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🇮🇩 Indonesia /Culture & Society

Religion, Morality and the Integrity Crisis

From Republika · () Indonesian

Translated from Indonesian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Opinion Named sources Context piece
  • The writer contrasts religiously observant societies that face corruption with formally secular societies that maintain stronger public discipline and administrative honesty.
  • He argues that the issue is not simply whether people are religious, but whether moral values become social habits, laws and concrete behavior.
  • Indonesia continues to face corruption, nepotism, conflicts of interest, bribery and abuse of power despite the prominent role of religion in daily life.

A question from a friend captures the discomfort at the center of this essay: why can an atheist country appear orderly, honest, disciplined and prosperous, while Indonesia, a religious country with a Muslim majority, still struggles with corruption and dishonesty?

The writer, Jasman Rizal Dt Bandaro Bendang, says the contrast should not lead to an easy conclusion that religion causes moral decline. Nor does a society without religion automatically become more ethical. Such judgments, he argues, are too simplistic.

An atheist country, but orderly, honest, disciplined and prosperous.

— Unnamed friendThe question that prompted the writer's reflection on religion and public integrity.

The deeper issue is how moral values become institutionalized. Values held as religious or ethical principles must take shape as habits, social norms, legal systems and concrete public behavior. Without that process, religious belief can remain an identity, a ritual or a symbol rather than a discipline governing everyday conduct.

A country that believes in God and has a Muslim majority, but has widespread corruption, makes deception a habit, lacks order and discipline, and displays other negative behavior.

— Unnamed friendThe friend contrasted Indonesia with the example of an orderly secular society.

Indonesia offers a clear example of the tension. Mosques and other houses of worship are visible, religious symbols have become more prominent in public spaces, and moral teaching begins early. Religious language also appears frequently in politics, bureaucracy, business and social life.

Yet corruption has not disappeared. Nepotism recurs, conflicts of interest are often treated as normal, and abuse of power, manipulation, bribery, lies and dishonesty remain public problems. The essay therefore asks whether the central failure is not a lack of religion, but the failure to turn religious teaching into integrity in public life.

If society is becoming more religious, why does integrity not automatically grow stronger?

— Jasman Rizal Dt Bandaro BendangThe essay's central question about the gap between religious identity and public conduct.
About this summary

Originally published by Republika in Indonesian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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