World Views in Indonesia

This paper will compare the world views of the people in old and current Indonesia. Since the 1940's, the government of Indonesia has been trying to change the basic world views of the people. The current government leaders believe that adopting Westernized attitudes would modernize the nation as a whole. As a result, it is believed that the future development of the nation is dependent upon the Indonesian people dropping their traditional values. The government has been frustrated by the fact that it has been unable to change world views in this way. At this time, traditional beliefs and behaviors still exist among the majority of the people in Indonesia. However, this does not mean that the government's efforts to modernize the nation have failed. In fact, the best opportunities for future development in Indonesia can be found in the merging of traditional values with modern technologies. The nation of Indonesia must modernize, but it must not do so at the sake of the cultural pride of its citizens.

The nation of Indonesia is actually made up of a number of different cultural groups. The nation consists of approximately 13,000 islands and 300 ethnic groups (Kaplan, 1983, p. 65). The contrasting values of these different groups has led to a number of cultural clashes in the past. There have also been clashes between the different religious groups of the nation. At the same time, however, there are certain bonds to be found throughout Indonesian society as we

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ated with the Western world. In this way, the traditional spiritual values of the Indonesian culture are preserved. The spiritual influences of the traditional religion have an effect on the overall lifestyle of the individual. They also have an impact on the individual's perception of self. For example, the person usually considers spiritual development to the be most important value in life. According to Sievers, the mystical elements of Indonesian tradition encourage "the individual and the small group to withdraw, each in search of its own road to oneness" (Sievers, 1974, p. 5). The communal aspects of the traditional religion also have an effect on the individual's perception of the family. The family has traditionally held an important role in Indonesian society. There has always been a strong sense of responsibility in terms of the person's nuclear family. Traditionally, this sense of responsibility also included the extended family of one's rural community. However, the conditions of modern society are causing people to feel less bound to their extended families than they did in the past. There are various ways in which the traditional values of Indonesian society have changed in recent years, as well as var

Category: Foreign - W