nina Mariani Noor Abstract This article explores the religiosity of Muslim women joining Srikandi Lintas Iman, a women interfaith community in Yogyakarta. Using Glock and Stark’s theory on religiosity from the sociological perspective and Tiliouine & Belgoumidi’s domains of religiosity, the research questions are how the religiosity of Muslim women in SRILI, and how their activities in interfaith dialogue contribute to their religiosity dimensions as an individual. Data was gathered through questionnaires and in-depth interviews. This paper finds out that Muslim women joining an interfaith community can improve their religiosity in several ways. Activities and programs of SRILI contribute to its member religiosity both directly and indirectly.

Keywords religiosity – Muslim – women – interfaith dialogue

10.1 Introduction1 Indonesia is a plural society that consists of 250 million people from several different religions and beliefs (from www.bps.go.id). Its history of independence portrays the commitments of its founding fathers to keep Indonesia as a multicultural country based on Pancasila (Five Basic Principles). Although Muslim composes the majority of Indonesian religion, almost 87 percent, Indonesia is not an Islamic state, but a Pancasila State. The people of the six religions living therein are guaranteed to practice their respective religious teachings.

1  Author Note: Nina Mariani Noor, Universitas Sunan Kalijaga. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Nina Mariani Noor, Graduate School Universitas Islam Negeri Sunan Kalijaga, Jl. Marsda Adisucipto, Depok Sleman, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Email: [email protected].

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden,Ralph 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004416987_011 W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

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Religious life under the New Order regime (1965–1998) was in control of harmony. The state imposed three harmonies for religious lives which consist of harmony between different religious adherents, harmony within one religious group, and harmony between religious groups and government (Sairin, 2002, p. 85). At that time, conflict within religious nuance rarely occurred. However, lately in the last decade, after the Reform Era following the fall of the Soeharto Regime in 1998, several conflicts with ethnoreligious nuances erupted in several parts of Indonesia such as Kalimantan, Poso, Sulawesi, and Ambon (Trijono, 2004). Nowadays, Indonesians tend to be more religious than before. Jeremy Menchik argues that “the importance of religious position in the society has made Indonesia a very religious country.” (“Indonesia, Negara Demokrasi yang Religius,” n.d.) Indonesia is more religious than other democratic countries. Menchick states that 98.8 percent of Indonesians view that religion is important. It is higher compared to the US’s 71.6 percent and India’s 80.7 percent. Seventy percent of Indonesians think that a house of worship can provide an answer to the social problems. Additionally, the frequency of attending religious activities of Indonesian reaches 64.5 percent (“Indonesia, Negara Demokrasi yang Religius,” n.d.). Menchick further states that Indonesia is a “Godly Nation”, an imagined community bound by common, orthodox theism and mobilized through the states in cooperation with religious organizations in society (Menchik, 2017, p. 67). It can be seen from the efforts made by some local administrations, like province and district, to apply Sharia (Islamic law) to their regions such as in Aceh Province, Ciamis District in West Java, and Bulukumba Sulawesi. Another fact showing the increase in religiosity in public spaces is the rise in the number of Muslim women wearing a headscarf, veil, or hijab, a development from a religious movement such as 212 movements when thousands of Muslims did stage rallies demanding for the imprisonment of former Jakarta Governor with the charge of blasphemy against the Qurʾan. In response to arising religion-nuanced conflicts in the last decade, some interfaith dialogue initiatives have been introduced between the state and civil society such as Provokator Damai in Ambon, Mosintuwu in Poso Sulawesi, Dian Interfidei, FPUB (Forum Persaudaraan Umat Beriman, Faith Community Forum), Forum Jogja Damai (Peace Jogja Forum), and Srikandi Lintas Iman. Most of the participants in those interfaith organizations or communities are also active in their religious organizations. This chapter explores religiosity dimensions of Muslim women who join Srikandi Lintas Iman (SRILI), a women interfaith community in Yogyakarta which is concerned with women and children’s issues. This article starts with

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the introduction of Indonesia’s current context of the religious life situation, and it is followed by a study on religiosity and women. The following part is the description of SRILI in terms of its formation, programmes, and the various faiths and religions its members have. The last part is the discussion on the religiosity of SRILI Muslim women, and conclusion. 10.2

Religiosity and Women

Religion is a private business for its adherents; how an individual different from other individuals in terms of understanding, practice, and relating his/ her life. An individual’s conviction, devotion, and veneration towards a divinity/religion are called religiosity. Religiosity, in more comprehensive meaning, involves all dimensions of religion, but it also can be used in a narrower sense in defining an extreme view and dedication to religious rituals or traditions. Religiosity is a multi-layered concept that involves cognitive, emotional, motivational, and behavioral aspects (Hackney & Sanders, 2003). Regarding religiosity, Gallup survey data confirms the idea that women tend to be more religious than men. “Women are more religious than men, hold their beliefs more firmly, practice their faith more consistently, and work more vigorously for the congregation” (Inc, n.d.). The Gallup survey discovers some factors supporting this fact. Firstly, “women tend to be more open about sharing personal problems.” Secondly, they are more relational than men in which women can easily find their “best friend” in their congregation while men are not. Thirdly, women rely on an empirical basis for faith while men lean toward a rational basis (Inc, n.d.). Religiosity covers several dimensions or has several spectra depending on which measurement is made. Research on religiosity has been conducted from various aspects from its measurements, dimensions, approaches, and many others. Salleh develops a theory of religiosity from the Islamic view. According to Salleh, religiosity is characterized by four dimensions: divinistic, holistic integration, transitory, and instrumentalistic. Those characteristics are embedded in its theoretical constructs and clearly apparent, such a positive outcome of the development in which the dimensions of religiosity are firmly ingrained (Salleh, 2012). A study on Muslim women and religiosity has been done by Ghulamhussein et al. in the United States. She explored the relationship between hijab and psychological wellbeing of Muslim women in the United States (Gulamhussein & Eaton, 2015). More research on religious dimensions was conducted by Afiatin (1998). Afiatin looked at the religious dimensions acquired by senior high school

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students in Yogyakarta and found out that the highest religious dimension was a ritual one, but it was not followed by other dimensions such as religious experience as well as religious attitude. What is more, the implementation of religious ritual was not secured by sufficient internalization of their belief and knowledge. This implementation happened since students were suggested or even forced by their parents to observe their religious ritual. Tiliouine and Belgoumidi (2009) explored the relationships between religiosity, meaning in life, and subjective wellbeing (SWB) with samples of 495 Muslim students (330 females, and 165 males) from Algeria. They used a Comprehensive Measure of Islamic Religiosity (CMIR) containing 60 items to measure one’s religiosity. This CMIR with its domains and items entrenched in it is used to measure Islamic religiosity, which is different from the conventional items, both in their meanings and concepts since Islam has a distinctive meaning and concept of God, prophets, Sunnah, Shahadah, books, and other concepts. 10.3

Theory and Method

Rusu and Turliuc state that the study of religiosity usually pays attention to the differences between religious faith and religious behavior; therefore sometimes it is necessary “to build scales specific to religion under a study since the use of scales for other religious confessions may fail to capture specific issues and to provide important explanations for the study.” Hence, in the process of researching religiosity, an interdisciplinary approach will give better conceptualization and explanation about religiosity (Rusu & Turliuc, 2011, p. 360). In response to that, the discussions on this article use Glock’s conceptualization of religious orientation and dimension. Glock and Stark differentiated several dimensions of religiosity—practice, belief, experience, and consequences—as indicators of norms or integration. They proposed five-dimensional models of religiosity, which are generally shared by all world religions. This Glock theory can fit with the circumstances since it is in line with my interest on religiosity of Muslim women. Those five dimensions are: ‘the experiential’, ‘the ritualistic’, ‘the ideological’, ‘the intellectual’ and ‘the consequential’ (Glock & Stark, 1965). According to Glock (Glock & Stark, 1965), “the experiential dimension’ of religiosity refers to the achievement of direct knowledge of the ultimate reality or experience of religious emotions in the form of exaltation, fear, humility, joyfulness, and peace” (p. 40). The ‘ideological dimension’ shows that a

