Written by Jekonia Tarigan

In the discourse on indigenous religions in Indonesia, two issues that are often discussed are recognition and the wealth of wisdom and culture held by these indigenous religious groups. Meanwhile, the role of adherents of indigenous religion in various aspects of state life seems to be forgotten. Yet, these groups played an important role in the independence struggle and the strengthening of national values. This was the focus of an online forum held on Thursday, 11 August 2022 and organized by the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS), and the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan).

On this occasion, the first speaker was Ratna Gumilang Dumiasih who represented the Sunda Wiwitan group, from West Java. In his presentation, Dumiasih referred to the story of the physical struggle of a Sundanese ancestral religious figure in fighting for Indonesian independence, namely Prince Madrais. Dumiasih explained that in 1869 Prince Madrais was involved in the rebellion against the Dutch in Tambun, Bekasi, West Java. He is called Rama Prince Alibassa of Cirebon. At that time, Prince Madrais came from Cirebon and stated that the land between the Citarum River and the Cisadane River was inherited from his ancestors. According to Prince Djatikusumah’s narrative, after carrying out physical resistance against the Dutch, Prince Madrais contemplated and gained enlightenment at Kramat Cendana. From this enlightenment, Prince Madrais understood that if efforts to uphold the truth and fight for independence were carried out with physical and violent movements or resistance, there would always be new violent movements, so there would never be peace. Therefore, since receiving this enlightenment, the strategy of the struggle against the Dutch colonial government turned into a cultural and spiritual movement, and from that moment on he began to write guidelines derived from the enlightenment he received.

In one of Prince Madrais’ manuscripts, written before his arrest and exile to Merauke, he teaches about how to arrange a house and make tiles. Economic independence in work and learning not to depend on others was a focus of Prince Madrais. Therefore, building houses with tile roofs has become increasingly common and has become a source of income for some people. In addition to economic independence, Prince Madrais also suggests learning to manage the mind by reading the body so that humans know and realize the rules that God has set, that humans are created as nations with all the rules of their respective customs and cultures. He taught that Indonesians should not let the influence of outside cultures make them forget their own national consciousness.

Therefore, there are several values of state defense that are practiced by followers of the Sundanese ancestral religion: practicing Pancasila as the basis of the state, belief in the Almighty, upholding human dignity, maintaining harmony among human beings, maintaining unity regardless of differences, conducting deliberation with a noble conscience and prioritizing common interests, and being fair to everyone. Dumiasih also argues that the religious rules of the Sundanese ancestors are in line with the values of Pancasila. This can be seen in the obligations of the Sundanese religious institutions: first, being aware of themselves by knowing the physical body; second, protecting nature and not denying God’s decrees; third, adequate clothing and food and maintaining welfare; fourth, commands not to dispute with parents, siblings, or family; and fifth, the demand to live in harmony and respect with one another.

Meanwhile, Engkus Ruswana as head of Presidium 1 of the Central Deliberative Council (MLKI) highlighted that the existence of indigenous believers in Indonesia from Sabang to Merauke to this day is proof that these groups are elements of the nation capable of adapting to various challenges. According to Ruswana, historically, the Dutch colonialists tried to eliminate the identity of the indigenous religion community since 1898 by making a policy that the marriage of indigenous people who were nonCatholic and non-Christian had to be carried out in an Islamic manner. Furthermore, during the Old Order, there were no significant problems faced by indigenous religion communities in Indonesia, because their religious identity was respected and did not have to be included as identity markers that affected state recognition and treatment. The early New Order period also did not present problems for indigenous groups. Ruswana explained that in the 1973 State Policy Guidelines (GBHN), belief was recognized as equal to religion. In 1974 it was stated that the adherents had the right to marry in their respective faiths. Later, in 1978, there were lawsuits and claims that belief was not religion, so there was a conflict.

