On freedom of worship

On freedom of worship

"All religions must be tolerated," the eminent 18th-century
Prussian monarch Frederick the Great is said to have once
instructed his religious department officials. "Every man must go
to heaven in his own way."

In present-day Indonesia, such an open plea for religious
freedom might be considered by many to be rather revolutionary,
even in this era of democratic reform. But uncustomary as such a
statement may be here, it is probably not far from the truth to
say there are millions of Indonesians who deep in their hearts
agree with Frederick the Great -- and thus also with President
Abdurrahman Wahid, who in his usual casual style told a gathering
of more than a thousand adherents of Confucianism in Surabaya on
Sunday that "religion lives in the hearts of people and needs no
recognition from the government".

Perhaps even more heretical to many Indonesians was
Abdurrahman's remark, made in Jakarta some time ago, that were it
not for the sake of tradition, the Ministry of Religious Affairs
could be abolished, together with the ministries of information
and social services. Which only goes to prove that some truths in
this country can only be uttered by Abdurrahman.

Currently, out of whatever vague considerations, the
government recognizes only five religions: Islam, Protestantism,
Catholicism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Oddly, the government
concedes the existence of creeds known as kepercayaan -- mostly
religious-spiritualist denominations which particularly flourish
on Java -- even though it does not officially recognize them.

Even more bizarre is the government's policy of categorizing
adherents of beliefs which are not officially recognized in one
of the five official religions. Thus, natives of Mount Tengger in
East Java, with their worship of the god and goddess of the
mountain and their total ignorance about the deities of the Hindu
pantheon, are officially registered as Hindus. The millions of
adherents of Confucianism, who are mostly Chinese-Indonesians,
are categorized as Buddhists. Obviously, this policy negates the
existence and birthright of indigenous beliefs and significantly
distorts religious statistics in the country.

At least in part to undo this clutter -- and injustice --
President Abdurrahman has of late been pushing to have
Confucianism officially recognized by the government. Not the
least important reason for this is that Confucianism is adhered
to by millions of Chinese-Indonesians, who form an economically
vital group in the country.

Equal note also deserves to be given to the President's
remarks made in Jakarta last week. The government, he said, was
wrong in acknowledging only a handful of religions, and it was
not the government's concern to judge if a teaching was a
religion or not. "There is a question whether Confucianism is a
religion or a philosophy. For me, a religion is a religion when
its followers believe in its truth. Even without the government's
acknowledgement the religion still exists," the President said.

Religion has long been a sensitive issue in Indonesia. The
Constitution merely stipulates belief in one God as one of the
foundations of the Indonesian state. It also guarantees freedom
of worship. Apparently, however, a few details must be worked out
and updated.

In this arena where few Indonesians dare to tread, President
Abdurrahman has become the first to put his finger on a flaw that
begs to be corrected. In this respect, at least, the nation is
fortunate to have Abdurrahman as President in this time of
democratic transition. Some things, apparently, can only be said
by him and no one else.