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religious person should hold certain beliefs about their religion. Belief refers to religious views such as particularism and dogmatism. The ‘ritualistic dimension’ includes specific religious practices expected of religious followers such as prayer, worship, and fasting. Experience stands for religious emotions and revelations. While the ‘intellectual dimension’ covers having some knowledge about the basic tenets of his/her faith and its religious scriptures. Lastly, the consequential dimension’ reflects on the relationship with other humans and the attitudes of the adherents to other humans as a consequence of their religious belief. In other words, ‘consequences’ refers to the importance of religion in people’s daily lives. Moreover, since the subject of this study is Muslim women, the dimensions, especially for Muslim, are also considered in this paper. Borrowing Tiliouine and Belgoumidi (2009), there are four dimensions/domains covered. Two first interrelated dimensions were developed by Abdullah H. M. Al-Khalifah (Al-Khalifah, 1994, p. 4). Firstly, the belief (or covert) dimensions, which represents an individual’s full and sincere belief in God as the Creator of the universes and as the only One worthy of worship, and one’s belief in His angels, books, messengers, the Day of Judgment and the hereafter, and in fate. Secondly, the conduct (or over) dimension, which emphasizes the degree to which the belief dimensions of religiosity are reflected throughout the believer’s daily behavior and actions via the full obedience and compliance to God’s commands and the avoidance of those acts and behavior forbidden by God. Tiliouine and Belgoumidi added two dimensions to those two dimensions from Al Khalifah, namely religious altruism and spiritual enrichment. Those four dimensions are used for measurement of especially Islamic Religiosity, and it was known as the Comprehensive Measure of Islamic Religiosity (CMIR). The CMIR consists of four ‘domains’ or dimensions. Firstly, the Religious Belief which contains 17 items dealing with faith matters, such as believing in God, judgment day, hell, paradise, sacred books, and loving the Prophet Muhammad and making him as a role model. Secondly, the Religious Practice which contains 20 items dealing with practical matters such as Islamic prayers, fasting, avoidance of alcoholic drinks, respect restrictions on clothing, hairstyle, and other prohibited actions such as watching blue film and gambling. Thirdly, the Religious Altruism which contains 12 items dealing with relational aspects, such as being kind to parents, relatives, neighbors, advising, and being tolerant toward others. Fourthly, the Religious Enrichment which contains 11 items dealing with activities that broaden religious knowledge and spiritual experiences, such as reading religious books, attending religious meetings, following religious TV/radio programs, and reading of and enjoying listening to the Qurʾan (Tiliouine & Belgoumidi, 2009).

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Glock and Stark and the items from CIMR with those four dimensions are used to measure the religiosity of Muslim women in SRILI. The data for this study were obtained from a brief survey and in-depth interview with some members of SRILI. The survey was carried out to only 16 persons from four religious groups: Muslim, Christian, Catholics, and local belief. The survey was conducted to get a general picture of the religious life of members. One of the SRILI members from Hinduism did not respond to the survey. The survey was done to get a general picture of SRILI’s members’ religiosity, while the in-depth interview was conducted to explore more explanations on the religiosity of Muslim women relating to their activities and participation in SRILI. 10.4

Srikandi Lintas Iman: a Space to Share

Participation and dialogue are actual practices contributing to creating public space. Therefore a culture of dialogue needs to be encouraged in which people can openly and assertively interact with others (Sinn, 2015, p. 81). SRILI is one example of creating public space for women from different religious and belief backgrounds to have dialogue and interaction. This part elaborates SRILI’s formation, establishment, programs, and its activities. Srikandi Lintas Iman was formed and declared after a workshop on “Revitalisasi Peran Perempuan dalam Mengelola Keberagaman Agama di Yogyakarta” held on 28–29 August in Wisma Mawar Asri Kaliurang. The workshop was initiated by Wiwin Siti Aminah Rohmawati who is an awardee of KAICIID International Fellows Programme in collaboration with Fatayat NU Yogyakarta. There were 32 women from different religions such as Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, joining the workshop. They were from several religious women organizations like Fatayat NU (Women wing organization in Nahdhatul Ulama, the biggest Muslim organization in Indonesia), Nasyiatul Aisyiyah (Women wing organization in Muhammadiyah, the second biggest Muslim organization in Indonesia), Wanita Katholik Indonesia, and Perempuan Khonghucu Indonesia. Additionally, there were also several women from religious universities, such as Sekolah Tinggi Hindu Dharma Indonesia (Hinduism College) and Duta Wacana Christian University. There were also some from religious communities like Christianity (Gereja Kristen Jawa) and Buddhism (Vihara Vidyasena) (admin, 2015). Generally speaking, the interreligious dialogue could spring joint action and inspire a full understanding. SRILI has been aware of it. All religions concern and are posed with challenges to the dignity of human life, such as poverty,

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violence, abuse of women and children, minority discrimination, and substantial changes in the natural environment. Different religions can address these issues together. Interreligious dialogue through SRILI should aim through the resources of religious traditions to overcome the challenges Indonesian women are facing. Declared as women’s interfaith community, SRILI has, therefore, been actively engaging in dialogue and mainly concerned with social and women- and children-related issues. Through its vision, SRILI has developed programmes on issues common to all members. SRILI is expected to make a follow up of diversity revitalization management by involving women as the primary agent of change (admin, 2015). For SRILI, strengthening sisterhood among its members is essential for developing and improving their capacities. Through joint actions those women learn to understand better, love each other, and finally live in the world together. As an open community, SRILI has called on the women from various religious backgrounds who are concerned with women and child-related issues to join and participate in all its activities. Its membership is voluntary, and members are required to express willingness to participate in SRILI’s activities actively. In 2017, its second meeting, SRILI attracted more than 50 women to join. They came from 6 official religions in Indonesia (Islam, Catholicism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism) and also from MLKI (Majelis Luhur Kepercayaan terhadap Tuhan Yang Maha Esa Indonesia), an organization of local beliefs in Indonesia. Most of the women in SRILI are also leaders in their religious organizations. Therefore, they are supposed to have more knowledge and practices in their religions and have more power to give influence to their community. In terms of professions, most members are university students since Yogyakarta is an educational city. Those students from State Islamic University Sunan Kalijaga and Universitas Gadjah Mada were dominant. The other members are lecturers, workers, priests, homemakers, and Catholics nuns. The diversity of its members enriches and gives nuances of plurality in SRILI, and they are promising resources for SRILI future developments. Despite mainly dealing with programs on women- and children-related issues, SRILI’s initial development focused on attracting the attention of its members to get to know each other about their beliefs and faiths. Therefore, programs are introduced to its members to reflect interfaith dialogue and understand each other. The interfaith dialogue consists of interaction between people of different faith backgrounds, with the goal of a mutually beneficial relationship and understanding. Therefore, during the first engagement in joining the group, new

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members were given time to have an introduction and eliminate prejudice with other members. Members also gained knowledge of other religions and managing pluralities. The new members were also given knowledge of how to build awareness of the importance of women in interfaith dialogue. The basic knowledge is expected to be a basis for every SRILI members to have the same vision of interfaith dialogue. Any formal or informal relations among the SRILI members can be done through dialogue. The dialogue includes interaction with other members inside or outside SRILI activities and/or academic and non-academic level. 10.5

Being More Religious in Inter-Religious Community

The successful interfaith dialogue and building relationships through interconnectedness essentially depends on the maintenance of religious identity. It is critically essential for a person in the interfaith dialogue to know their belief so that the conversation taking place in the dialogue could be fruitful and successful. Diana Eck called it the “commitment to being at the table with one’s commitments.” True interfaith discourse happens with those adherents who are comfortable with and devoted to their religious convictions. Religion—and religious difference—is usually brought up and discussed in dialogue as the general acknowledgment to clarify that people engaging in dialogue come from very different backgrounds. However, once that difference was acknowledged, it was shunted to the side, and love and humanity as a common language was highlighted. Consequently, the discussion about differences in the theological and religious matter is discharged (Eck, 2006). Muslim women joining SRILI come from different Muslim schools. Most numbers are from Fatayat NU, and the rest are from Nasyiatul Aisyiah, Ahmadiyah and those who do not have women’s organization references. In doing their interfaith dialogue, they keep and maintain their religious identity, such as they wear a veil and observe prayers when they are having activities with SRILI. Those women have their own religious experiences. Generally, they are hereditary Muslims who were born and brought up in Muslim family and also Muslim communities since Indonesia population is majority Muslim. That is why they have a variety of religious experiences and knowledge. Most of those women have their experiential religious dimension on a process “believing by doing.” It means that they believe their faith is getting stronger because of a process of learning and experiencing. They do not have a shocking special religious experience that changes their level of faith. The following is what an informant said about her religious experience:

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I do not have a dramatic religious experience that strengthen my faith to Islam. I was born Muslim and brought up in a Muslim family and a Muslim community. Islam is my only choice. I believe the doctrine and teaching given to me through school and community that Islam is a perfect religion among the divine religions. So far, my reading and study about Islam strengthen my belief. Interview with FF, 6 September 2017