In fact, according to Ruswana, in the context of the struggle for independence, indigenous religious figures in Indonesia have made significant contributions, especially those who were nobility. Even indigenous religions can also survive because the palace circles preserved the values of indigenous religion. Ruswana even argues that during the colonial rule palace figures actually had the opportunity to study abroad. It was they who later became figures of the Indonesian independence movement such as Budi Utomo, of Youth Pledge and various other important momentums and organizations. Dr. KRT. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat, the head of the Indonesian Independence Preparatory Business Investigative Agency (BPUPKI), was a mystic and indigenous believer. Another indigenous believer who was an early national leader is Mr. Wongsonegoro who was Deputy Prime Minister of Indonesia in the Ali Sastroamidjojo I Cabinet from 1953 to 1955 and Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia from 1951 to 1952. Therefore, Ruswana appealed to the Indonesian people that the contribution of these indigenous religious figures should not be forgotten. Furthermore, Ruswana also urges all adherents of indigenous religions in Indonesia to continue to make positive contributions to the strengthening of national values in Indonesia.

In line with Ruswana’s statement, Dr. Widyo Nugrahanto, lecturer at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Padjadjaran University, said that indigenous religion groups in Indonesia are the most nationalist elements of society and have become the main source of Indonesian national values. Therefore, it is very ironic that their existence was not recognized in the Indonesian state, because they are the ancestors of the Indonesian nation, which existed before the major religions were present and developed in Indonesia. Furthermore, Colonel Chk (K) Widyastuti, representing the Legal Development Agency of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (Babinkum TNI), also gave a response to the lack of opportunities for adherents of indigenous religions, especially the youth to be involved in defending the country through service as Indonesian National Soldiers (TNI). According to Widyastuti, the military continues to strive to adapt to state policies in recognizing and providing fair treatment for adherents of indigenous religion in Indonesia. Widyastuti noted that the military has started accepting prospective soldiers from the indigenous religion community. However, according to him, there are still some adjustments that must be made, for example related to spiritual development for prospective soldiers who are adherents of indigenous religions. Clergy from the indigenous religion must also be prepared to swear an oath when they are inaugurated. Meanwhile, indigenous religions themselves are very diverse, so it takes time and is a lengthy process to comply with the regulations. However, Widaystuti guarantees that the military will continue to strive to provide equal opportunities for all children of the nation to join, including those from indigenous religions.

In the discourse on indigenous religions in Indonesia, two issues that are often discussed are recognition and the wealth of wisdom and culture held by these indigenous religious groups. Meanwhile, the role of adherents of indigenous religion in various aspects of state life seems to be forgotten. Yet, these groups played an important role in the independence struggle and the strengthening of national values. This was the focus of an online forum held on Thursday, 11 August 2022 and organized by the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS), and the National Commission on Violence Against Women (Komnas Perempuan).

On this occasion, the first speaker was Ratna Gumilang Dumiasih who represented the Sunda Wiwitan group, from West Java. In his presentation, Dumiasih referred to the story of the physical struggle of a Sundanese ancestral religious figure in fighting for Indonesian independence, namely Prince Madrais. Dumiasih explained that in 1869 Prince Madrais was involved in the rebellion against the Dutch in Tambun, Bekasi, West Java. He is called Rama Prince Alibassa of Cirebon. At that time, Prince Madrais came from Cirebon and stated that the land between the Citarum River and the Cisadane River was inherited from his ancestors. According to Prince Djatikusumah’s narrative, after carrying out physical resistance against the Dutch, Prince Madrais contemplated and gained enlightenment at Kramat Cendana. From this enlightenment, Prince Madrais understood that if efforts to uphold the truth and fight for independence were carried out with physical and violent movements or resistance, there would always be new violent movements, so there would never be peace. Therefore, since receiving this enlightenment, the strategy of the struggle against the Dutch colonial government turned into a cultural and spiritual movement, and from that moment on he began to write guidelines derived from the enlightenment he received.

In one of Prince Madrais’ manuscripts, written before his arrest and exile to Merauke, he teaches about how to arrange a house and make tiles. Economic independence in work and learning not to depend on others was a focus of Prince Madrais. Therefore, building houses with tile roofs has become increasingly common and has become a source of income for some people. In addition to economic independence, Prince Madrais also suggests learning to manage the mind by reading the body so that humans know and realize the rules that God has set, that humans are created as nations with all the rules of their respective customs and cultures. He taught that Indonesians should not let the influence of outside cultures make them forget their own national consciousness.

