Ramadan and Thethek Molek as Religious Harmony in Indonesian Rural Society

Abstract

This study examinedthe rural life in Indonesia, especially religious activities which are increasingly integrated with the media during the pandemic.This study understands how people interpret and practice harmony amid a national religious conflict that has been heating up for more than four years in Indonesia. Using mediatization concept and conducts ethnographic design, the study observed the momentum of Ramadan and thethek molek in Tulungagung Regency. This study found that Tulungagung people have experienced direct and indirect mediatization during the pandemic. Tulungagung people had a strong social construction in the slogans of guyub, rukun, ayem, tentrem, mulyo, lan tinoto. They used those slogans ​​as a social mechanism to understand media reality, practice Ramadan worships, and interpret thethek molek meaning. Media as social agents also adopt those slogans to frame reality. Both people’s and media’s commitment to upholding those slogans over group’s religious practices keep social diversity in harmony. This research demonstrates mediatization as a comprehensive approach to media and social study, specifically in the realm of religion from a non-Western perspective.