Islam obliges its adherents to observe several religious rituals such as prayer (Salat) five times a day, giving alms, doing fasting, and going on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The frequency and regularity of doing these rituals show the religiosity. Based on the quick survey, most Muslim women in SRILI observe their religious rituals such as prayer and giving alms regularly. Moreover, in every activity held by SRILI they have time to do their prayers. Some of them also have had their pilgrimage to Mecca, both umrah and hajj. In Indonesia, Muslims who are doing prayer regularly, going pilgrimage to Mecca are seen as a religious Muslim in Indonesia. Rituals that can be seen are still used for measurement of others’ religiosity. The results of research on women Muslim in SRILI is in line with what Menchik (2017) found out in his research. Interfaith dialogue is a place where Muslim women can meet, share, and learn with other women from other religions. Since there are special events in SRILI aimed to get to know each other among their members on religious and theological issues, Muslim women get opportunities to interact with other women and know more about other beliefs. There are knowledge exchanges between them where Muslim women have to answer several questions concerning their religions raised by other women in SRILI. Several common questions are, among others: why women should wear hijab, what is its theological reason for wearing hijab, why Muslims do polygamy, and why Muslims take ablution before observing prayer. Those questions indirectly forced those women Muslims to learn about their religion and religious rituals that they observe regularly. They might never question their religious ritual and other religious obligation, about the theological reason behind those obligations. One of the Muslim women stated that since she takes part in the interfaith dialogue, she has to renew and improve her knowledge of her religions in order to explain it to others. Besides, those well-educated Muslim women in SRILI make them easily elevate their knowledge about Islam. One of the informants stated: “there is an encounter in dialogue and knowledge exchange. When there is a question addressed to me that never been asked before as a Muslim, such as why I wear a veil, or if it is an obligation for

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women Muslim, I have never thought about its theological reason until I have those questions. Consequently, those questions force me to explore and study more about my religion” (Interview with WW, 1 September 2017). Another religious dimension is an essential dimension in which religiosity is seen from the attitudes of adherents that reflect their religious teaching and beliefs in their everyday. In Islam, many activities can be used to measure this religiosity, for example giving alms, and treating and respecting other people. Based on the survey and interviews, I found out that the frequency of women donating for their religious activities is high. It can be seen that there are more than half of them who donate for religious activities as often as they can. They also think that in giving donations, they do not need to see the religion of the receivers. Muslim women in SRILI think that joining SRILI and being active in its activities and programs has given them a chance to treat others as their religious teaching command them to do so. For them, SRILI is a space where they can interact with those from other religions and beliefs while they can still practice their religious teaching. Furthermore, they do not worry about the possibility of bothering their faith or of being converted to other faiths. Looking at those Muslim women’s religiosity from Tiliouine and Belgoumidi’s (2009) domains, they are in favor of religious belief, religious practice, religious altruism, and spiritual enrichment. Their religiosity is getting stronger and more in line with their activities in SRILI. 10.6

Interfaith Dialogue, Religiosity and Religious Maturity

As mentioned earlier, most Muslim women joining SRILI said that they are not afraid of being interfered by other religious teaching or converted to other religions by participating actively in SRILIs activities. Most of them feel that their faith and belief as Muslims get stronger than before joining SRILI. Besides, they gain more understanding of other faith or religions. They continue to work together to deal with women and children’s issues through SRILI. From the analysis, it revealed that those Muslim women are religiously mature. Tsang and McCullough (2003) point out that religiosity as a relevant construct for positive psychology because some forms of religiosity correlate significantly with physical and mental health, tolerance, pro-social behavior, and positive interpersonal relationships. Muslim women in SRILI have shown their religious maturity as Malony (1985) said, as experiencing fellowship; persons with this maturity enjoy being around with people from different religions,

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ethnicities, and backgrounds. They also have a close relationship with persons both within their religious groups and different religious backgrounds. The spiritual maturity of these Muslim women is in line with their religiosity. Those women also have religiosity from altruistic domains, i.e., tolerating others and helping people with their difficulties for God’s sake. What is more, those Muslim women have the open-mindedness to learn new thing and to appreciate differences. It can be said that in terms of religiosity and religious maturity, those women have finished with themselves. SRILI, as a community for women from a different religious background, has become a space for Muslim women to improve their religiosity in several items of dimensions as well as to maintain their religious maturity. 10.7 Conclusion To sum up, interfaith dialogue initiated by SRILI is an effort made to build bridges between women from different religious identities to respond to women and children’s issues in Yogyakarta. Looking at the composition of SRILI members consisting of women leaders from various religious backgrounds and also their religious activities, this study showed that most of them including Muslim women in SRILI are “religious people” since they have high religiosity and are also religiously mature. Furthermore, SRILI programs and activities, on the one hand, are building bridges, providing opportunities to its members to know each other and consequently understand each other. On the other, SRILI also creates a space for those women to grow their knowledge of their religion. In other words, SRILI contributes to improving the religiosity of its members, especially the knowledge dimension for its Muslim members. This study is initial research only studying Muslim women. Therefore further studies to other religious groups are strongly encouraged, and would be beneficial. References admin. (2015, November 30). Profil Srikandi Lintas Iman Yogyakarta. Retrieved September 21, 2017, from http://srikandilintasiman.com/hello-world/. Afiatin, T. (1998). Religiusitas remaja: Studi tentang kehidupan beragama di daerah istimewa Yogyakarta. Jurnal Psikologi, 1, 55–64.

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Al-Khalifah, A. H. M. (1994). Religiosity in Islam as a protective mechanism against criminal temptation. The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences, 11(1), 1–12. Eck, D. L. (2006). What is pluralism? | The Pluralism Project. Retrieved October 1, 2017, from http://pluralism.org/what-is-pluralism/. Glock, C. Y., & Stark, R. (1965). Religion and society in tension. Chicago: Rand McNally. Gulamhussein, Q.-ain, & Eaton, N. R. (2015). Hijab, religiosity, and psychological wellbeing of Muslim women in the United States. Journal of Muslim Mental Health, 9(2), 25–40. Hackney, C. H., & Sanders, G. S. (2003). Religiosity and mental health: A meta-analysis of recent studies. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 42, 43–55. Inc, G. (n.d.). Why are women more religious? Retrieved September 25, 2017, from http:// news.gallup.com/poll/7432/Why-Women-More-Religious.aspx. Indonesia, Negara Demokrasi yang Religius. (n.d.). Retrieved Sep­tem­ber 25, 2017, from http://www.republika.co.id/berita/koran/khazanah-koran/16/03/10/o3tcw78 -indonesia-negara-demokrasi-yang-religius. Malony, H. N. (1985). Assessing religious maturity. In Psychotherapy and the religiously committed patient (pp. 25–34). New York: Haworth Press. Menchik, J. (2017). Islam and democracy in Indonesia: tolerance without liberalism. New York: Cambridge University Press. Rusu, P.-P., & Turliuc, M.-N. (2011). Ways of approaching religiosity in psychological research. The Journal of International Social Research, 4(18), 352–362. Sairin, W. (Ed.). (2002). Kerukunan umat beragama pilar utama kerukunan berbangsa: butir-butir pemikiran (Cet. 1). Jakarta: BPK Gunung Mulia. Salleh, M. S. (2012). Religiosity in development: A theoretical construct of an Islamic-Based Development. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2(Special Issue), 266–274. Sinn, S. (2015). Public space, agency and dialogue in plural societies. In Religious Plurality and the Public Space: Joint Christian-Muslim Theological Reflections (pp. 71– 81). The Lutheran World Federation. Tiliouine, H., & Belgoumidi, A. (2009). An exploratory study of religiosity, meaning in life and subjective wellbeing in Muslim students from Algeria. Applied Research Quality Life, 4, 109–127. Trijono, L. (Ed.). (2004). Potret retak nusantara: studi kasus konflik di Indonesia. Yogyakarta: CSPS Book. Tsang, J., & McCullogh, M. E. (2003). Measuring religious constructs: A hierarchical approach to construct organization and scale selection. In Handbook of Positive Psychological Assessment (pp. 345–360). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

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Chapter 11

At the Intersection of Science and Faith: Epistemic Cognition about “Religiously-Loaded” Scientific Issues Anindito Aditomo Abstract Science and religion represent important facets of human experience. Yet, they are related in complex and sometimes conflicting ways. The present study examines how religious people think about the science-religion relations by focusing on their epistemic cognition, i.e. thoughts about the nature and justification of knowledge when making sense of competing claims to truth. The study’s main question was whether people express different beliefs with regards to “religiously-neutral” vs. “religiously-loaded” issues in the social-psychological and biological domains. The religiously-neutral issues explored were (a) motivation and work performance, and (b) sugar as the cause of obesity; while the religiously-loaded issues were (c) homosexuality as a disorder, and (d) human evolution. On each of the four issues, undergraduate students from Islamic and Christian backgrounds (N = 317; mean age = 21.4 years; 74.1% female) were asked to express their epistemic beliefs along the three dimensions: (1) ontology, i.e. whether there is a single, objective truth (ontology); (2) fallibility, i.e. whether knowledge of the issue could be wrong; and (3) decidability, i.e. whether there are rational ways to decide on truth. The findings show when thinking about religiously-loaded scientific issues such as homosexuality and evolution, people tend to believe that there is a single objective truth, that their own beliefs are infallible, and that there is no rational method to evaluate knowledge claims. This thinking pattern may be one reason underpinning the difficulty of learning about science concepts which are seen to contradict religious doctrine. Some implications for science education are also entered into the discussion.