Therefore, there are several values of state defense that are practiced by followers of the Sundanese ancestral religion: practicing Pancasila as the basis of the state, belief in the Almighty, upholding human dignity, maintaining harmony among human beings, maintaining unity regardless of differences, conducting deliberation with a noble conscience and prioritizing common interests, and being fair to everyone. Dumiasih also argues that the religious rules of the Sundanese ancestors are in line with the values of Pancasila. This can be seen in the obligations of the Sundanese religious institutions: first, being aware of themselves by knowing the physical body; second, protecting nature and not denying God’s decrees; third, adequate clothing and food and maintaining welfare; fourth, commands not to dispute with parents, siblings, or family; and fifth, the demand to live in harmony and respect with one another.

Meanwhile, Engkus Ruswana as head of Presidium 1 of the Central Deliberative Council (MLKI) highlighted that the existence of indigenous believers in Indonesia from Sabang to Merauke to this day is proof that these groups are elements of the nation capable of adapting to various challenges. According to Ruswana, historically, the Dutch colonialists tried to eliminate the identity of the indigenous religion community since 1898 by making a policy that the marriage of indigenous people who were nonCatholic and non-Christian had to be carried out in an Islamic manner. Furthermore, during the Old Order, there were no significant problems faced by indigenous religion communities in Indonesia, because their religious identity was respected and did not have to be included as identity markers that affected state recognition and treatment. The early New Order period also did not present problems for indigenous groups. Ruswana explained that in the 1973 State Policy Guidelines (GBHN), belief was recognized as equal to religion. In 1974 it was stated that the adherents had the right to marry in their respective faiths. Later, in 1978, there were lawsuits and claims that belief was not religion, so there was a conflict.

In fact, according to Ruswana, in the context of the struggle for independence, indigenous religious figures in Indonesia have made significant contributions, especially those who were nobility. Even indigenous religions can also survive because the palace circles preserved the values of indigenous religion. Ruswana even argues that during the colonial rule palace figures actually had the opportunity to study abroad. It was they who later became figures of the Indonesian independence movement such as Budi Utomo, of Youth Pledge and various other important momentums and organizations. Dr. KRT. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat, the head of the Indonesian Independence Preparatory Business Investigative Agency (BPUPKI), was a mystic and indigenous believer. Another indigenous believer who was an early national leader is Mr. Wongsonegoro who was Deputy Prime Minister of Indonesia in the Ali Sastroamidjojo I Cabinet from 1953 to 1955 and Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia from 1951 to 1952. Therefore, Ruswana appealed to the Indonesian people that the contribution of these indigenous religious figures should not be forgotten. Furthermore, Ruswana also urges all adherents of indigenous religions in Indonesia to continue to make positive contributions to the strengthening of national values in Indonesia.

In line with Ruswana’s statement, Dr. Widyo Nugrahanto, lecturer at the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Padjadjaran University, said that indigenous religion groups in Indonesia are the most nationalist elements of society and have become the main source of Indonesian national values. Therefore, it is very ironic that their existence was not recognized in the Indonesian state, because they are the ancestors of the Indonesian nation, which existed before the major religions were present and developed in Indonesia. Furthermore, Colonel Chk (K) Widyastuti, representing the Legal Development Agency of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (Babinkum TNI), also gave a response to the lack of opportunities for adherents of indigenous religions, especially the youth to be involved in defending the country through service as Indonesian National Soldiers (TNI). According to Widyastuti, the military continues to strive to adapt to state policies in recognizing and providing fair treatment for adherents of indigenous religion in Indonesia. Widyastuti noted that the military has started accepting prospective soldiers from the indigenous religion community. However, according to him, there are still some adjustments that must be made, for example related to spiritual development for prospective soldiers who are adherents of indigenous religions. Clergy from the indigenous religion must also be prepared to swear an oath when they are inaugurated. Meanwhile, indigenous religions themselves are very diverse, so it takes time and is a lengthy process to comply with the regulations. However, Widaystuti guarantees that the military will continue to strive to provide equal opportunities for all children of the nation to join, including those from indigenous religions.

