All religions view corruption as a despicable behavior. By various terms, religious literature calls it an act of sin. Unfortunately, human actions are not always guided by their inner beliefs.
By
Idi Subandy Ibrahim
·4 minutes read
All religions view corruption as a despicable behavior. By various terms, religious literature calls it an act of sin. Unfortunately, human actions are not always guided by their inner beliefs.
Ronald F. Inglehart, Professor Emeritus of Democracy, Democratization and Human Rights at the University of Michigan, noted that countries that were less religious tended to be less corrupt than countries that were more religious. Despite this, according to him, it is clear that religion does not encourage corruption and crime.
According to the author of Religion\'s Sudden Decline: What\'s Causing it, and What Comes Next? (2021), the views of religious conservatives that the decline of faith will lead to the collapse of public morality and social cohesion have proven not to support this claim.
Apparently there are unexpected phenomena, when the level of security increases, people tend to become less religious.
The phenomena Inglehart examined reflects the fact that as societies develop, survival becomes more secure: hunger becomes uncommon, life expectancy increases, murder and violence decline. Apparently there are unexpected phenomena, when the level of security increases, people tend to become less religious. Religion is like an escape from insecurity.
Meanwhile, religious leaders believe that religion will encourage individuals to act more ethically. Basically, it will provide warning and guidance and teach individuals between good and evil. This faith reinforces belief that religion can promote honesty and ethical behavior.
Religion provides individuals with beliefs and norms, guiding them in decision-making, including in matters of corruption. On the one hand, individuals with high norms of religiosity will tend not to accept or be involved in corruption. On the other hand, the lack of individual religiosity norms will increase someone’s tendency to participate in acts of corruption or acceptance of corruption.
However, research shows that economic interests can interfere with religious norms and beliefs about ethics. This argument is supported by the results of research, in which individuals, regardless of their religious teachings about harsh punishment for theft and perceptions of God, when facing unemployment, tend to be more tolerant of corruption in society (Zakaria, 2018).
Then religiosity that believes God is forgiving is stronger than religiosity that believes God will give punishment or karma. This has resulted in a more tolerant attitude toward corrupt behavior.
The press fighting back
Then, if we look at the press, does religiosity affect newsroom culture in the fight against corruption? As one of the pillars of democracy, the press, to borrow the words of Alexis de Tocqueville (1840), is "the main instrument of democratic freedom" because it is a means of exposing corruption and demanding transparency and accountability of the government.
The history of the turn of the 20th century witnessed a tradition of reform in journalism in the West as well as a progressive and populist movement that inspired muckrakers in a way that remains alive in journalism today.
Figures such as SS McClure, Ida Tarbell, John S. Phillips, Ray S. Baker, William A. White and David G. Phillips became famous for their investigative articles on cleaning up corruption and vested interests in the industry, government and politics.
The muckrakers turned out to come from very religious backgrounds.
It is interesting that sociologist Herbert Gans (1980) has noted that most of the early muckraker journalists were the progressives who were motivated by a belief in capitalism that were responsible for safeguarding the interests of the people without overly shaking the prevailing commercial order. The muckrakers turned out to come from very religious backgrounds.
Some of them used a prophetic approach to challenge corruption and injustice in corrupt public institutions. They use the religious individuals as an ethical and moral model and continually criticize religious leaders involved in the sin of capitalism (Hutchings, 2021).
However, as the ethics in the newsroom became more secular, religion receded backward turning into the law, institutional practices and behavior of the professionals in many fields.
The residual values of religious ethics are maintained in the application of media codes of ethics and standards adopted by professional organizations.
Many journalists do not consider themselves religious, but in fact religion lives on in what sociologist Robert Bellah (1967) calls "civil religion". The residual values of religious ethics are maintained in the application of media codes of ethics and standards adopted by professional organizations (Underwood, 2021).
It seems that, directly or indirectly, religious norms still play an important role in the public sphere. Like the vigor of the current press that wants to be honest and to continue fighting dishonesty, such as corruption, for the sake of the public.