Keywords epistemological belief – religious belief – science education – evolution – homosexuality

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden,Ralph 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004416987_012 W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

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Conflicts between science and religion present unique challenges for individuals who wish to maintain a religious identity in the modern world (Roth, 2010).1 Can faith in religion be reconciled with a belief in science? Can a person embrace the scientific worldview, while preserving his/her religious faith? Such questions can be answered in the affirmative, and with relative ease, if only science and religion occupy distinct domains with clear demarcations. In this view, science reigns over explanation and manipulation of the natural world, while religion has authority over moral values and transcendental truths. By occupying separate domains, the two can further be imagined as being complementary: science is tasked with developing new knowledge and technologies, while religion is consulted upon the ethical applications of those products of science. Thus, in education systems teaching both science and religion, the two can unproblematically be taught as separate subjects by different teachers. There is little need for science teachers to discuss religious beliefs, and vice versa for teachers of religion. This idyllic picture of the science-religion relationship is, unfortunately, incomplete and perhaps even misleading. Science and religion do intersect problematically because the sacred texts (at least those from the Abrahamic traditions) contain claims about the natural world which can be difficult to reconcile with scientific explanations. Two examples of such problematic intersections were examined in this study: claims about the psychiatric status of homosexuality, and claims about the origin of the human species (Clark, 2014). With regards to the first, the Abrahamic religions regard homosexuality as an abnormality, which is at odds with the scientific consensus (Halstead & Lewicka, 1998; Stm & Gramick, 1989). On the second issue, conventional religious teachings maintain that modern humans were created by God more-or-less in the present form, and thus reject the theory of evolution. In the Indonesian context, the general concept of evolution is included in the science curriculum, while the Biblical/Quranic versions are taught in the religious studies (compulsory for all students, in all schools). This study seeks to understand the ways people make sense of these “religiously-loaded” scientific issues, and whether and how they differ from their thinking about more “religiously-neutral” ones. In the following section,

1  Author Note: Anindito Aditomo, Universitas Surabaya. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Anindito Aditomo, Department of Psychology Universitas Surabaya, Jl. Ngagel Jaya Selatan No. 169 Surabaya 60294 Indonesia. Email: a.aditomo@gmail .com.

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a brief review of educational research, touching upon the science-religion schism, is presented. The review is admittedly selective, but will hopefully suffice to show why understanding people’s thinking about the science-religion relationship is essential for education. The next sections then explicate the notion of epistemic cognition, its relevance to understanding how people think about the science-religion relationship, as well as the theoretical model used in the design of this study. 11.1

Religious Beliefs and Science Education

Educational research on the science-religion relationship has mostly examined the teaching and learning about human evolution. Data from the recent survey in the US show that only a minority of biology teachers in the US consider themselves as advocates of evolutionary theory (Berkman & Plutzer, 2011). Sixty percent of the teachers endorse neither creationism nor evolutionary theory, while a significant minority explicitly advocate for creationism (Berkman & Plutzer, 2011). These personal beliefs seem to influence classroom pedagogy, with 17% of biology teachers in the US omitting the topic of human evolution from their teaching (Berkman, Pacheco, & Plutzer, 2008). Qualitative studies confirm and further illuminate the influence of teachers’ religious views on their teaching. An interview-based study conducted in a Protestant context (Brazil) found that pre-service teachers differed in how they negotiate tensions between their religious and scientific knowledge (El-Hani & Sepulveda, 2010). Some pre-service teachers recognize that religious knowledge is as epistemologically distinct from scientific knowledge, and thus can see them as serving different facets of the human needs. Those individuals developed versions of creationism which enabled them to reconcile divine creation with the central tenets of evolutionary theory. Another group of pre-service teachers, however, deliberately reject and hence exhibit a poor understanding of evolutionary theory (El-Hani & Sepulveda, 2010). A similar study conducted with Muslim pre-service teachers in Egypt resulted in a less diverse picture (Mansour, 2010). That study identified four ways in which Muslim pre-service teachers described the relationship between science and religion: integration, dialogue, independence, and conflict. All four stances, however, subsume scientific knowledge under the domain of religion. Thus, science can confirm and enrich religious beliefs, but can never falsify them. For all pre-service teachers interviewed, conflicts between science and religion will result in a rejection of science. Consequently, they teach evolution

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in conjunction with creationism, presenting relevant verses from the holy book to undermine the veracity of evolutionary theory (Mansour, 2010). Similarly, religious headmasters of secondary schools in Muslim-majority Senegal feel uneasy about having to teach evolutionary theory and the Big Bang theory (Croché, 2015). The headmasters respond by teaching about religion (in the religious sense) and undermining science through one of the three strategies. The three strategies include presenting science and religious discourses as competing “theses”; teaching the official curriculum during formal lessons, but expressing their disbelief after class; and merely failing to teach the scientific theories, and replacing them with religious explanations about the origin of humans and the universe (Croché, 2015). For the student, the challenge of learning about evolution and other scientific theories which conflict with faith is partly rooted in the biases inherent in human cognition. From this cognitive perspective, religion offers explanations, which are more believable than science. In other words, belief in religion comes more naturally, while scientific theories are more counter-intuitive (Blancke, de Smedt, de Cruz, Boudry, & Braeckman, 2012). Unsurprisingly, studies show that the strength of students’ religious belief negatively predicts their understanding of science (Lawson & Worsnop, 1992; Moore, Brooks, & Cotner, 2011). Qualitative studies also show that religious Muslim and Christian students do perceive conflicts between evolution and religion, and that explicitly discussing epistemological tensions could facilitate deeper understanding about evolution (Dagher & BouJaoude, 1997; Yasri & Mancy, 2014). The tension between science and religion has also played out at the societal level. In the US there is a long history of attempts to include versions of creationism in the science curriculum (Berkman et al., 2008). A similar tug-of-war over the content of biology curriculum has occurred in Muslim-majority but secular Turkey. While in the US the court has sided with proponents of science, the outcome in Turkey has favored the religious faction with the inclusion of an Islamic version of intelligent design theory in the country’s science curriculum (Edis, 2009). Overall, the studies discussed thus far show that religious beliefs influence science teaching and learning in significant ways, particularly with regards to scientific knowledge which conflict with those beliefs. Addressing this challenge requires, among other things, a more profound understanding of how people think about the relations between science and religion. The current study seeks to contribute to developing such an understanding by focusing on epistemic cognition, the facet of thought which is fundamental to reasoning about conflicting claims to truth.

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11.2

Epistemic Cognition: Development and Key Dimensions

Epistemic cognition can be defined as thought processes which are pertinent to the consideration of what counts as valid or believable knowledge (Aditomo, 2014; William A. Sandoval, Greene, & Bråten, 2016). Epistemic cognition draws upon assumptions regarding the nature of knowledge and the processes of coming to know. In a seminal article, Kitchener (1983) provided a framework to understand the role of epistemic cognition within the more general process of problem-solving. In Kitchener’s view, epistemic cognition means a specific form of metacognition, one which applies standards about what counts as valid knowledge to the task at hand. This view is echoed more recently by other researchers (Barbara K. Hofer, 2004; Moshman, 2011). This specific form of metacognition becomes crucial when dealing with ill-structured problems which have multiple, possibly conflicting and potentially equally valid solution paths. For example, in reading a book on the science of sexual orientation, an individual may engage in metacognitive processes such as monitoring whether she has enough understanding of one chapter before deciding to move on to the next. This kind of monitoring is sufficient if the goal is merely to understand the text. However, if the individual is reading to decide which side to believe in the debate on homosexuality, then she would also need to consider the trustworthiness of the information sources, the strength of the evidence, the logical connections between different arguments, and so on. In short, she would need to engage in epistemic cognition. Researchers have documented a general trajectory involving two significant shifts in the development of epistemic cognition. Initially, individuals subscribe to an objectivist epistemology which sees knowledge as certain and absolute truth based upon solid and objective foundation. The first major epistemic shift occurs when individuals discard their objectivist epistemology in favor of a subjectivist one, which views knowledge as personal and having no objective foundation. The second shift occurs when individuals become able to reconcile the subjective and objective nature of knowledge, to see it from an “evaluativist” stance whereby all claims can and need to be assessed based on reason and evidence (Barbara K. Hofer & Pintrich, 1997; Kuhn & Park, 2005). While prior studies converge on the trajectory of individuals’ epistemological development, there is a wide discrepancy in the timing of key shifts in that development. Some studies indicate that the shift from objectivism to subjectivism occur in late adolescence or early adulthood, prompted by the college experience (Perry, 1968). Others locate the shift during the early adolescent years (Hallett, Chandler, & Krettenauer, 2002), or even during pre-adolescence