Recorded discussion: http://Recorded discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBwmJWJjidc

Written by Maurisa Zinira

The development of Islam in Indonesia shows various trends over time. These changes are  influenced, among other things, by the encounter of religion with politics and the market. Though Islam was marginalized from the economic and political sphere in the 1980s, it showed a radical turn in the 1990s, in which it began to shift the market and even redirected Indonesian politics towards political Islam. This change cannot be separated from the economic liberalization in Southeast Asia that usurped the hegemony of the New Order. Through the commercialization of television media, the contestation of various Islamic discourses is hardened and perpetuated in various spiritually nuanced shows that became the entertainment commodity of the Indonesian Muslim community.

The development of Islam through television has attracted the attention of Inayah Rakhmani, who wrote Mainstreaming Islam in Indonesia: Television, Identity and Middle Class. At the 7th Reading in Social Science forum on July 29, 2022 entitled “Indonesian Islam: Television, Identity and Middle Class”, Rakhmani presented some of the findings of her book, accompanied by Hikmat Darmawan—vice chair of the Jakarta Arts Council—and Moch Fakhruroji –lecturer at UIN Sunan Gunung Jati— as discussants.

The Middle Class and Indonesian TV Industry

The middle class in Rakhmani’s book refers to a social class that benefited from the development-based social transformation of the New Order. This middle class grew rapidly in big cities in the early 1990s and is characterized by high consumption patterns, leisure, greater attention to education as the main mechanism for securing position and wealth, and strong desire for legal certainty and open access to information. Their purchasing power was arguably high enough to encourage the state and capital owners to co-opt their social power for political and market resilience.

The growth of the Islamic middle class coupled with this kind of industrial capitalism, according to Rakhmani, cannot be separated from the historical context of democratization and market-based economic growth. In Indonesia, this growth coincides with changes in the economic control of the state. Through a series of REPELITA (Five-Year Development Plans), the New Order government launched various programs that mainstreamed a state ideology oriented towards developmentalism and uniformity of thought through a unifying national identity. In this effort, the government controlled the national education and information industries, such as television, to strengthen their political hegemony. Religious shows are more likely to accommodate a modernized centralistic framework of thinking through the state paradigm. TVRI as a state television station, for example, continues to produce religious shows that focus on displaying religious and cultural diversity that were in line with the stability of the country.

However, with the economic liberalization that occurred in the early 1990s, the New Order government began to adjust to the free market. Through deregulation and de-bureaucratization, the government began to allow more foreign investment and the privatization of manufacturers and services. It was in these years that the Indonesian media also began to open to private competition which caused a change of ownership that further affected the content that was broadcasted. Although the New Order government still controlled the flow of information, especially through the national curriculum and media censorship, it is undeniable that the state’s dominance began to be rivaled by the strong middle-class power that formed the structure of consumerism captured by the market. The private media tried to accommodate this consumption need by creating new markets through imported programs.

Unfortunately, the media’s policy of importing programs from outside Indonesia was criticized by the Islamic middle class who preferred to consume locally broadcasted content. They wanted Islamic content in their daily consumption of TV products. Consequently, to minimize the risk of disappointment for this largest segment of the market, several TV stations began to provide more space for Islamic broadcasts. Even with low production costs, such as the Maghrib call to prayer and several programs that feature clerics to bridge the market and consumers, this strategy has proven to be able to increase the rating of their shows.

Islamic Shows and the Rise of Islamism

In the television industry, Islamic shows are made to manage business risks. Businesspeople are aware that Islamic packaging has a commercial value that is in demand from various social strata. It is often used by political elites who use the market to recruit constituents. According to Rakhmani, the middle class that consumes Islamic symbols through these shows tends to be conservative in values but liberal in market mindset. So it is not surprising that they want protection of the values they believe in the media they consume.

In line with that, the media tries to maintain their position by replicating programs with high ratings to minimize the risk of loss. As a result, the broadcast content tends to have uniformity and have a delivery standard. Thus, although Rakhmani said that television has become a kind of ‘dakwah supermarket’ where TV viewers can choose products based on their spiritual and pragmatic needs, available content tends to adopt the same production paradigm geared towards ratings. TV stations are not ready to face the risk of leaving the safe TV structure that has been formed. They prefer to elude broadcasting controversial issues that possibly make their middle-class Muslim viewers (as their loyal customers) uncomfortable to avoid declining broadcast ratings.

