Religious organizations divided over bill on religious harmony
Religious organizations divided over bill on religious harmony
JAKARTA (JP): Religious organizations are divided over the
need for a bill on "religious harmony". Some fear it could be
used as an instrument to inhibit the preaching of religion and
conversing of peoples of other faiths.
The divergent views came to the fore as representatives from
the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), the Indonesian Communion of
Churches (PGI) and the Bishops' Conference of Indonesia (KWI)
rejected the bill while the Representation of Indonesian Buddhist
Community (Walubi) and the Indonesian Central Council for Dharma
Hinduism (PHDI) sat down to discuss the possibility of such a
bill at the House of Representatives.
During the hearing with the House's Commission VI for
education, religious affairs, sports, research and technology,
only MUI openly loaned its full support to the bill.
PGI Chairman Sularso Sopater was adamant that such a bill
would violate the Declaration on Human Rights on freedom to
practice religion.
"People are not ready for it," Sularso asserted.
He contended that freedom of religion includes the liberty to
spread religions as far as it was not done forcibly.
Sularso suspected that the bill would only strengthen a 1969
joint decision between the Religious Affairs Ministry and Home
Ministry which forbids spreading and preaching religion to people
of a different faith.
The decision also states that the construction of houses of
worship requires the permission of local residents.
PGI and KWI have been at the forefront of calls to revoke the
decision which, as it stands, has no legal sanctions.
Due to the spate of religious conflicts, legislators have been
toying with the idea of introducing a bill to help foster
religious harmony through, among others, regulating the preaching
of religion and the use of religious symbols.
KWI's executive secretary M.J. Notoseputro said the bill was
only a guise for the state to meddle in religious affairs.
"There is no country that regulates religions. It's a personal
matter and related to human rights," Notoseputro argued.
He contended that it was not the role of the government but of
religious institutions such as MUI, PGI and KWI which need to be
enhanced.
Notoseputro then cited President Abdurrahman Wahid who earlier
asserted that the state should not meddle in religious affairs
and leave it to the general public.
Sularso also pointed out that it was a misperception that
clashes in places like Maluku resulted from religious rivalry.
He said that the conflict erupted into religious strife only
after being triggered by certain political elites exploiting
religion.
However, a chairman of MUI Muardi Chatib said such a bill was
needed, because religious discord was a fact of everyday life and
that a bill was needed to instill a code of ethics among the
faithful.
"We need a law which can instill harmony between religions. It
is so evident that we are not living in harmony," Chatib
insisted.
Legislator Muchtar Adam from the Reform faction also said such
a bill was necessary to avoid further religious misunderstandings
and clashes.
Muchtar, who owns an Islamic boarding school in Bandung, West
Java, recounted during the hearing that his students were
compelled to beat Christian missionaries who adamantly attempted
to preach their faith at the boarding school despite being told
several times that they were not welcome there.
Muchtar said he had politely warned them several times that
they were forbidden to preach there but the warnings were not
heeded and thus his students resorted to force to eject them out
of the premises.
Sularso conceded that there were certain Christians sects that
practiced such undesirable methods.
"I myself have a headache about this. The sects come from the
United States," he said.
Another MUI executive, Husen Umar, highlighted the importance
of the bill to enforce the ethical use of cultural symbols in
religious preaching.
Husen questioned the use of Betawi (Jakarta native) symbols,
which he claimed is associated with Islam, during a televised
Christmas program last year.
"Dozens of Betawi organizations protested the use of the
symbols, such as Koko shirts and headscarves. It hurts them," he
said.
PHDI Secretary General Ida Bagus Gunadha, while not taking an
outright position supporting or rejecting the bill, also lamented
the use of a symbols associated with one religion by other
faiths.
"Many churches in Bali are built and designed like Hindu
temples," Gunadha told The Jakarta Post after the hearing.
He suggested more dialogs be held before the House endorses
the plan to introduce the bill.
However, after the hearing, Commission VI deputy chairperson
Chodidjah Saleh indicated that legislators would likely go ahead
and propose the bill despite reservations from certain religious
groups.
"It looks like legislators have agreed to introduce the bill,"
the United Development Party legislator told journalists. (jun)