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(Kuhn, Cheney, & Weinstock, 2000). These conflicting findings have led researchers to postulate that epistemological development occurs in a contextualized, domain-specific manner. Epistemological development typically occurs first in the domain of moral values and personal taste, then the domain of the social, and finally the domain of the natural world (Hallett et al., 2002; Kuhn et al., 2000). Hence, it should be common to find an adolescent who expresses subjectivist views about moral and social issues, but a more objectivist view on scientific issues. Other researchers have proposed that epistemic cognition is dependent upon subtle contextual cues, such that it can vary even within a single domain, topic, and activity (Hammer & Elby, 2002). For example, groups of students may adopt one epistemic stance when listening to lectures but quickly shift to a different stance when given the opportunity to engage in independent inquiry (Rosenberg, Hammer, & Phelan, 2006). Based on such examples, Hammer, Elby and colleagues have proposed that epistemic cognition draws upon fine-grained ideas which do not necessarily form coherent beliefs or stages of development (Hammer, Elby, Scherr, & Redish, 2005). Another line of research has focused on identifying the main dimensions of belief which comprise epistemic cognition. Some models in this tradition portray epistemic cognition as composed of beliefs about the certainty, structure, source, and justification of knowledge (Aditomo, 2018; Barbara K. Hofer, 2001; W. A. Sandoval, 2009). Other models also incorporate beliefs about the nature of learning or knowledge acquisition (Schommer-Aikins, 2004). These multidimensional models attempt to account for the discrepant findings about the timing of key epistemic transitions by postulating that epistemological development occurs asynchronously across the dimensions. For example, maturity in the belief about the certainty of knowledge does not necessarily correlate with maturity in the beliefs about sources of or how to justify knowledge (Schommer-Aikins, 2004). 11.3

Epistemic Cognition in Cultural and Religious Contexts

Some studies indicate that cultural contexts influence and interact with epistemic cognition. For example, a cross-cultural study found that compared to their American, European, and African peers, Taiwanese students emphasize societal well-being to justify decisions in the face of moral dilemmas (Zeidler, Herman, Ruzek, Linder, & Lin, 2013). The authors speculate that the different reasoning pattern stems from the more interdependent sense of self which

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characterize individuals in more collectivist societies (Ziedler et al., 2013). Another study (Karabenick & Moosa, 2005) found that compared to their Western (US) peers, Middle-eastern students are more likely to trust scientific authorities and to view scientific knowledge as simple and certain (unchanging). The authors attributed their findings to the traditional religious (Islamic) values regarding deference to authorities over independent thinking (Karabenick & Moosa, 2005). The role of religious values and beliefs in epistemic cognition has been explicated further in a study comparing the views of 5th, 9th, and 12th grade students from secular and religious schools with regard to two controversies: first, on the existence of God, and second, on whether children need to be punished when they misbehave (Gottlieb & Mandel Leadership Institute, 2007). The study found that older students tend to be more aware that other people may hold opposing beliefs on the two issues, and that there are no objective/rational ways to resolve differences in opinion regarding both issues. Comparing across the two issues, students were more likely to believe that the God issue had a true/correct answer, that there are no rational ways to arrive at that truth, and that their views about the issue might be wrong (fallible). Comparing between religious and secular students, the study also found different epistemic orientations with regards to the God controversy, but not for the punishment controversy. For the God controversy, religious students were more likely to believe that there is only one correct answer (i.e., more realist), that their own views are correct (i.e., more infallible) and that there should be rational ways to resolve differences in opinion (i.e., more rationalist). This last difference in the epistemological orientations of religious and secular students was interpreted as evidence that individuals draw from their social-cultural communities’ ways of knowing (Gottlieb & Mandel Leadership Institute, 2007). 11.4

The Current Study

The current study extends prior research on epistemic cognition by examining “religiously-loaded” and “religiously-neutral” scientific issues from the social-psychological and the biological domains. Religiously-loaded issues deal with questions that have been investigated empirically using scientific methods, but leading to conclusions which contradict religious doctrines. Two such issues were examined in this study: whether homosexuality is a psychological disorder, and whether evolution can explain the origin of the human species. As far as the author is aware of, this is the first study which compares epistemic

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cognition on such issues with religiously-neutral ones. Thus, the second question addressed by this study is whether and how epistemic cognition varies across religiously-neutral and religiously-loaded issues. To address these questions, this study adopted Gottlieb’s model of epistemic cognition which focuses on three dimensions of beliefs. The beliefs include ontology, i.e. whether there is a single correct answer (realist vs. perspectivist); fallibility, i.e. whether one’s belief could be wrong (fallibilist vs. infallibilist); and decidability, i.e. whether there are rational ways to decide which view is correct (rationalist vs. non-rationalist) (Gottlieb & Mandel Leadership Institute, 2007). Based on findings from Kuhn et al. (2000) and Hallett et al. (2002), young adults, like the participants of this study, should express more objectivist epistemic beliefs with regards to questions about the physical/natural world (“brute facts”) than the social world (“institutional facts”), compared to questions about the social world. Translated into this study’s framework, participants should express less perspectivist, less fallibilist, and more rationalist beliefs when thinking about the biological issues (evolution and obesity) compared to the social-psychological issues (homosexuality and motivation). With regards to differences in epistemic beliefs across religious content, the most relevant prior study would be one reported by Gottliet and the Mandel Leadership Institute (2007). Indirectly, their findings suggest that individuals would be less perspectivist, more fallibilist, and less rationalist concerning religious issues than non-religious ones. However, Gottlieb’s study focused on comparing students from different communities (religious vs. secular schools), rather than comparing the same individual with regards to different issues. Moreover, the religious claim used in their study (that God exists) can be considered as outside the domain of science. In contrast, the current study is interested in religious issues which can legitimately be addressed through scientific methods. Hence, it remains to be seen whether the pattern of epistemic cognition found in this study replicates those found by (Gottlieb & Mandel Leadership Institute, 2007). 11.5 Method 11.5.1 Design An online survey was conducted over a period of three months (approximately September to October 2016) to collect background information as well as epistemic orientations with regards to four issues from different judgment domains and with different religious content (motivation, homosexuality, obesity, and evolution; see section on Measures). Prior to the survey, a pilot study was conducted by interviewing six students about their epistemic orientations Ralph W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor - 978-90-04-41698-7 Downloaded from Brill.com 03/16/2024 03:56:54PM via University of Wisconsin-Madison

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along the three dimensions of ontology, fallibility, and decidability regarding the four issues. The purpose was to test whether the issue vignettes could be understood and to explore possible answers to questions about the three epistemic dimensions of ontology, fallibility, and decidability. These possible answers were incorporated as options in the multiple choice questions designed to measure epistemic orientation (see the second column of Table 11.2). 11.5.2 Participants Participants were fourth-year university students from various academic departments in a private university in a metropolitan city in Indonesia. They were invited through personal contacts and social media to complete an online survey administered through a Google form. Participation was rewarded with a chance to win one of twenty cash prizes (approx. equivalent to 5 to 7 US dollars) in a lucky draw. Initially, 369 participants completed the online survey. Of those, 6 participants who considered themselves to be non-religious in response to a screening question were excluded. Also, the analysis only focused on participants from the Islamic and Christian religions, because these religions contain teachings which contradict scientific conclusions about homosexuality and the evolutionary origins of the human species. This process further excluded 46 participants from the Buddhist and Hindu religions. The final sample was composed of 317 participants who were on average 21.4 years, mostly female (74.1%), and who mostly come from Chinese (48.4%) and Javanese (38.8%) ethnic backgrounds. In terms of their academic backgrounds, the participants were studying pharmacy (n = 96), psychology (n = 117), engineering (n = 63), business and economics (n = 35), and law (n = 6). 11.5.3 Measures Background questionnaire. A background questionnaire asked participants to report their gender, age, ethnic background, and religious affiliation. It also included a screening question asking participants to report their level of religiosity, going from “not religious”, “religious but somewhat less so than the average person”, “just as religious as the average person”, and “more religious than the average person”. Scientific issue vignettes. The main data came from responses to vignettes around four issues displayed in Table 11.1. The issues were systematically varied along two dimensions: judgment domain (social vs. biological) and religious content (“loaded” vs. “neutral”). Epistemic cognition prompts. Participants were asked whether they agree or disagree with the fictitious person’s claim in each issue vignette. They were

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Table 11.1 Scientific issue vignettes used as context to assess epistemic cognition

Religious content

Domain Social-psychological

Religiously-neutral Motivation issue: “… claimed that motivation is more important than skill in determining work performance. Religiously-loaded Homosexuality issue: “… claimed that homosexuality is not a psychological disorder.”

