Treating mystic believers

Treating mystic believers

The People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) recently held
discussions concerning a topic uncommon in any other country:
old-style traditional mystic beliefs, or non-denominational
faiths as they are called here.

The debate was provoked by the United Development Party's
demand that the country's mystical movements, which are popular
mainly in Central Java, not be officially given a similar status
as that of the five recognized religions. It was a call to
reverse a decree which the country's highest lawmaking body
passed 19 years ago.

The dominant Golkar faction, supported by all other factions,
rejected the proposal stating that it wanted to retain the status
of this element of the old Javanese way of life because "religion
is closely related to culture".

To the United Development Party (PPP), this statement sounded
humorous because religion can be closely related to many things.
The Moslem-based party maintained that there must be a clear
separation between religion and local mystic beliefs, otherwise
it could lead to Syirk (idolatry or polytheism -- the two most
serious sins in Islam).

The controversy reminds us of the ferocious debate in the same
state body 19 years ago when Golkar passed an MPR decree in an
effort to give mystic believers legal protection under the state.

That debate saw the PPP faction, which was fighting alone but
with many supporters from Moslem organizations outside the MPR,
walk out of the meeting in protest.

The controversial MPR decision was soon followed by special
treatment for mystic believers. A special directorate was
established at the Ministry of Education and Culture to nurture
mystic beliefs. A special hall was designated for mysticism along
the row of houses of worship of all the recognized religions at
the prestigious Taman Mini Indonesia Indah in East Jakarta. And
mystics were invited to run a special forum broadcasted on the
state-owned TV station just like religious bodies.

What has been neglected during the last 20 years is the effort
to persuade mystic believers to return to mainstream religions,
just as President Soeharto called for not long after the decree
was passed.

Mystic believers, who are grouped in 245 societies called
Aliran Kepercayaan (which literally means "streams of belief"),
are quite varied in their denominations -- from Sufism to quasi-
religious organizations to fortune tellers.

The fact that many of them base their beliefs on the old way
of life has made their movements look like a reaction against the
modernization of society, which many believe could crush old sets
of values.

The pursuit of a mystical way of life does not uniquely belong
to the Javanese or to people in other Moslem countries. It is
also a trend in the West. Many westerners have flown as far as
the Himalayas to find peace through mysticism.

However, the recent debate on this issue did not look so
clear-cut as Golkar's points were also defended by noted Moslem
scholars, whose recruitment has marked a drastic shift in
government policy since the birth of the Moslem Intellectuals
Association (ICMI) in 1990. The problem has deeply concerned
Moslem scholars and organizations because a government survey has
found that 99 percent of mystic believers are Moslem.

The result was that the PPP did not fight Golkar's position at
all costs, especially after Golkar agreed to insert a special
article into the old decree stressing that, in the treatment of
mystic believers, all efforts should be made to guide them toward
one of the five official religions.

Mystic believers are members of our society who deserve
recognition and relevant treatment by the MPR. The revamped
decree, which stipulates that they should return to one of the
recognized religions, puts a great responsibility on the
government -- a responsibility they should not neglect, as has
happened over the past 20 years.

After the revision is passed in March, the government should
sponsor a bill in the House of Representatives which addresses
ways to call on mystic believers to return to a recognized
religion. Following the passing of such a bill, a special body
should be set up for its implementation, perhaps under the
auspices of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (instead of the
Ministry of Education and Culture which currently deals with the
issue), to make the MPR decree work.