Undeniably, this mode of production and consumption in the television industry leads to urban religious trends that move around the market system. Moch Fakhruroji, as discussant in the forum, explained that television both structures and is structured by society and/or culture. He gave an example that in the 1990s, soap operas (sinetron) gave rise to a variety of hijab fashion with the hijab brand following the name of the main character, such as Hana’s hijab because the main character was named Hana. But television media is also structured by the culture. With people using television for entertainment and relaxation, program names also no longer seem formal. If the New Order state television produced religious programs with titles that clearly represented the content, such as “Mimbar Agama Islam”, now the program names are made to follow popular trends such as “Damai Indonesiaku” or “Mamah dan Aa”, not indicating a religious label. It is through these kinds of television programs that religious ideology is mainstreamed. Urban people looking for spectacle to just fill their leisure time often take the information they receive from figures on television seriously. The problem is that celebrity clerics are often considered less authoritative in Islamic scholarship.

Hikmat Darmawan—the deputy chairman of the Jakarta Arts Council who was present as a discussant—says that the mainstreaming Islam in the media has also changed the landscape of actual sites being filled with religious symbols. In office and business areas, for example, the need for religious spaces is increasing. This type of middle-class office demands the presence of religion in their actual lives in the work environment by inviting celebrity clerics who have tremendous influence on the congregation. Generally, according to Darmawan, they are invited with technical considerations due to popularity and availability. But, this type of ustadz who was born from the womb of the television industry is often considered less authoritative in conveying religious views because apart from their tendency to be self-taught, their logic of thinking also follows the logic of the market. Compared to religious figures who have studied at Islamic boarding schools for years, these ustadz are better known and have an image that fits the urban middle-class lifestyle. Rather than producing in-depth understandings of Islam, this kind of program continues the circle of commercialism which is increasingly making room for a stronger formation of Islamic commodity consumers to welcome the new market.

The ideology of Islamism is increasingly gaining space and providing a stronger structure not only for markets that monetize their piety, but also for political Islam that seeks opportunities from the social forces of the middle class. Rakhmani argues that the market mechanism is actually quite secular and does not move at all to represent a particular religion; however, it has a political impact on the religious model in the public sphere and affects the deliberation of democracy. The effect has been seen in the rise of identity politics in recent years. The understanding of Islam produced by celebrity clerics, commodified by the market, and exploited by political elites gave rise to an Islamic political explosion that fought Islam with national ideology.

Dealing with such an urban middle-class, who fill their leisure time with Islamic shows, are the nationalist groups who feel restless with the strengthening of religious conservatism in the national media. According to them, the recent strengthening of Islamism has created its own threat to plurality that must be responded to by prioritizing television shows that emphasize diversity.

Lastly, the three speakers agree that such an ideo-political debate in our mediascape is unavoidable. Especially with the growth of new media (social media platforms) that is more accessible to all levels of society, contestation and offers of new ideas are increasingly possible. Contestation is important to democracy. Meanwhile, censorship hinders its deliberation. Therefore, since market power that meet various political and religious interests will continue to find new contestation and socialization spaces for religious expressions, it is important to open access to public debate and engagement to expose plural discourses and ideologies for dialogue for a better democracy.

Theories of Religion & Society (Required, 4 Credits)
Dr. Dicky Sofjan & Dr. Paul Martens

This Graduate Seminar on “Theories of Religion and Society” discusses the study of religion as an interdisciplinary field. It serves as an introduction to classical and contemporary theories of religion and how it relates to society. It examines the works of influential past and present scholars about the nexus between religion and the many aspects of societal life. The Graduate Seminar is expected to stimulate critical thinking about the study of religion in the academic context and its influence on the wider context i.e. society, culture, politics, economics and international relations. Considering the vastness of the field now called “religious study”, this Graduate Seminar explores important facets of the academic study of religion and inter-religious studies. The course problematizes the categories of “religion” and “agama”. In addition, this doctoral seminar will examine the political construction of religion in terms of how political power defines religion and the academic construction of religion/agama in terms of how religion is “invented in the act of studying it. This will ultimately include its impact on public discourse and policy making. Other aspects of understanding religion will be discussed in relation to other concepts such as identity, gender, democracy, freedom, human rights, dignity, etc.