Biological Obesity issue: “… claimed that sugar instead of fat is the main cause of obesity” Evolution issue: “… claimed that humans evolved from a common ancestor with the apes”

then presented with close-ended questions assessing orientations regarding the three epistemic dimensions examined in this study: “Do you think there is one right answer on this issue?” (ontology); “Do you think it is possible that your belief about this issue could be wrong?” (fallibility); and “How can you rationally determine which answer is correct regarding this issue?” (decidability). The response options for each question and their coding are displayed in Table 11.2. 11.5.4 Analysis The data was first screened based on participants’ religious affiliation and level of religiosity. Only participants from Islamic and Christian (both Catholics and Protestants) who consider themselves as religious were included in further analysis. For those participants, the analysis was first proceeded by aggregating responses to the epistemic questions to become dichotomous orientations, i.e., perspectivist vs. realist for the ontology dimension, fallibilist vs. infallibilist for the fallibility dimension, and rationalist vs. non-rationalist for the decidability dimension. Then, McNemar Chi-Square tests were performed to test whether observed differences in the proportion of epistemic orientations for each belief dimension were statistically significant. Comparisons were first made across domains (social vs. biological issues), but within the type of religious content, and then across type of religious content (neutral vs. loaded), but within each domain. Hence, McNemar tests were performed for 12 comparisons (2 domains × 2 religious content × 3 belief dimensions).

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11.6 Findings Descriptive results. Table 11.2 (pp. 204–205) shows the proportion of responses for each question assessing epistemic cognition. On the ontology dimension, more participants adopted a perspectivist rather than a realist orientation for social issues, but not for biological issues. On the fallibility dimension, the majority adopted a fallibilist orientation for all four issues. There was a clear overall trend in the decidability dimension as well: most participants adopted a rationalist orientation. Note that the “consulting religious holy text” option was chosen by very few participants with regards to religiously-neutral issues (motivation and obesity), but was much more popular with regards to religiously-loaded ones (homosexuality and evolution). Epistemic belief across judgment domains. Comparing across domains for the ontological belief dimension, McNemar tests indicate that participants were less perspectivist (i.e., more realist) with regards to biological issues compared to social issues (Table 11.3). The differences were relatively large, especially for the non-religious issues. Differences in the fallibility belief dimension across social and biological issues were smaller and only significant for non-religious issues (in the hypothesized direction: less fallible for obesity than for motivation). In other words, when thinking about the cause of obesity, participants were less likely to believe that their views could be wrong, while no such difference was observed when comparing fallibility beliefs across the homosexuality vs. evolution issues. Differences in decidability beliefs were also modest and were statistically significant only for the non-religious issues (again, in the hypothesized direction: participants were more rationalist for obesity than for motivation). Overall, it seems that domains of knowledge serve as a prompt for participants to adjust their epistemic orientation, especially with regards to the ontological dimension. As hypothesized, participants were less perspectivist (more realist), less fallibilist, and more rationalist when considering a biological issue than a social one (Figure 11.1). Furthermore, there was an interaction between domain and religious content in prompting epistemic adjustment. For religiously-loaded issues, the difference in epistemic orientation about social vs. biological issues became less prominent (on the ontological dimension) or disappears (on the fallibility and decidability dimensions). Epistemic belief across religious content. Comparing across religious content for the ontological dimension, the analysis indicated that participants were less perspectivist (i.e., more realist) with regards to the religiously-loaded social issue (homosexuality) than the religiously neutral one (motivation). For the biological domain, however, there was no difference in participants’

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Table 11.2 Responses for each option within the three epistemic dimensions

Belief dimension

Response options

Ontology: is there one right answer on this issue?

No, the answers regarding this issue are highly personal and cannot be compared No, it is difficult to say that one answer is right because this issue is highly subjective Yes, it is clear that one answer is right and the other is wrong Yes, for this issue, there can be only one right answer No, my belief about this issue cannot be wrong Yes, although unlikely, my belief could still be wrong Yes, it is quite possible that my belief about this issue could be wrong There are no rational or objective ways to decide By consulting the religious holy texts By examining empirical facts/evidence By considering the judgments of experts in the relevant academic fields By using logic to analyze and further examine the issue

Fallibility: could your belief be wrong? Decidability: what is the rational way to determine which answer is correct?

ontological belief. For the fallibility dimension, participants were less fallibilist (i.e., more infallibilist) in their orientation towards religiously-loaded issues than for religiously-neutral ones in both the social and biological domains. For the decidability dimension, differences in orientations with regards to religiously-loaded and neutral issues were even larger, and participants were less rationalist (i.e., more non-rationalist) when considering religiously-loaded issues (Table 11.4). Overall, the findings indicate that the religious content of an issue also prompts shifts in people’s epistemological orientations in all three dimensions. For the ontological dimension, the influence of religious content interacted with the domain, with religiously-loaded content prompting less perspectivist (more realist) orientations only within the social domain. For the fallibility dimension, religiously-loaded content prompted fewer fallibilist orientations for both domains. For the decidability dimension, religiously-loaded content prompted a shift away from rationalist orientations (i.e., towards non-rationalist orientations).

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Orientation category

Motivation issue

Homosexuality issue

Obesity issue

Evolution issue

Perspectivist

31.9%

27.1%

16.1%

15.8%

Perspectivist

50.8%

35.0%

25.9%

30.9%

Realist Realist Infallibilist Fallibilist Fallibilist Non-rationalist Non-rationalist Rationalist Rationalist

9.8% 7.6% 16.7% 59.3% 24.0% 5.0% 0.9% 50.8% 9.5%

22.7% 15.1% 32.2% 39.4% 28.4% 9.5% 27.1% 13.9% 30.3%

36.9% 21.1% 22.7% 54.3% 23.0% 0.6% 0.9% 13.9% 65.0%

34.4% 18.9% 36.6% 38.8% 24.6% 8.5% 30.0% 15.1% 24.3%

Rationalist

33.8%

19.2%

19.6%

22.1%

Table 11.3 McNemar Chi-square tests comparing social and biological issues

Issues compared

Ontology

Fallibility

Decidability

% difference Chi square % difference Chi square % difference Chi square

Motivation vs. 40.69% Obesity Homosexuality 15.46% vs. Evolution

103.36 5.99% (p < .0001) 19.21 4.42% (p < .0001)

4.06 4.42% (p = .0440) 1.92 1.89% (p = .1980)

8.17 (p = .004) 0.35 (p = .556)

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Figure 11.1

Epistemic orientations about religiously-loaded and neutral issues

Table 11.4 McNemar chi-square tests comparing religiously-loaded and neutral issues Issues compared

Motivation vs. Homosexuality Obesity vs. Evolution

Ontology

Fallibility

Decidability

% difference

Chi square

% difference

Chi square

% difference Chi square

20.50%

33.30 (p < .0001) 1.41 (p = .24)

15.46%

21.14 (p < .0001) 14.78 (p = .0001)

30.60%

4.73%

13.88%

36.91%

83.03 (p < .0001) 107.65 (p < .0001)

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11.7

Discussion and Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to understand how epistemic cognition about scientific issues vary across judgment domains and religious content. This was done by asking religious, highly educated young adults to report their epistemic orientations about four issues: whether motivation is more important than skill in determining work performance; whether homosexuality is a psychological disorder; whether sugar is the primary cause of obesity; and whether humans are the product of evolution. With regards to variations across domains, the findings show that people are more realist, infallibilist, and rationalist with regards to biological issues than social ones. In other words, people are more likely to believe that there are objective truths which can be rationally justified when thinking about issues such as the cause of obesity and human evolution, than issues such as work motivation and sexual orientation. They are also more certain about the correctness of their personal views regarding biological than social issues. This pattern is consistent with prior studies which show that shifts from an objectivist to a subjectivist epistemology occur earlier with regards to “institutional facts” about the social world, than for “brute facts” about the natural world (Hallett et al., 2002; Kuhn et al., 2000; Kuhn & Weinstock, 2002). The current study lends further empirical support for this developmental pattern using topics which have not yet been utilized for this purpose. In addition to reinforcing previous theories, the current study also produced new insights about how epistemic cognition on scientific issues varies across religious content. The findings indicate that religious content influenced epistemic cognition in systematic ways. For scientific issues which are “religiously-loaded” (homosexuality and evolution), people are less likely to acknowledge the possibility of multiple truths, more likely to be convinced that their views are correct, and less likely to believe that there are rational ways of evaluating competing claims. This pattern is partly consistent with a prior study of Israeli students, which found that students were less likely to be perspectivists and more likely to be non-rationalists about whether God exists, than about whether children should be punished for misbehavior (Gottlieb & Mandel Leadership Institute, 2007). Interestingly, however, the findings of the current study differ from Gottlieb’s concerning the fallibility dimension. Unlike the students in Gottlieb’s study, participants of this study were less fallibilist (i.e., less likely to see the possibility of being mistaken) about religiously-loaded scientific issues than neutral

