Emma Scznsny
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Pauline Luong
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Political Science / LSA
Program: UROP
Session: Session 5 (2:40pm – 3:30pm)
Authors: Pauline Jones, Emma Scznsny, Stephen Lee
Abstract
Do different religions have different levels of tolerance when it comes to government policies that restrict religious practices during a pandemic? To explore this question, we looked at the reactions of religious leaders to Covid-19 policies, such as social distancing and vaccination, in three countries with different majority religions in Southeast Asia: Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Thai Buddhism, Indonesian Islam, and Philippine Catholicism operate under state-sanctioned, centralized religious structures, which enables us to draw conclusions about the stance of each religion from the statements and actions of their religious leaders. We conducted a systematic analysis of newspapers in each country between January 2020 and August 2022. Due to language constraints, we were only able to include the English language versions of major national newspapers in each country. Based on these media sources, we sought to determine where the religious leaders and practitioners drew their “red lines†– or limits in their willingness to comply voluntarily – with government Covid-19 policies that affected religious practices. We also identified where religious leaders were most tolerant of government policies restricting religious practices. To measure “tolerance,†we developed a two-dimensional definition that considered both the number of policy areas and the length of time religious leaders accepted government policies. Among these Southeast Asian nations, we found that Thai Buddhism did not seem to have a clear “red line†and appeared to be the most tolerant. According to our sources, Thai Buddhist religious leaders were willing to comply and adapt their religious practices to all state Covid-19 regulations established between January 2020 and August 2022. Meanwhile, Indonesian Islam and Philippine Catholicism followed respectively in terms of tolerance. Indonesian Islam was tolerant in its modification of religious practices regarding prayer, congregation, and holidays to comply with state policies but drew its “red line†when it came to vaccination. Indonesian religious leaders approved certain vaccines in October 2020 while rejecting others vaccines in March 2021. Ultimately, Philippine Catholicism drew its “red line†at the necessity of attending in-person religious gatherings in early May 2020 and even petitioned the government for increased safety regulations to allow for these meetings.
