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Religious Fundamentalism Among Christian and Islam Students Of S International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities Religious Fundamentalism among Christian and Islam Students of OPEN ACCESS University Yudistira Fauzy Indrawan Ph.D. Research Scholar, DOS in Psychology Volume: 7 University of Mysore, Karnataka, India Issue: 1 Sampathkumar Associate Professor and Chairman, DOS in Psychology Month: July University of Mysore, Karnataka, India Year: 2019 Abstract This study is aimed to revisit the previous one, which measures the level of religious fundamental- ism (RF) among Christian and Islam. The socio-cultural background, such as national integration ISSN: 2321-788X in Western Europe or the economic gap between Muslim in Europe and the U.S. is likely to give a different output of research. The difference of RF among Christian and Islam with the Indonesian Received: 03.06.2019 background where religiosity of both religions is high, and they are not attached to the particular racial group become a novelty. A signi cant difference between Christian and Islam is revealed in this study. Islam students are higher at their RF level than Christian ones. Accepted: 19.06.2019 Keywords: Religious fundamentalism, Christian, Islam, socio-cultural background. Published: 01.07.2019 Introduction The measurement of Religious Fundamentalism (RF) among mainstream Citation: religions such as Christian, Islam, Jewish, Buddhism, and Hinduism has been Indrawan, Yudistira Fauzy, conducted for a few times. In 2007, Pew Research Centre issued the scriptural and Sampathkumar. literalism report for Islam, Christian and Catholic, which showed that 50% of “Religious Fundamentalism Muslims believes that their holy book is the word of God and right. It was among Christian and Islam then followed with Christian, Catholic, and secular of which percentage are Students of University.” respectively 48%, 25%, 9%1. Altemeyer revealed that Islam is the highest and Shanlax International then Christian, Catholic and, Jews consecutively in their RF score2 (Paloutzian, Journal of Arts, Science 2005). and Humanities, vol. 7, no. Based on the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, Muslims are the most 1, 2019, pp. 50-55. dogmatic about religion, and this attitude is followed by Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist. While in the conception of God, Protestant DOI: reaches the highest percentage, which is consecutively followed by Catholic, https://doi.org/10.34293/ Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Jewish. Protestant and Muslim have almost sijash.v7i1.543 similar proportion (84% and 85% respectively) of the belief in heaven, and the hell3. 1 Pew Research Centre, “Muslim Americans, May 2007, Pew Research Centre, This work is licensed March 2007. under a Creative Commons 2 Altemeyer measured the difference of RF to some religions after completing their Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 revised scale but didn’t mention their comparison. International License 3 this survey was mainly conducted to fi nd out the level of RF, but it is methodologically different from Altemeyer’s study. “Belief in heaven and hell” is one of the survey questions similar to one of RF measurement items. 50 http://www.shanlaxjournals.in S International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities The consistency of both results cannot be yet it has negative connotation while others seem to generalised in a different locale. Gillum (2013) be otherwise because it is considered as to how concluded that no difference is found in RF between consistent and robust someone holds their belief. American Muslims and Christians. She, furthermore, The former may assume such a way because of explains that the less gap between American Islam some psychological effects of RF. Altemeyer etc. and Christians is due to the socio-economic condition (1995) conclude that RF signifi cantly correlated with between Islam in the U.S. and Islam in Europe. The right-wing authoritarianism, religious emphasis as level of economy and education of Islam America is a child, religious ethnocentrism, dogmatism, racial/ better than the average American. Low-skilled labour ethnic prejudice, hostility toward homosexual. The immigration mostly migrates to Western Europe. unfavourable attitude toward RF cannot be separated They have economic issue and problem to from public association with terrorism, radicalism, integrate with the indigenous European. Islam- and religious violence. While in the other groups, American National Opinion Survey (MANOS) state RF is emphasised and becomes the indicator of one’s that religious fundamentalism level among Muslims full-fl edged religiosity. It is highly valued for some and Christians in the U.S. are almost equal (Gillum, people, especially religious group, when someone 2013). On the contrary, Koopmans (2013) found that cast no doubt at all to spiritual teachings. However, religious fundamentalism among Islam immigrants in religious fundamentalism as an ethical attitude is Western Europe is strikingly higher than that among supposed to be considered as a neutral construct Christian Europeans. He argues that fundamentalism because cognitive dissonance might still happen, is associated with the feeling of threat (his group is which lead to the discrepancy between belief and threatened by outsiders). behavioural expression. Politic, Socio economic, Cultural aspects are Any religions are not innately fundamentalism. considered as the main factors infl uencing the Psychologically, RF is merely an attitude of which collective attitude such as religious fundamentalism. the magnitude can change. Therefore, data of the Indonesia, which shares hardly similarities in terms RF level will be likely to vary when conducted in a of anything with U.S. and European countries different context with the same category of subjects. becomes a captivating background to fi nd out if RF become the centre of attraction from two both Christians and Muslims share the same level different sides: 1) the impact of RF, 2) The causal of RF. As one of the religious countries in the factor forming RF. When it turns to be such an issue world, religion for Indonesian takes the most of as prejudice, the rigidity of thinking, hostility, etc., their lifestyle and social life. Their formal ones the latter fi nally set to be central topics. are, in fact, not originally from their ancestor but The aim of this research is, in general, to revisit the imported. Two religions highlighted in this study, previous study on the difference of RF level between Islam and Christian, are spread through trading and Christians and Muslims in the different context of war. Being well-known as pious and religiously place, culture, and time. In particular, it is intended devoted people, most Indonesians introduce religion to be the preliminary study for the next researcher and socialise it in the family from early childhood. to fi nd the institutional effect, i.e. government It is different from the case in the U.S, and Western intervention to religious teaching dissemination, the Europe where Muslims and Christians belong to two content of preach, religious traditions. separate groups (indigenous and migrant), There is no particular group who belong to a specifi c Religious Fundamentalism: Must Christians and religion. Based on this assumption, either Muslims Muslims Essentially Different? or Christians have the nearly same level of religious To commence the theoretical discussion on fundamentalism, because innately they are religious religious fundamentalism, it is necessarily anticipated regardless of what they believe. by notifying that this study stands as a starting point Religious fundamentalism is perceived in which is seen as one’s attitude to his/her belief differently by different groups. Some people fi nd which is fundamental, intrinsic, essential, necessary, 51 http://www.shanlaxjournals.in S International Journal of Arts, Science and Humanities and contains absolute truth on humanity and divine. 3. Cognitive appraisal: application of reasoning It is taken and summarised from the widely used and logical argument to convince someone to a defi nition derived from Altemeyer and Hunsberger particular object/situation (1992). 4. Observational learning: exposure of media or “The belief that there is one set of religious imitating specifi c behaviour which they fi nd teachings that clearly contains the fundamental, fashionable or attractive. basic, intrinsic, essential, inerrant truth about If we transform the explanation hereabove humanity and deity; that this essential truth is to the process of RF formation, it will be exactly fundamentally opposed by forces of evil which must like watching two different movies which have be vigorously fought; that this truth must be followed the same story. Altemeyer al. (2005) explain that today according to the fundamental, unchangeable parents are the fi rst agents who instil values, which practices of the past; and that those who believe and eventually affect one’s attitude. The imposition on follow these fundamental teachings have a special religion set of teachings to children from religious relationship with the deity” parents is unavoidable. One of their researches RF is a psychological construction owned by shows that atheist parents give freedom to their every individual regardless of what they believe. children to be religious or not. They, however, still Being present in any human being, we can even, then, have favorability to religions. It is followed, then, measure its magnitude from atheists. It is, however, with peer and religion institutions that take part in not about the content
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