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| 1 |
ID:
134097
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| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Let us drink to Putin! He is doing so many good things for us." This toast from a friend's mother, at a recent friendly gathering of neighbors at my dacha near Moscow, made a few of us around the table feel a little uneasy. I think it was the first time that I'd heard someone proposing to drink the health of one of our heads of state when it wasn't required by protocol. However, this lady's emotions were sincere and, given the circumstances in Russia today, quite logical. Vladimir Putin's Crimean blitz was a very domestic Russian affair, designed to give the people a new sense of imperial pride and, by extension, provide the Kremlin with a badly needed popularity boost. In this regard, it succeeded beyond expectation. Even the tragedy of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 did not shake the foundations of the conviction that most Russians hold: their country is a beacon of moral fortitude and spiritual greatness besieged by the Western forces of atheism, permissiveness, and greed.
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| 2 |
ID:
159801
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| Summary/Abstract |
The phenomenon of atheism has often been neglected in academic research on Indonesia, a Muslim majority country in which every citizen is supposed to have a religious affiliation. In addressing that oversight, this article first outlines the state-driven discourses and practices in Indonesia concerning atheism before exploring the alterative discourses and social practices found within Indonesian atheist communities. Based on a long-term engagement with online atheist communities and four months of fieldwork in Jakarta, I suggest that hegemonic discourses and state practices on the one hand, and discourses and social practices within the atheist community on the other hand, sharply contradict each other. Whereas the state and large parts of society still consider atheism a threat since it is understood to connote communism, it is typically leftist atheists rather than their right-wing or liberal counterparts who not only acknowledge religion but are even eager to engage with progressive religious movements. The reasons for this, the article argues, lie in alternative narratives of Indonesia’s past and in the atheists’ engagement with global discourses. Finally, the article provides an example of a progressive religious community in which leftist atheists are involved, revealing a social practice that successfully ruptures state-driven discourses.
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