RESEARCH & PROJECTS

Religion & COVID-19

 

Religion and COVID-19 (April – December 2020)

Starting in December 2019, the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread to the majority of countries in the world and three months later the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 as a global pandemic. Indonesia is not spared from it. After the declaration of the disease as a pandemic the President Joko Widodo issued health emergency regulations, including the closure of workplaces in Jakarta and other cities, restriction of public transportation, as well as discouragement of religious and other public gatherings. Indeed, pandemic is not only an issue of public health, but responses to it have touched on all aspects of life, from finance, employment to education and religious life. This research focused on the social-political-religious dimensions of the Covid-19 pandemic in Indonesia. It is the result of a collaboration between ICRS and CRCS, supported by available research grants from different sources (UGM Graduate School, Ristekdikti, Ford Foundation, Oslo Coallition for Freedom of Religion or Belief and Brigham Young University’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies). The research focuses on six main topics: State, Civil Society and Covid-19, Religious and Social Innovations, Cultural and Religious Perspectives on Covid-19, Limitations to Freedom of Religion or Belief, Hospitality and Hostility in Social Media, and Women and Covid 19. This research ran from April until December 2020; its results have been published in different media, and more are coming.

  • COVID-19 Pandemic provoked conspiracy theories and initiated the sequence of the end of time (akhir zaman or hari kiamat) for some religious believers, especially Muslims and Christians. The research delved into the meaning of the pandemic for some Indonesian Christians, notably among those who understand the crisis as part of God’s eschatological scenario. Forthcoming publication entitled “Reading the signs of the times: Christian Apocalypticism and the Conspiracy of the Covidians” is written by Dr. Leonard  Ch. Epafras.
  • Michael Northcott, ICRS Adjunct Professor, published a book chapter titled “Religion and Ecology in Indonesia After Covid-19” in Zainal A. Bagir, M. Northcott, F. Wijsen, eds. Varieties of Religion and Ecology: Dispatches from Indonesia (LitVerlag and NICMCR: Zurich), 2021, pp. 183-209. (The book is discussed here). 
  • Suhadi Cholil presented the result at Western Australia Indonesia Forum, The University of Western Australia, 2020 entitled “Religious Based Vaccine Hesitancy in the Context of Covid-19 Pandemic: Indonesian Muslim And Christian Views”.