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ones. This contrast may be due to some yet to be identified socio-cultural differences. For instance, compared to Indonesian students, Israeli students may be more exposed to radically different ideas about religious topics (including the existence of God), such that they are more at ease in acknowledging the fallibility of their beliefs. For the Indonesian context, secular views about homosexuality and the origin of humans have yet to become part of mainstream discourse. As such, Indonesians have fewer discursive resources to draw on when thinking about those issues. Further research needs to be done to examine whether these conjectures have any merit. These findings are relevant to theoretical issues about the nature and development of epistemic cognition. According to one view, highly educated young adults (such as those who participated in this study) should already have moved away from an objectivist epistemology towards a subjectivist one. Some should even have shifted from a subjectivist epistemology to an evaluativist one, which is considered to be the most advanced stage of development in many models (Greene, Azevedo, & Torney-Purta, 2008; Barbara K. Hofer & Pintrich, 1997; Kuhn & Weinstock, 2002). In the framework of this study, an evaluativist epistemology would be characterized by the view that there can be multiple truths (perspectivism), that one’s knowledge could be wrong (fallibilism), and that there are rational ways of determining the validity of knowledge claims (rationalism). This was indeed the general trend found in this study (see Table 11.2). However, this study also concurs with the suggestions that epistemic development does not occur “wholesale”. Instead, epistemic development seems to occur in a more contextual and fragmented fashion (Hammer & Elby, 2002). As previous studies have shown, an aspect of context which is important for epistemic development is the judgment domain (Hallett et al., 2002; Barbara K. Hofer, 2000; Kuhn & Park, 2005). This study further shows that even within the same domain, religious content acts as a contextual cue which influences epistemic cognition. One question which arises from these findings is why people become less perspectivist, fallibilist, and rationalist when thinking about religiously-loaded issues. One possibility is that scientific knowledge on such issues poses a threat to religious individuals’ worldview and identity. For religious individuals in a religious society, adopting the epistemic orientations observed in this study may serve to affirm and protect valued parts of their worldview and identity. That is, believing that homosexuality is a disorder, or that God created humans in our modern form, affirms their worldview. This worldview is further protected by believing that there are no rational ways to decide between religious

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faith and scientific knowledge (hence, pre-empting the possibility of finding evidence which undermines those worldviews). If true, this means that when thinking of religiously-loaded scientific issues, epistemic cognition functions to serve motivated reasoning whose goal is primarily non-epistemic (pursuing not truth, but self-related goals, see Sinatra, Kienhues, & Hofer, 2014). Future research could explore this possibility qualitatively using in-depth interviews or quantitatively using models which explicitly include religiosity and goals of reasoning. Another question this study raises is about what should count as sophisticated epistemic cognition (i.e., the end points of epistemic development). Normatively speaking, should epistemic development always move away from objectivism towards subjectivism, and ultimately to evaluativism? Alternatively, considering that epistemic cognition seems to be embedded within socio-cultural communities, should the end points of epistemic development be expected to vary across communities (Gottlieb & Mandel Leadership Institute, 2007)? The answer to this question may also be contextual. If one’s family or community upholds the view that there are absolute truths about theological matters, perhaps it would be more socially adaptive for an individual also to adopt an objectivist epistemology about those matters. However, the same epistemology may be less adaptive in academic contexts, which expect individual to develop conceptual understanding about scientific concepts that may go against religious doctrine. Implications. If students believed only on a single truth which is justified non-rationally and cannot be wrong, then it would not be surprising that they find it difficult to develop a deep understanding about scientific concepts which go against their personal beliefs. This challenge has been well documented in the case of learning about evolution (Blancke et al., 2012; Lawson & Worsnop, 1992; Moore et al., 2011). By way of analogy, similar challenges may impede learning about sexual orientation for students of psychology and psychiatry. Hence, direct competition between science and religion may not be the most productive way forward. That is, presenting scientific knowledge as the ultimate truth to replace religious beliefs about matters such as human evolution and homosexuality may lead to the rejection of science altogether. As prior studies have shown, many teachers in religious societies tend to undermine or de-legitimize scientific knowledge which are perceived to conflict with religious faith (Croché, 2015; El-Hani & Sepulveda, 2010; Mansour, 2010). How, then, should educators address this challenge? If part of the difficulty is indeed underpinned by epistemic cognition, then addressing it would need to involve stimulating epistemic growth. For example, it may be important

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for teachers to help students to see multiple truths (become less realist and more fallibilist) on various matters. It may also be important to develop students’ intellectual humility and acknowledge that one’s belief could be wrong, even when it is founded upon religious texts. Students may perhaps need to develop the belief that there are legitimate methods to evaluate competing claims, even if those methods cannot provide access to an objective reality or absolute truths. To overcome the challenges associated with negotiating tensions between science and religion, this kind of epistemic development likely needs to occur with regards to religion as well as science. In other words, in the context of religious societies, reform is needed simultaneously in the teaching of religion and science. Conclusions. Overall, it can be concluded that not only is epistemic cognition about scientific issues sensitive to variations in judgment domains, but also to variations in religious content. On matters where religious claims conflict with scientific knowledge, people tend to adopt a more objectivist epistemology typified by realist, infallibilist, and non-rationalist orientations. While this pattern of epistemic cognition may be socially or culturally adaptive in the context of religious communities, it may represent a significant barrier to the learning and teaching in some areas of science. Limitations and future research. In considering the findings and conclusions of this study, readers should be aware of several limitations. Methodologically, this study measured epistemic cognition using a nominal scale, thus limiting the analysis which could be performed. The model used in this study (which included three dimensions of epistemic orientations: ontology, fallibility, and decidability) proved to be fruitful to capture meaningful variations in people’s responses. Hence, future studies should attempt to assess the three epistemic dimensions using either more in-depth qualitative methods or using quantitative instruments which could yield data at the interval level of measurement. Another methodological limitation was the order of presentation of the four issues. In this study, all participants received the issues in the same order (motivation, homosexuality, evolution, and then obesity). Although remote, the order of presentation may have biased responses in systematic ways. Future studies should examine whether the findings replicate when the order of presentation is controlled/counter-balanced. Last, this study was designed to serve exploratory purposes. The study succeeded in finding meaningful patterns of epistemic cognition, but could not provide insights as to why such patterns exist. Qualitative studies using interviews and/or observations of cognition-inaction would be useful for further understanding of why certain epistemic beliefs are adopted with regards to religiously-loaded scientific issues.

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Yasri, P., & Mancy, R. (2014). Understanding Student Approaches to Learning Evolution in the Context of their Perceptions of the Relationship between Science and Religion. International Journal of Science Education, 36(1), 24–45. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/09500693.2012.715315. Zeidler, D. L., Herman, B. C., Ruzek, M., Linder, A., & Lin, S. (2013). Cross-cultural epistemological orientations to socioscientific issues. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50(3), 251–283. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21077.

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Chapter 12

Rasch Model of Religious Hope: Scale Development with an Indonesian Sample Evans Garey, Ngadiman Djaja & Ralph W. Hood Jr. Abstract Indonesia is a country known for its religious diversity. Studies on hope and religion have had their impact on individual’s lives. In fact, studies that connect religion and hope have thus far remained somewhat scarce. However, there is a growing awareness of the need for easily administered, and psychometrically sound tools to identify individuals with a high level of hope and religious state. Though support has been found for the psychometric properties of the Hope scale using classical test theory approaches, it has not been subject to modern test theory analysis. This study aims to use the modern test theory approach for assessment of psychometric properties of the newly created Religious Hope Scale (RHS). Findings from this study confirmed that RHS is a valid and reliable scale to measure religious hope.

Keywords hope – religious – religiosity – Rasch

12.1 Introduction1 Hope and religion have been known to have a significant impact on people’s life. Studies on hope have shown that hope is significantly associated with well-being (Marques, Lopez, Mitchell, 2013; Vacek, Coyle, Vera, 2010), life meaning (Feldman & Snyder, 2005), and positive affect (Burrow, O’Dell, & Hill, 2010; 1   Author Note: Evans Garey and Ngadiman Djaja, Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana; Ralph W. Hood, Jr., University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Evans Garey, Department of Psychology Universitas Kristen Krida Wacana, Jln. Tanjung Duren Raya No. 4 Jakarta Barat 11470 Indonesia. Email: evans. [email protected].

© Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden,Ralph 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004416987_013 W. Hood and Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor

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Vacek, Coyle, Vera, 2010). Religion also plays significant roles for the individual. As a multidimensional concept, not only is religion perceived and practiced in religious people’s daily life and activities, it also gives a strong influence on people’s life. Hood, Hill, & Spilka (2009) pointed out the importance of religion for people’s life, saying that “religion is omnipresent and affects people lives” (p. 2). Hope as thinking of ultimate goal/s in individuals mind might be influenced by the system of belief that one’s hold. In this sense, religious belief can be used for individuals to gain hope for future goals (Godfrey, 1987). The use of religious belief to gain hope in people is strong because hope has been known as a theological virtue (Godfrey, 1987) and the firm belief in God helps them in their goal pursuit (Snyder, Sigmon, & Feldman, 2002). This notion of strong belief in God is real in Indonesian people’s life. The importance of religion for Indonesian was shown in studies which reveal that God is seen as essential for Indonesian (Inglehart, 2010). It was also evident that Indonesian adolescents attributed their life circumstances religiously (Garey, Siregar, Hood, Agustiani, & Setiono, 2016). Theoretically, not only is hope explained by religion but also can explain how religious people pursue their goal. Snyder, Sigmon, & Feldman (2002) stated that hope might be used to explain how people relate to religion. The use of hope to explain religious behaviour is concerned with the sense of agency and pathways people have in pursuit of their religious goals. In this sense, what people believe in God might explain how they perceive their goal, think and in turn affect their hope. Studies on the association between hope and religion are limited thus far. Based on the limitation of studies on the relationship between hope and religion, the first author conducted two studies. In study 1, author 1 carried out interviews with 6 Indonesian adolescents (Garey & Hood, 2017). Those adolescents were in economic difficulties. Interviews were intended to explore how participants relate their goal was striving with God’s involvement. The author found that adolescents were aware of God’s involvement in their striving for future goals. It was specifically found that trusting in God’s will was the central issue of God’s involvement in individual goal striving. In study 2 (Garey & Hood, 2017), a focus group discussion was held with eight college students as participants. Findings in study 2 were relatively consistent with study 1 where dependence on God was found to be a significant theme in individual goal pursuit. Thus, these findings may shed light on how religion and hope to work together. The close association between religion and hope was proven by a recent study by Krause, Pargament, & Ironson (2016). They proposed a concept of

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hope measured from a religious perspective. Krause, et al. (2016) argued that hope must be measured in terms of specific religious belief. Their argument is based on the premise that hope may vary across different domains of life. Krause, et al. (2016) found that a religiously oriented sense of hope was significantly associated with less death anxiety. Krause, et al. (2016) religiously oriented sense of hope was measured by items such as: “My religious and spiritual beliefs help me see that the future looks bright for me.” With evidence about the association between religion and hope in mind, the first author and the third author created four items to measure how people perceive hope religiously. For example, we rely on the item such as: “I set goals according to my understanding of God’s will.” We incorporate this new religious hope measure within Snyder’s adult hope scale (1991) to measure how people evaluate their goal pursuit. The incorporation of this newly religious hope items within Snyder’s hope scale (1991) conceptually gained support from Hood, et al. (2009) which stated that “specific religious teachings that, if taken literally, meet the conceptual criteria of hope stressed by Snyder and his colleagues” (p. 432). We term this newly religious hope component as submissive thinking, which constitutes a personal conviction of an alliance between his effort to pursue goals and God’s will. The purpose of this study is to use the modern test theory (Rasch measurement) approach to validate and examine the psychometric properties of a new scale for assessing religious hope scale (RHS) with samples of college students. 12.2 Method The original Hope scale has been translated and adapted to Indonesian. We also added up items to measure individual submission to God with the aim to create the newly hope scale called the Religious Hope Scale (RHS). The Religious Hope Scale (RHS) was administered to 386 participants using a questionnaire. There were 36.5% males and 61.7% of females (1.8% missing). Participants’ religious affiliations were: Protestant (65.3%), Catholic (12.4%), Buddhist (10.4%), Islam (6.5%), Hindu (0.8%), and Confucian (0.3%). There were 4.4% missing data in participants’ religious affiliations. 12.2.1 Rasch Analysis The RHS was developed using one of Item Response Theory models, namely Rasch measurement. Item parameters, person parameters, psychometric properties and other fit statistics in the current study were calibrated using special Rasch software which is called as Winsteps (Linacre, 2006). Rasch calibration

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allows us to estimate the exact distances or steps between response categories and different weight on each item. In the Rasch model for this study, a person with high hope had higher logit score. Correspondingly, an easy item was rated with a lower logit score than a more difficult one. 12.2.2 Psychometric Properties of the RHS 12.2.2.1 Item Fit and Unidimensionality The criterion to determine item fit statistics were Mean Squares Infit and Outfit, where values of less than 0.5 suggest item redundancy and over 1.5 indicates excessive measurement noise (Bond & Fox, 2007), with 1.0 denoting a perfect fit to the Rasch model’s expectations. Furthermore, we use the item-person (Wright) maps to give us visual confirmation of the constructs. Unidimensionality of the RHS was assessed using Rasch Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of construct residuals (Wright 1996), where the first factor should explain at least 50% of the variance accounted for by the primary dimension (the Rasch model) and eigenvalue of the first contrast (the proportion of unexplained variance) should be less than 3.0 (Linacre, 2007). 12.2.2.2 Rating Scale and Reliability Response category ratings were examined to determine if thresholds were ordered. Disordered thresholds signify response options that are either unclear, underused, or difficult to discriminate adjacent response options. Reliability of the scale and ability to discriminating between low and high abilities were assessed using Person Reliability (PR) coefficients and the Person Separation Index (PSI). PSI values greater than 2.0 or PR values higher than 0.8 indicate acceptable discrimination capability and reliability. 12.2.2.3 Targeting and Differential Item Functioning The person-item map was inspected to investigate the targeting of the scale, where a value less than a 1.0 logit difference between the mean person ability and mean item difficulty indicates a good match between items and the study population. We also assessed Differential Item Functioning (DIF) to 1. ensure that the underlying trait was measured uniformly across subgroups such as gender, 2. examine if the membership to gender group affected on the hierarchy of item difficulties. Modern test theory models assume the hierarchy of the items to be the same across groups, irrespective of group membership (e.g., gender, age). For example, if an item is invariant across groups, the item with the lowest difficulty on the RHS continuum for the male group also has the lowest difficulty for the female. The current study used the Mantel Hazel chi-square statistic for flagging items for potential DIF.

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Table 12.1 Item fit statistics and item difficulty of the 12-item RHS ordered by most to least difficult

Item

Item total correlation

Mean Square Infit

Mean Square Outfit

Item difficulty (SE)

PH1 AH2 SH3 PH5 PH7 SH9 PH10 SH11 AH12 AH13 SH14 AH16

.58 .58 .61 .63 .59 .64 .68 .60 .60 .46 .59 .51

0.97 .98 1.13 .91 .87 .951 .71 1.39 .98 1.36 1.38 .99

.98 0.93 1.10 .96 .86 .94 .73 1.22 .90 1.45 1.30 1.03

.16 (.04) −.21 (.05) −.11 (.05) .02 (.05) .01 (.05) .00 (.05) −.08 (.05) −.49 (.05) −.34 (.05) 1.00 (.04) −.32 (.05) .36 (.04)

12.3 Results 12.3.1 Item Fit and Unidimensionality Table 12.1 shows the item location and item fit of the RHS. All 12-items of the RHS showed a good fit with Infit and Outfit Mean Square (Mnsq) within the acceptable range (0.5 to 1.5). Unidimensionality of the RHS was confirmed using Rasch Principal Component Analysis, where the first factor explained 55.8 percent of the variance and the eigenvalue of the second component was 2.4. Overall, the fit statistics of the 12-item RHS and the additional principal component analysis indicated that the scale was unidimensional, valid and reliable. 12.3.2 Rating Scale and Reliability Figure 12.1 shows response category ratings for the RHS. It clearly shows that some items have disordered thresholds. For example item H16, the option 1 is located between option 6 and 7. It also has a narrow space (distance) between option 3 and 2. Another example is item H13; although the thresholds are ordered, the distance between option 1, 2, and 3 are narrow. The result indicates that we should drop some of the response categories so that in the future the

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Figure 12.1

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Response category ratings

Table 12.2 Fit parameters of the RHS with Rasch Model requirements

Parameter

Rasch model

RHS13

Number of misfitting items Person Separation Index Person Reliability Difference between person and item means Variance by first factor PCA (eigenvalue for 1st contrast) Differential item functioning (DIF)

0 >2 >0.8 50%