Flaws in understanding role of religion in Pancasila?<\/p>\n
By J. Soedjati Djiwandono<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Recent events show certain fundamental flaws in
\nunderstanding religion as related to Pancasila. Unless corrected
\nonce and for all, these flaws may seriously alter the future of
\nthe nation.<\/p>\n
One flaw concerns the position of religion in the Pancasila
\nstate. Many people tend to be ambivalent as to whether Indonesia
\nis a secular or a religious state. The most common answer is that
\nit is neither. It seems typically Indonesian to come up with a
\n\"neither this nor that\" answer to questions of definition or
\nconceptualization. This, I think, is a characteristic that Dr.
\nWilliam Liddle has aptly called \"inbetweenness and
\nincompleteness\".<\/p>\n
It is a well accepted and established in the Pancasila state,
\nas clearly stipulated in the Constitution, that every citizen has
\nthe right to religious freedom. Yet there seems to be an
\nunwritten law that every citizen must profess a religion. This
\nconviction must be seriously challenged. The Marriage Law orders,
\nfor example, that one must marry in accordance with one's
\nreligion. This implies that one without a religion cannot get
\nmarried in this country. Worse still, one must profess only one
\nof the five officially recognized religions.<\/p>\n
Religious freedom surely implies the right to choose, not only
\nwhich religion one wishes to have but also to change religions at
\nany time and for any reason whatsoever. Whether or not one really
\nbelieves in what one claims to believe, heaven knows. Besides,
\nwho cares? One is free to believe or not to believe anything,
\ninsofar as one does not encroach on the rights of other people or
\ndisturb public order; for which the institution of state has been
\ndesigned and created.<\/p>\n
Equally important is that religious freedom also entails the
\nright to choose whether or not one wishes to embrace a religion
\nat all. To enforce religious adherence is to cultivate hypocrisy.
\nIn fact, to enforce religion is as morally wrong as to ban it.
\nThey are two sides of the same coin.<\/p>\n
Religion does not require official recognition by the state.
\nIf the state has the right to recognize a religion, it also has
\nthe right to ban it. This is simple logic. Human rights are God-
\ngiven, no power on earth can deprive anyone of those rights.<\/p>\n
Moreover, what is the basis for recognition? If it is based on
\nthe first principle of Pancasila, why then is the Judaism, the
\noldest monotheist religion, not recognized?<\/p>\n
The state has no right, competence, power or obligation to
\ngrant official recognition to any religion. Nor does the state
\nhave the right to determine whether or not a form of worship is a
\nreligion. By the same token, the state, or any institution for
\nthat matter, cannot arrogate the right to judge if any religious
\nmovement deviates from the mainstream. It would be pretentious to
\nclaim a monopoly over divine Truth. If the state intervenes at
\nall, it must be based on evidence of criminal acts, not because
\nof what it regards as \"religious deviations\".<\/p>\n
Another fundamental flaw concerns Pancasila as an open
\nideology. Contrasted with closed ideologies like Communism or
\nNazism, Pancasila has no direct operational value by which to
\njudge a person's behavior. Any form of indoctrination, which
\ncharacterizes a closed ideology, is therefore irrelevant.<\/p>\n
Pancasila is the source of state laws. It has been called the
\n\"source of all sources.\" Thus, Pancasila is to be implemented
\nthrough the enactment and enforcement of laws. Therefore, unless
\na person is proved guilty of violating any law of the state, they
\ndo not violate Pancasila.<\/p>\n
One serious problem is that there is no judicial review system
\nto judge whether or not a law is correctly based on Pancasila or
\nthe 1945 Constitution that embodies it. If it is not, the law
\nmust be declared unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
The writer is a member of board of directors at the Centre for
\nStrategic and International Studies.<\/p>",
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