Spiritualitas Digital dan Pandemi COVID-19: Autoetnografi Seorang Protestan

ZEFANYA CHRISTIADY N, Dr. Mohammad Yusuf, MA

2021 | Tesis | MAGISTER ANTROPOLOGI

Tesis ini menceritakan dinamika keberagamaan saya selaku peneliti yang melayani sebagai pengurus persekutuan alumni Kristen di Perkantas Yogyakarta, suatu lembaga pelayanan generasi muda Kristen, yang ibadah komunalnya berubah menjadi online sepanjang pandemi COVID-19, serta secara pribadi sedang mengalami krisis spiritualitas seperti meragukan Tuhan. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan metode autoetnografi untuk mendeskripsikan hubungan antara perubahan struktur dalam organisasi Kristen terhadap keberagamaan seseorang. Kemudian dengan memakai konsep sakral dan profan dari Mircea Eliade, tesis ini hendak memaparkan bahwa selama pandemi berlangsung, telah terjadi proses RSST (Religious Social Shaping of Religion) dalam pemanfaatan media digital untuk beribadah, dan kemunculan kreator konten rohani. Relasi antara media digital dan agama tersebut menyebabkan tiga perubahan terhadap konsep sakral dan profan yang dialami oleh umat Kristen di Indonesia, yakni [1] terdapat ketegangan antara otoritas agama dan media, [2] konsep ruang, waktu, mitos, dan sakralisasi nature yang digitally sacred (misalnya ibadah online) menjadi kelaziman baru, dan [3] sakral dan profan selalu ada dalam ketegangan dan memungkinkan individu menerima dan mengalami hierofani kapanpun dan dimanapun. Ketiganya telah mengubah relasi antara individu sebagai homo religiosus dengan organisasi agama menjadi lebih terbuka. Sakralitas dalam agama tidak lagi sepenuhnya dikuasai oleh organisasi agama. Dengan demikian, setiap individu sebagai homo religiosus digital mengalami hierophany (manifestasi yang sakral ke dalam dunia profan) berdasarkan koneksitasnya di internet dan konsumsi konten religius di media sosial, bukan lagi di dalam dan melalui organisasi agama seperti gereja. Homo religiosus juga mampu mengkompromikan posisinya dan membangun pemaknaan sendiri atas agama dan media di dalam ruang siber.

This thesis will describe dynamics within my religiosity as a researcher who serves as an administrator of the Christian alumni association at Perkantas Yogyakarta, a Christian youth service institution, whose communal worship turned online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and is personally experiencing a spiritual crisis such as doubting God. This research was conducted using autoethnographic methods to describe the relationship between structural changes in Christian organizations and a person's religiosity. Then by using the sacred and profane concepts of Mircea Eliade, this thesis would explain there has been an RSST (Religious Social Shaping of Religion) process in the use of digital media for worship, and the emergence of spiritual content creators. The relationship between digital media and religion has caused three changes to the sacred and profane concepts experienced by Christians in Indonesia, namely [1] there is tension between religious authorities and the media, [2] the concepts of space, time, myth, and the digitally sacralization of nature. sacred (eg online worship) is becoming a new norm, and [3] sacred and profane are always in tension and allow individuals to accept and experience hierophany anytime and anywhere. All three have changed the relationship between individuals as homo religiosus and religious organizations to be more open. Sacrality in religion is no longer fully controlled by religious organizations. Thus, every individual as a homo religiosus experiences hierophany (a manifestation of the sacred into the profane world) based on their connectivity on the internet and consumption of religious content on social media, no longer in and through religious organizations such as churches, Homo religiosus is also able to compromise its position and build its own meaning of religion and media in cyberspace.

Kata Kunci : Homo Religiosus, Sakral dan profan, Agama digital, Cyberspace, Ibadah Online.