U.S., Indonesia and religious tolerance<\/p>\n
Muhamad Ali, Manoa, Hawaii<\/p>\n
Christmas is coming soon; Christmas trees with all their
\ntrimmings and lights have been placed in offices, shopping
\ncenters, streets, and campuses. For many Americans, Christmas
\nappears to be secularized, but for others, it is still a deeply
\nreligious celebration. While the nature of the state is
\nadmittedly secular, the American identity remains overwhelmingly
\nreligious.<\/p>\n
Like America, Indonesia is overwhelmingly religious, although
\nthe nature of the state is not admittedly secular. Both America
\nand Indonesia guarantee freedom of religion, and therefore the
\nchallenge is quite the same: How to uphold religious tolerance?<\/p>\n
For many, \"the American Creed\" was initially religious. Within
\nthe new, radically different global context many Americans have
\nturned to religion. Historically, religion has become a crucial
\nelement of American national identity. Christianity, especially
\nProtestantism, has become the vital element of the American
\nCreed. As Samuel Huntington has eloquently argued in his Who Are
\nWe? The Challenges to America\"s National Identity (2004),
\nAmerican identity was and still is predominantly Anglo-
\nProtestant, despite some internal and external challenges.<\/p>\n
Arthur Schlesinger, as Huntington quotes, maintained that the
\nlanguage, law, institutions, political ideas, literature,
\ncustoms, precepts, and prayers were primarily derived from
\nBritain. Britain was historically Protestant, in opposition to
\nthe Catholic French during the 17th to the early 19th century,
\ndespite the current secularizing trends. But America is still
\npredominantly Protestant.<\/p>\n
Huntington quotes Gunnar Myrdal (the American Dilemma, 1944),
\nwho argued that Americans had something in common: A social ethos
\nand a political creed. Myrdal wrote about the dignity of the
\nindividual human being, equality of all men, freedom, justice and
\nfair opportunity. Alexis Tocqueville found that American people
\nagreed on \"liberty and equality, the liberty of the press, the
\nright of association, the jury, and the responsibility of the
\nagents of government.\" More recently, Daniel Bell described
\nindividualism, achievement and equality of opportunity as
\nAmerican values.<\/p>\n
Huntington concurred: \"the Protestant emphasis on the
\nindividual conscience and the responsibility of individuals to
\nlearn God's truths directly from the Bible promoted American
\ncommitment to individualism, equality, and the right to freedom
\nof religion and opinion...it also promoted moralistic efforts to
\nreform society and to secure peace and justice at home and
\nthroughout the world.\"<\/p>\n
It should be added that the 2000 and 2004 elections have been
\npartly religious as well. Religious factors -- clothed in moral
\nissues such as abortion, gay marriage, and the emphasis on
\n\"family values\" -- has helped the victory of George W. Bush. Many
\nreligious figures have attempted to shape the path toward which
\nnational and state politics should be directed.<\/p>\n
In the economic field, \"it was Anglo-Saxon Protestants who
\ncreated the gospel of wealth and the ideal of success,\" Robert
\nBellah maintained.<\/p>\n
As Huntington pointed out, the words \"separation of church and
\nstate\" are not found in the Constitution, although the line
\nbetween the two has been drawn to ensure religious freedom. But,
\ninterestingly in America the prohibition of an established
\nnational religion promoted the growth of religion in society.<\/p>\n
About 90 percent of the Americans believe in God. Some 60
\npercent of Americans claimed membership in a church. Voluntary
\nreligious organizations have played a crucial role in deepening
\ncivic, economic and national values.<\/p>\n
Minorities, including the significant Catholics, have been
\nassimilated into the dominant Protestant culture. Catholics are
\nproud of their American identity too. \"Americanization\",
\nHuntington believes, has been largely successful. The Protestant
\ncharacter of America remained unshaken. The bulk of Americans are
\nstill Christians.<\/p>\n
The emergence of different religious communities is one of the
\nbig challenges that American identity has to face and has not
\nbeen resolved. Both the Protestants and the minorities have to
\nredefine their identities. Multiculturalism reflects such a
\nchallenge.<\/p>\n
Muslims in America for example love the American
\nconstitutional guarantee of religious freedom, despite the fact
\nthat it has never been of perfect equality. For example,
\nChristmas is still the most popular and most celebrated holiday,
\nwhile the Jewish Hanukah and Islamic Idul Fitri, for example,
\nrepresent only a peripheral phenomena.<\/p>\n
Americans have generally attempted to tolerate and accommodate
\nthe practices of non-Christian groups.<\/p>\n
If American history is unique, so are the histories of other
\ncountries, including Indonesia. Indonesia was once animist, then
\npredominantly Hindu-Buddhist for centuries, and has now become
\npredominantly Muslim. But Indonesian religious history is quite
\nsimilar to the American religious history that Huntington has
\nspoken of. In Indonesia, it is Pancasila (the five pillars
\nconsisting of belief in God, civilized humanism, national unity,
\nrepresentative democracy and social justice) that has become the
\nIndonesian creed. The Indonesian creed is also largely religious
\nas reflected in the belief in God, albeit interpreted
\ndifferently.<\/p>\n
Like America, Indonesia guarantees freedom of religion,
\nalthough for many non Muslims it is more difficult now to believe
\nthat the principles are truly implemented as they perceive more
\nintolerance now in daily government policies and practices.<\/p>\n
Some scholars have recently suggested that America has
\nincreasingly become pluralistic with the coming of Jews, Muslims,
\nSikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, and others, and therefore has
\nchallenged the Protestant American identity. Trans-national,
\ndiasporic, and ethnic identities have also challenged the
\nsalience of the American identity.<\/p>\n
Indonesians have had a tradition of civil society and strong
\ntolerance has been displayed by the country's two biggest Muslim
\norganizations, Nahdlatul Ulama and the Muhammadiyah. But the
\nchallenge of religious tolerance is still so pressing to the new
\ngovernment and the already existing civil society. The meaning
\nand application of religious tolerance is still far from being
\nrevolved. New generations of Indonesians should redefine what
\nreligious tolerance implies and how it should be applied in
\ndifferent and changing contexts.<\/p>\n
The writer is a lecturer at the Hidayatullah State Islamic
\nUniversity (UIN); he is pursuing his Ph.D in History at the
\nUniversity of Hawaii on Manoa and is a fellow at the East-West
\nCenter. He can be reached at muhali74@hotmail.com<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/us-indonesia-and-religious-tolerance-1447893297",
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