scholarly journals Religion and Covid-19 in the Era of Post-Truth: The Case of Indonesia

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Asfa Widiyanto

Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) has become global pandemic, which affects all countries in the world including Indonesia. The mitigation of covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia cannot neglect the role of religion, since religion constitutes the main identity of most people. Hence, religion becomes value reference and ‘system of knowing’, including in addressing the covid-19 pandemic. By employing comparative and content analysis, it is hoped that this paper will constitute a significant contribution in unravelling the complex role of religion in dealing with covid-19 pandemic, most particularly in the context of post-truth. There are three concerns of this paper. First, it examines the challenges of religious conservatism towards covid-19 mitigation among Indonesian Muslims, most particularly in the context of post-truth which in some ways intensifies the emergence of conservativism in the public space. Second, it explores the possibility of ‘new spirituality’ which is pertinent for the mitigation of Covid-19. Third, it explores the contribution of Indonesian Muslim knowledge culture to the fight against covid-19.

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-89
Author(s):  
Ahmad Yasid ◽  
Moh Juhdi

Abstract   Islam, religion of tolerance and love of peace is one of Habiburrahman El Shirazy’s, it is a study indicating the values ​​of love and tolerance of Islam in the modern public space area. This study used the underlying theory of the values ​​of love and tolerance as well as the role of Islam in modern times that has been developing in the public discourse that in the history of human civilization there are several things that must be understood that humans have the sense to differentiate between humans and other creatures. From this reason humans can do something to explore and explain things that are not known by others. The method that is used in data collection technique is documentation technique, because this study is descriptive qualitative. This study examines several things including the values of love and tolerance because accepting differences is a distinct pleasure for each particular societies in other words, not seeing other people as deviants or enemies but as partner to complement each other by having an equal position and equally valid and valuable as a way of managing life and living life both individually and collectively. Acceptance of differences demands changes in the legal rule in people's lives so that the role of religion in the modern public space area becomes a middle way to build diversity and a nature that must both appreciate and respect one another, this diversity is seen in the portrait of everyday life which then creates peace, and harmony in interacting with all elements of society.    


Author(s):  
Ekaterina Khitruk ◽  

The article covers the religious conception in the work of the famous American philosopher Richard Rorty. The author emphasises the secular and finalist views of R. Rorty on the nature of religion, and on the philosopher’s gradual perception of the need for their creative reinterpretation due to the actualisation of the role of religion in intellectual and political spheres. The article uncovers two fundamental constituents of Richard Rorty’s religious philosophy. The first of them is associated with R. Rorty’s perception of the ‘weak thinking’ concept in the writings of Italian philosopher Gianni Vattimo. R. Rorty holds ‘weak thinking’ and ‘kenosis’ to be the key to understanding the possibility of religion in the postmodern era. The second aspect concerns the existence of religion in the public space. Here the distinction between ‘strong’ narratives and ‘weak’ thinking correlates with the politically significant distinction between ‘strong’ religious institutions and private (parish, community) religious practice. Rorty believes that the activity of ‘strong’ religious structures threatens liberal ‘social hope’ on the gradual democratisation of mankind. The article concludes that Richard Rorty’s philosophy of religion presents an original conception of religion in the context of modern temporal humanism; the concept positively evaluates religious experience to the extent that it does not become a basis for theoretical and political manipulations on the part of ‘strong’ religious institutes.


Author(s):  
Karl Samuelsson ◽  
Stephan Barthel ◽  
Johan Colding ◽  
Gloria Macassa ◽  
Matteo Giusti

The 2020 coronavirus pandemic caused countries across the world to implement measures of social distancing to curb spreading of COVID-19. The large and sudden disruptions to everyday life that result from this are likely to impact well-being, particularly among urban populations that live in dense settings with limited public space. In this paper, we argue that during these extraordinary circumstances, urban nature offers resilience for maintaining well-being in urban populations, while enabling social distancing. We discuss more generally the critical role of urban nature in times of crisis. Cities around the world need to take the step into the 21st century by accepting crises as a new reality and finding ways to function during these disturbances. Thus, maintaining or increasing space for nature in cities and keeping it accessible to the public should be part of the sustainability agenda, aiming simultaneously to strive towards SDG 3 (good health and well-being), and SDG 11 (sustainable and resilient cities).


2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 363-368 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boris Chapoton ◽  
Anne-Laure Werlen ◽  
Véronique Regnier Denois

Abstract Background European citizens are the largest alcohol users in the world with an average of 11 l of alcohol per individual per year being used. This consumption practice usually begins during adolescence. Youths’ views of substances consumption are built upon socialization experiments from which television takes part. To prevent vulnerable people from media influence, some governments tend to adopt restrictive laws against alcohol marketing within the public space including TV programmes; others rely on the self-control of the alcohol and/or media industry. More than 22 years ago, France adopted a restrictive law made of measures aiming to regulate or prohibit advertising of alcoholic products, especially within media dedicated to minors. Methods This study relies on a content analysis to identify the patterns and the frequencies of occurrences linked to alcohol within a sample of 14 TV series (8 French series and 6 American series) most watched by French teenagers. In total, 180 episodes have been analysed representing 111 h 24 min and 6 s of series coded. Results Alcohol is depicted within 87.8% of the sample. French series statistically show more events related to alcohol when compared to the American series. In French series, alcohol, mainly wine, is associated with a familiar lifestyle context with primary characters. Conclusion The restrictive law ongoing in France does not prevent popular TV programmes watched by minors to depict alcohol. Concerns should be raised about the impact of the values given to the substance integrated to main characters life within the media.


