Getting around the inter-religious marriage law

Getting around the inter-religious marriage law

Dewi Santoso, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

"Imagine ... no religion ...", as John Lennon once put it, then
Agus would have had no barriers against marrying his beloved
girlfriend.

It was back in 1986 when Agus, a native of Magelang, Central
Java, had to convert to Islam as it was the only way he could
marry his lover and obtain legal status for their marriage.

Agus met his wife in his native village in 1983. He was a
Christian. A year later, they decided to try their luck in
Jakarta.

Once in Jakarta, Agus took a job as a cab driver and his
girlfriend began teaching at a public school. It was not until
two years later that they finally decided to marry.

But they were confused as they knew that inter-religious
marriage was forbidden by the state.

The Law No. 1/1974 on marriage, stipulates that the state will
only recognize marriages between people of the same religion.
This means a couple from different religious backgrounds must
choose which religious ritual they will follow in order to get
their marriage acknowledged by the state.

A number of celebrities and expatriates have had their inter-
religious marriage recognized by getting married in Singapore or
Australia, countries where the practice is legitimate.

Agus is not one of the well-off people, able to afford such a
trip.

"I didn't know anything about the law. All I knew was that I
couldn't get married legally if my wife and I didn't have the
same religion," Agus told The Jakarta Post.

He decided to convert to Islam in order to avoid all the
hassles and get married.

"I told my wife I would convert to Islam for practical
reasons. I am a Muslim on paper, but I'm a Christian at heart
because I still go to church every Sunday and follow all the
Christian principles," Agus told the Post.

As for his three children, the 41-year-old man said he gave
them the freedom to choose which religion they felt at peace
with. They chose Islam.

Like Agus, Budi experienced a similar situation. Only in his
case, his wife converted to Christianity.

"We are just common people with no money. We don't know
anything about law. We just wanted to get married as easily as
possible. And since I bought the house in my name as a Christian,
my wife decided to convert to Christianity," said the 32-year-old
trader.

However, he said, he let his wife, who hails from Jakarta,
practice her original religion.

"My wife converted for the sake of the legality of our
marriage. After that, she is free to practice her belief as a
Muslim," Budi, who is also a native Jakartan, said. His four
children, however, are Christians and go to Christian schools.

Novi experienced a slightly different story. She was allowed
to maintain her religion -- Protestant Christianity, when she
married her Catholic boyfriend.

"We moved from one church to another, to find out if they
would recognize our marriage," the 33-year-old housewife
recalled.

They finally found one, but with some conditions.

"There was a Catholic church willing to accept our inter-
religious marriage on the condition that all our children be
baptized into Catholicism," said Novi.

Activists have long demanded that the government lift the ban
against inter-religious marriage, on grounds that it violated the
freedom of religion and belief.

In the case of Budi and Agus, religion has been reduced to a
mere tool to obtain legal status.

As Novi put it, "different religions should not matter. To me,
everybody has the right to practice their own belief. After all,
we worship the same God."