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.