van der Kroef, Justus M. 1961. "New Religious Sects in Java". Far Eastern Survey. 30 (2): 18-25.
Early in 1952 the Indonesian government's Bureau of Religious Affairs in West Java announced the appearance of 29 new religious sects in the area since the country formally became independent in 1949. In the middle of 1956 the Religious Affairs Bureau in Jogjakarta, Central Java, announced that there were 63 religious sects on the island of Java, other than adherents of Islam, Roman Catholicism and various Protestant denominations; of these 35 were in Central Java, 22 in West Java, and 6 in East Java. By the middle of 1960, when the Indonesian government had already expressed its official alarm over the proliferation of religious sects, Deputy Attorney General Kadarusman declared that there were hundreds of such sects throughout Indonesia, while at about the same time a spokesman for the Religious Affairs Bureau of East Java stated that there were, up to the end of 1959 some 100 sects in East Java province alone. The total membership of these sects is difficult to determine since their organizational structure is so very unstable and many of their adherents continue to identify themselves with one of the principal religions, such as Islam, but a quarter of a million is probably a conservative estimate. Spokesmen for the various sects have tended to exaggerate the number of followers. One provincial leader of the Pangestu movement is reported to have claimed more than 10,000 members throughout Java late in 1958. In contrast it is known that such comparatively fleeting sects as the Agama Pantjasila in West Java rarely had more than two to three hundred disciples.
Whatever the size of their following, the rapid spread of the sects themselves is one of the most important phenomena in Javanese society today. The following analysis will focus first on the leadership structure of Javanese religious life, because only in terms of this structure can the dynamics of sect formation today be understood. Secondly, a brief content analysis of the sects will be attempted. Thirdly, the organizational structure will be sketched, and finally a word will be said about some of the contemporary processes which have encouraged sect proliferation, in the light of the present policy of the Indonesian government toward the sects.
Early in 1952 the Indonesian government's Bureau of Religious Affairs in West Java announced the appearance of 29 new religious sects in the area since the country formally became independent in 1949. In the middle of 1956 the Religious Affairs Bureau in Jogjakarta, Central Java, announced that there were 63 religious sects on the island of Java, other than adherents of Islam, Roman Catholicism and various Protestant denominations; of these 35 were in Central Java, 22 in West Java, and 6 in East Java. By the middle of 1960, when the Indonesian government had already expressed its official alarm over the proliferation of religious sects, Deputy Attorney General Kadarusman declared that there were hundreds of such sects throughout Indonesia, while at about the same time a spokesman for the Religious Affairs Bureau of East Java stated that there were, up to the end of 1959 some 100 sects in East Java province alone. The total membership of these sects is difficult to determine since their organizational structure is so very unstable and many of their adherents continue to identify themselves with one of the principal religions, such as Islam, but a quarter of a million is probably a conservative estimate. Spokesmen for the various sects have tended to exaggerate the number of followers. One provincial leader of the Pangestu movement is reported to have claimed more than 10,000 members throughout Java late in 1958. In contrast it is known that such comparatively fleeting sects as the Agama Pantjasila in West Java rarely had more than two to three hundred disciples.
Whatever the size of their following, the rapid spread of the sects themselves is one of the most important phenomena in Javanese society today. The following analysis will focus first on the leadership structure of Javanese religious life, because only in terms of this structure can the dynamics of sect formation today be understood. Secondly, a brief content analysis of the sects will be attempted. Thirdly, the organizational structure will be sketched, and finally a word will be said about some of the contemporary processes which have encouraged sect proliferation, in the light of the present policy of the Indonesian government toward the sects.
