Students want more freedom to talk ideology<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Student leaders and young intellectuals from
\nvarious religious organizations have demanded more freedom to
\ndiscuss the state ideology.<\/p>\n
\"We need a wider public sphere to discuss ideology,\" said
\nAbdul Mun'im DZ of FKGMNU, a youth organization under the
\nNahdlatul Ulama, a powerful Moslem organization.<\/p>\n
An ideology \"should be very open ... allowing discussion on
\nsocial transformation,\" Mun'im said at a seminar entitled \"The
\nFuture Trend of Ideology: Between Secularism and Fundamentalism\"
\non Saturday.<\/p>\n
So far, he said \"only the BP7 has the right to interpret
\nPancasila,\" referring to the government agency which runs courses
\non Pancasila, the state ideology.<\/p>\n
Mun'im, who is also an editor at the Institute for Social and
\nEconomic Research and Education, was responding to calls from
\nparticipants for more discussion between adherents of different
\nfaiths.<\/p>\n
It was difficult to exchange ideas on social transformation
\nwhile people feared holding open discussions on Pancasila, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
More intensive discussion was needed to develop a more
\n\"familiar, humane\" impression of ideology, he added.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto said in a speech last week that Pancasila
\nhad been fully accepted by the people of Indonesia as the state
\nideology and that questions about its relevance were no longer
\nheard of nowadays.<\/p>\n
Firman Daeli of the Indonesian Christian Student Movement
\n(GMKI) said, however, that the present political climate
\npartially explained the absence of questioning.<\/p>\n
\"Every effort at greater political participation, cultural
\ncreativity and intellectual debate on Pancasila ... is regarded
\nas being connected with leftist ideologies,\" said Daeli, one of
\nthe seminar's moderators.<\/p>\n
The seminar, he said, aimed to find \"an orientation of
\nhumanity and nationalism\" from the perspectives of various
\nreligions.<\/p>\n
Wulandari Supardan of the Indonesian Council of Churches said
\nthe seminar reflected \"the yearning of the Church to implement
\nthe theme of realizing a pluralistic society in the
\nimplementation of Pancasila.\"<\/p>\n
Another member of the organizing committee said discussion was
\nneeded to evaluate the government's stance that Indonesia was
\nneither a secular state nor a state based on a certain religion.<\/p>\n
Sulaiman Manguling, invited to represent the Protestant
\nperspective, said that Pancasila was \"a very ideal ideology, with
\nits inclusive and non-discriminative character.\"<\/p>\n
However, he said that \"people have waited a very long time for
\nthe values to materialize,\" leading to the need of more
\ndiscussion.<\/p>\n
Participants also raised fears about \"narrow religious
\nperspectives,\" although Mun'im said Indonesia lacked fertile
\nground for extreme religious fundamentalism.<\/p>\n
The speakers, including E.A. Embu Henriquez of the Atmajaya
\nEthics Institute, who presented the Catholic perspective,
\nreviewed the evolution of fundamentalism and secularism.<\/p>\n
They stressed the need for the religion and science to be
\njoined to achieve both faith and rationality.<\/p>\n
Mun'im said that currently there was a \"lack of depth\" in
\nunderstanding religion, leading to both secularism and
\nfundamentalism.<\/p>\n
\"Without spirituality, religion has lost its morality in its
\nresponsibility towards society and humanity,\" Mun'im said.<\/p>\n
He said that science and ideologies had also \"lost orientation
\nbecause of their removal from their philosophical roots.\"<\/p>\n
While science was now in the hands of technicians, he said,
\nideology was a \"closed matter\" and \"in the hands of politicians.\"
\n(anr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/students-want-more-freedom-to-talk-ideology-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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