Author(s):  
Alfred Stepan

This chapter investigates whether there should be more or less secularism in Indonesia and particularly, since religions can be neither wholly privatised nor allowed to dominate political life, what are the best ways of accommodating it in a democratic society, in line with this volume’s overall focus. Indeed, it should be pointed out that Indonesia lived under a military dictatorship from 1965 till 1998 so the question needs to be addressed first by asking if Indonesia is a democracy now; and if it is, what types of accommodations about religion Indonesians have made and why. I come at these questions as a specialist in subjects such as authoritarian regimes, military governments, the breakdown of democracies, failed and successful democratic transitions, and recently the role of religion and politics. My writing is normally comparative, and has often been based on field research in Brazil, Chile, Spain, India, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, Senegal and Indonesia.


Author(s):  
Josh Greenberg ◽  
Sean Hier

Abstract: This article examines newspaper coverage about closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance in Canada and considers its implications for public opinion and policymaking. The study addresses several issues, including the rise and fall of media attention to the themes that structure the news coverage and patterns of source access and the implications of these themes for how citizens understand the role of surveillance in their lives. As more Canadian cities explore using CCTV surveillance as a policing tool for monitoring public space, news coverage should strive to enhance the public conversation about surveillance. The data reported in this study show that the coverage has been a very poor resource for helping citizens and policymakers to understand the complex issues involved in the surveillance of public areas in Canada.Résumé : Cet article examine des reportages dans les journaux sur la surveillance par télévision en circuit fermé au Canada et considère leurs implications pour l’opinion publique et la formulation de politiques. Cette étude traite de plusieurs questions, y compris l’essor et la chute de l’attention portée dans les médias aux thèmes pertinents qui organisent les reportages et l’accès aux sources, ainsi que l’effet de ces thèmes sur la manière dont les citoyens comprennent le rôle de la surveillance dans leurs vies. À mesure que de plus en plus de villes canadiennes se tournent vers la télévision en circuit fermé comme outil pour surveiller les espaces publics, les reportages devraient s’efforcer davantage de contribuer à la conversation publique sur la surveillance. Les données rapportées dans cette étude montrent que les reportages à ce jour se sont avéré une ressource assez pauvre pour aider les citoyens et les responsables politiques à mieux comprendre les enjeux complexes relatifs à la surveillance de lieux publics au Canada.


Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 872
Author(s):  
Monika Mazurek

After 1945, the Republic of Poland appeared to be an ethnic monolith. However, this was (is) not the case for the Kashubians, who now live in northern Poland on the Baltic Sea. Presently, Kashubians do not have official status; they are not considered an ethnic or national minority. They create their own identity around language, origin, inhabited territory, and religion. The latter serves to maintain a sense of community—to legitimise the Kashubian language, the axial value of Kashubian ethnic identity. Kashubian religiosity is frequently emphasized in the public space. The objective of this article is to analyse the role of the Catholic religion in building the ethnic identity of Kashubians and legitimizing constructed traditions by the Kashubian-Pomeranian Association. The main purpose of the article is to show the process of ethnicisation of religions. This ethnic non-governmental organisation is aspiring to represent the Kashubian community in the public space in Poland. The results from studies conducted among members of this organization, which concern their views on the link between religious and secular events organised by the Association, will also be presented.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 81
Author(s):  
Marina Zaki ◽  
Declan Devane ◽  
Thomas Conway ◽  
Sandra Galvin ◽  
Nikita Burke ◽  
...  

On the 11th of March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared a global pandemic due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This was one month after Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO declared that we are also fighting an ‘infodemic’. The WHO has described an infodemic as an “over-abundance of information – some accurate and some not – that makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it”. iHealthFacts.ie is an Irish resource where the public can quickly and easily check the credibility and reliability of health claims circulating on social media. Unreliable claims can lead to poorly informed health choices. iHealthFacts is an initiative that supports the public to think critically about health claims and make well-informed choices. Here, we describe the role iHealthFacts plays in providing reliable information to the public and offer reflections from those involved in launching this initiative during a pandemic.


Author(s):  
José Ramón Intxaurbe

<p>Managing diversity according to democratic values is especially relevant in addressing religious plurality. The challenge of finding factors that bring together communities with different worldviews under a same social project presents a number of features, in the case of the Muslim community, that seem to underscore the potential for conflict that their integration into European societies has. A good way to test whether there is such inconsistency may be to compare the dynamics and needs of the Muslim population - in this case, in the Basque Countrywith the principles underlying the role of religion in contemporary democratic regimes. This is the aim of this paper, where the theoretical approaches to the role played by religious beliefs in modern societies enter into dialogue with the daily life of a religious minority that claims its place in the public space.</p><p><strong>Published online</strong>: 11 December 2017</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 218-236
Author(s):  
Jakub Jakubowski

Abstract Against the background of research conducted in other EU countries, Euroscepticism is a marginal sentiment among Poles. Nevertheless, this attitude and the arguments associated with it are noticeable in many areas in the public space: among members of the public presenting Eurosceptic arguments on the social media, journalists in press commentaries or politicians themselves. The aim of this article is to analyse the scale of such statements, their specific character and presence in the Polish press during the election and post-electoral period in 2015–2017. The study involved content analysis of selected text units which allowed the fundamental research question to be answered—namely, what is the nature of Eurosceptic attitudes manifested in the Polish press during the electoral/post-electoral period of lively discussions on the role of the European Union in Poland.


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