Distorted Devotion: Cult of Personality in Indonesia
(Devosi yang Terdistorsi: Kultus Individu di Indonesia)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.20625/theosyn.v2i1.137Keywords:
Cult of Personality, Philosophy of Religion, Distorted Devotion, Social Dynamics, Faith and Reason IntegrationAbstract
Religion in the Indonesian context is understood as a religious seed that is ontologically embedded at the core of societal existence. However, this natural religious impulse risks being distorted into a cult of personality when it is not guided by rational enlightenment and the integrity of faith. This crisis is intensified by the role of social media as an instrument of digital hagiography, creating epistemological ambiguity in which the opinions of revered figures are treated as absolute revelation. This study aims to examine this distortion through a philosophical lens. It employs a qualitative methodology using a literature review and a philosophical hermeneutic approach, combined with phenomenological analysis comparing devotion to God and devotion to human figures. The findings reveal that the cult of personality represents a failure to integrate faith and reason. Societies experiencing a paralysis of reason tend to project their need for absolute authority onto human figures, resulting in the creation of “little gods,” which leads to moral degradation and the erosion of critical thinking in a pluralistic society.
Abstrak
Agama dalam konteks Indonesia dipahami sebagai benih religius yang secara ontologis melekat pada inti keberadaan masyarakat. Namun, dorongan religius ini berpotensi mengalami distorsi menjadi cult of personality apabila tidak diarahkan oleh pencerahan rasional dan integritas iman. Fenomena ini semakin diperparah oleh peran media sosial sebagai sarana hagiografi digital yang menciptakan ambiguitas epistemologis, di mana opini tokoh diagungkan setara dengan wahyu absolut. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis distorsi tersebut melalui pendekatan filosofis. Metode yang digunakan adalah kualitatif dengan studi literatur dan hermeneutika filosofis, serta analisis fenomenologis terhadap perbandingan devosi kepada Tuhan dan kepada figur manusia. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa cult of personality merupakan kegagalan integrasi antara iman dan rasio. Masyarakat yang mengalami paralisis nalar cenderung memproyeksikan kebutuhan akan otoritas absolut kepada manusia, sehingga memunculkan “tuhan-tuhan kecil” yang berdampak pada degradasi moral dan hilangnya daya kritis dalam masyarakat pluralistik.
References
Amanda, Bayu, and Dian Erwanto. 2026. “Philosophical Insights into Taqwa and Ghaflah in Surah Maryam 59-63: As-Sya’rawi’s Tafsir”. Dirasat Qur’aniyyah Wa Hadithiyyah 1 (1): 89-107. https://doi.org/10.14804/daqiyah.v1i1.39.
Barton, Greg, Ihsan Yilmaz, and Nicholas Morieson. “Authoritarianism, Democracy, Islamic Movements and Contestations of Islamic Religious Ideas in Indonesia.” Religions 12, no. 8 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12080641.
———. “Religious and Pro-Violence Populism in Indonesia: The Rise and Fall of a Far-Right Islamist Civilisationist Movement.” Religions 12, no. 6 (2021): 397. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12060397.
Bishop, John. “On the Significance of Assumptions about Divine Goodness and Divine Ontology for ‘Logical’ Arguments from Evil.” Religions 12, no. 3 (March 11, 2021): 186. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12030186.
Correia, Ricardo A., Richard Ladle, Ivan Jarić, Ana C.M. Malhado, John C. Mittermeier, Uri Roll, Andrea Soriano-Redondo, et al. “Digital Data Sources and Methods for Conservation Culturomics.” Conservation Biology 35, no. 2 (2021): 398–411. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13706.
Egunjobi, Joyzy Pius. “Theology of Response Styles.” International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science 9, no. 5 (2025): 1–11. https://doi.org/10.47772/ijriss.2025.90500001.
Guessoum, Nidhal. “The Qur’an, Science, and the (Related) Contemporary Muslim Discourse.” Zygon 43, no. 2 (2008): 411–31. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2008.00925.x.
Haslam, S Alexander, Stephen D Reicher, and Michael J Platow. The New Psychology of Leadership: Identity, Influence and Power. Routledge, 2020.
Hefner, Robert W. “Islam and Institutional Religious Freedom in Indonesia.” Religions 12, no. 6 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12060415.
Hynson, Meghan. “A Balinese ‘Call to Prayer’: Sounding Religious Nationalism and Local Identity in the Puja Tri Sandhya.” Religions 12, no. 8 (August 23, 2021): 668. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12080668.
IQTIDAR, HUMEIRA, and OLIVER SCHARBRODT. “Divine Sovereignty, Morality and the State: Maududi and His Influence.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 32, no. 2 (April 1, 2022): 277–93. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1356186321000766.
Iyer, Aarti. “Understanding Advantaged Groups’ Opposition to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Policies: The Role of Perceived Threat.” Social and Personality Psychology Compass 16, no. 5 (May 13, 2022). https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12666.
Lucchetti, Giancarlo, Harold G. Koenig, and Alessandra Lamas Granero Lucchetti. “Spirituality, Religiousness, and Mental Health: A Review of the Current Scientific Evidence.” World Journal of Clinical Cases 9, no. 26 (2021): 7620–31. https://doi.org/10.12998/wjcc.v9.i26.7620.
Maarif, Samsul. “Human (Relational) Dignity: Perspectives of Followers of Indigenous Religions of Indonesia.” Religions 14, no. 7 (June 28, 2023): 848. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070848.
Mubarok, Fahmi Ulum Al, Lutfi Zaki Al Manfaluthi, Annas Dzul Arsyi, and Muhammad Rizq Mubarak. “Progressive Islamic Education through the Lens of Human Essence: Philosophical Foundations and Transformative Strategies.” Multicultural Islamic Education Review 3, no. 1 (2025): 01–14. https://doi.org/10.23917/mier.v3i1.9911.
Munro, Daniel. “Cults, Conspiracies, and Fantasies of Knowledge.” Episteme 21, no. 3 (2024): 949–70. https://doi.org/10.1017/epi.2022.55.
Robertson, Hailey, Savanna. “Coercion, Conversion, Control: Techniques Utilized to Recruit and Indoctrinate New Members into Cult Organizations,” 2024. https://doi.org/10.15760/honors.1489.
Santoso, Magedan Pranata. Filsafat Agama. Yogyajarta: Graha Ilmu, 2009.
Siregar, Muhammad H., and Sahrul Sahrul. “Searching Legal Format: Reshaping the Role of State and Religion in Indonesia Post-Suharto.” HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 78, no. 1 (2022). https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v78i1.7922.
Sundahl, Anne Mette Holmgård. “Personality Cult or a Mere Matter of Popularity?” International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society 36, no. 4 (2023): 431–58. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10767-022-09423-0.
Taylor, Steve. DisConnected: The Roots of Human Cruelty and How Connection Can Heal the World. Simon and Schuster, 2023.
Village, Andrew. The Bible and Lay People. The Bible and Lay People: An Empirical Approach to Ordinary Hermeneutics. Explorations in Practical, Pastoral and Empirical Theology. Routledge, 2016. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315613956.
Wilber, Ken. “An Integral Theory of Consciousness.” Journal of Consciousness Studies 4, no. 1 (1997): 71–92.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ardhes Blandhivay Leuanan (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercial purposes.
- Adaptation — mixing, changing, and developing materials for any purpose, even commercial ones.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- ShareAlike — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you must distribute your contributions under the same license as the original.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
