On freedom of worship<\/p>\n
\"All religions must be tolerated,\" the eminent 18th-century
\nPrussian monarch Frederick the Great is said to have once
\ninstructed his religious department officials. \"Every man must go
\nto heaven in his own way.\"<\/p>\n
In present-day Indonesia, such an open plea for religious
\nfreedom might be considered by many to be rather revolutionary,
\neven in this era of democratic reform. But uncustomary as such a
\nstatement may be here, it is probably not far from the truth to
\nsay there are millions of Indonesians who deep in their hearts
\nagree with Frederick the Great -- and thus also with President
\nAbdurrahman Wahid, who in his usual casual style told a gathering
\nof more than a thousand adherents of Confucianism in Surabaya on
\nSunday that \"religion lives in the hearts of people and needs no
\nrecognition from the government\".<\/p>\n
Perhaps even more heretical to many Indonesians was
\nAbdurrahman's remark, made in Jakarta some time ago, that were it
\nnot for the sake of tradition, the Ministry of Religious Affairs
\ncould be abolished, together with the ministries of information
\nand social services. Which only goes to prove that some truths in
\nthis country can only be uttered by Abdurrahman.<\/p>\n
Currently, out of whatever vague considerations, the
\ngovernment recognizes only five religions: Islam, Protestantism,
\nCatholicism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Oddly, the government
\nconcedes the existence of creeds known as kepercayaan -- mostly
\nreligious-spiritualist denominations which particularly flourish
\non Java -- even though it does not officially recognize them.<\/p>\n
Even more bizarre is the government's policy of categorizing
\nadherents of beliefs which are not officially recognized in one
\nof the five official religions. Thus, natives of Mount Tengger in
\nEast Java, with their worship of the god and goddess of the
\nmountain and their total ignorance about the deities of the Hindu
\npantheon, are officially registered as Hindus. The millions of
\nadherents of Confucianism, who are mostly Chinese-Indonesians,
\nare categorized as Buddhists. Obviously, this policy negates the
\nexistence and birthright of indigenous beliefs and significantly
\ndistorts religious statistics in the country.<\/p>\n
At least in part to undo this clutter -- and injustice --
\nPresident Abdurrahman has of late been pushing to have
\nConfucianism officially recognized by the government. Not the
\nleast important reason for this is that Confucianism is adhered
\nto by millions of Chinese-Indonesians, who form an economically
\nvital group in the country.<\/p>\n
Equal note also deserves to be given to the President's
\nremarks made in Jakarta last week. The government, he said, was
\nwrong in acknowledging only a handful of religions, and it was
\nnot the government's concern to judge if a teaching was a
\nreligion or not. \"There is a question whether Confucianism is a
\nreligion or a philosophy. For me, a religion is a religion when
\nits followers believe in its truth. Even without the government's
\nacknowledgement the religion still exists,\" the President said.<\/p>\n
Religion has long been a sensitive issue in Indonesia. The
\nConstitution merely stipulates belief in one God as one of the
\nfoundations of the Indonesian state. It also guarantees freedom
\nof worship. Apparently, however, a few details must be worked out
\nand updated.<\/p>\n
In this arena where few Indonesians dare to tread, President
\nAbdurrahman has become the first to put his finger on a flaw that
\nbegs to be corrected. In this respect, at least, the nation is
\nfortunate to have Abdurrahman as President in this time of
\ndemocratic transition. Some things, apparently, can only be said
\nby him and no one else.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/on-freedom-of-worship-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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