Abstract
National discourses that are acceptable by the alienated groups determine the level of public tolerance towards those groups. This study thus examined the relationships between religious schema and tolerance of two alienated groups in Indonesia, namely, the atheists and believers in indigenous faiths. Additionally, the study explored the differences in tolerance of these two groups across university cohorts encompassing discrete social climates and curricula. This cross-sectional study involved several universities with differing demographic makeup. The analysis results revealed that the characteristics of the evaluated target group determined the significance of the associations between the dimensions of religious schema and tolerance. Moreover, students in homogeneous educational and social environments tended to exhibit low levels of tolerance towards alienated groups. This study highlighted the importance of scrutinising the functions of intergroup exposure and dialogues in improving intergroup understanding, acceptance, and tolerance within a plural society.
Highlights
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center on ‘The Global God Divide’ evinced that Indonesia emphasised the importance of faith in God to the extent that 96% of its population stated that belief in God was necessary for the inculcation of morality and good values (Tamir et al, 2020)
Hinduism is the major religion in Bali; Christianity is predominant in North Sulawesi, Papua, and West Papua and Catholicism prevails in East Nusa Tenggara (Badan Pusat Statistik, 2012)
This study examined the associations between the three dimensions of the religious schema (Streib et al, 2010) and tolerance towards two alienated groups in Indonesia: the believers in indigenous faiths and the atheists
Summary
A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center on ‘The Global God Divide’ evinced that Indonesia emphasised the importance of faith in God to the extent that 96% of its population stated that belief in God was necessary for the inculcation of morality and good values (Tamir et al, 2020). Islam is the major religion in the country; Indonesia is not a religion-based state according to its national constitution and ideology one of the five ideological principles of the country mandates the belief in one supreme divine being (monotheism) (Mu'ti & Burhani, 2019; Ropi, 2017). After a long history of denying their existence (Mu'ti & Burhani, 2019; Sudarto, 2016; Syaputra and Nasution, 2020), Indonesia has recently recognised traditional faiths apart from the six state-recognised religions (Putusan Mahkamah Konstitusi, 2016). These indigenous religions are followed in several regions by minority groups whose numbers remain indeterminate.
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