Approaches to Inter-Religious Studies (Elective, 3 Credits)
Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir & Dr. Robert Setio

The main objective of this course is to understand a variety of possibilities in studying religion, how it relates with other facets of life, and stimulate critical thinking about it. It starts with a  discussion of how religious studies partly grew from theology in Western and Indonesian  histories, how the two are distinguished, and ends with inter-religious studies. While (inter-)religious studies have grown fast in the past decade, with textbooks and  journals carrying the name started to appear, yet as an academic field of study, it still leaves open a wide space of diverse views in terms of their objects, scopes and methodologies. This course will help students understand the main debates around religious and inter-religious studies, identify the different approaches and use a particular approach suitable to his/her research interest.

Inter-Religious Hermeneutics (Elective, 3 Credits)
Dr. Daniel K. Listijabudi & Prof. amina wadud

In this course, students will learn to apply theories and methods of Hermeneutics to Islamic canonical sources including—but not limited to—the Qur’an, the Sacred Text, or Holy Scripture.  In particular, we will learn to unpack the rhetoric of hegemony through reading gender as a category of thought. Gender is a construct. It impacts our lives in ways we are often not aware of. In the case of canonical texts in Islam and Christianity, it is clear that they have been understood, interpreted, and put into application in accordance with patriarchal readings that have existed for millennia or two— without challenge. In modernity, believing communities began to make deeper reflections on how meaning is derived from texts. This has always been in a relationship with context. The cultures of patriarchy operated within a hidden hegemony which is now more evident than at any other time in human history. One of the tools for maintaining this hegemony was linguistic rhetoric. I call this the rhetoric of hegemony. We will examine how this is put into application through the Islamic sacred text, philosophy, and mysticism.
Information: icrs@ugm.ac.id, +62 81226027678
Registration: http://ugm.id/IRSCoursesRegistration

Written by Maurisa Zinira

Intolerance and hate speech towards religious minorities are prevalent across the globe. In Europe, hostility towards religion even shows a dramatic increase. With the increasing wave of immigrants coming to Europe, negative stereotypes and sentiments against different religious groups and ethnicities fuels intolerance and discrimination. A Dutch parliamentarian, Geert Wilders, for instance, campaigned against the growth of Muslim population in the West, labeling Muslims as a threat to European women and civilization. At the same time, an individual or group forcing people to adopt religious beliefs or practices can also be found more often in different parts of European regions. This confirms the findings of the PEW research center released in 2017, that the number of European countries reporting this trend rose from 4 to 15 countries by 2017.

To understand the recent development of religious freedom in Europe, we conducted an interview with Lena Larsen—the director of The Oslo Coalition of Freedom of Religion or Belief, Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, Norway on July 19, 2022, during her current visit to Indonesia for the International Conference on Religion and Human Rights: Pedagogical Opportunities and Challenges in Higher Education in Indonesia. Larsen who has been active in promoting interfaith initiatives in Norway shared that the reality of religious life and state guarantees for minorities in Europe reveals a complex situation that cannot be explained in one complete picture. This is because the status of religious freedom in Europe varies from country to country. Differences in demographic conditions and the character of social and political life greatly affect the attitude of each country towards minority groups.

For her, it is almost impossible to have a single picture of the European model of religious freedom. The first and foremost reason is that Europe is not a single entity. The continent consists of 50 countries, each with their own national identities that affect the degree of religious freedom. These identities also determine the degrees of secularization through which policy on freedom of religion is constructed and used.

Secularism vs. Religion

Larsen sees the relationship between state and religion as one of the factors that influence different degrees of tolerance and religious freedom in Europe. Secularism, which places religion at the private sphere, is said to play a significant role in shaping the government policies and social culture. France, with its laicite, for instance, continues to show a hostile attitude toward religion. France, which prides itself as being secular, has banned the use of religious symbols in public institutions such as schools and government services since 2004. Although in principle this prohibition is aimed at all religions, in practice, only the hijab and other forms of Islamic dress are at issue. At the end of 2021, the France Senate openly voted to ban religious symbols such as hijabs and burkinis at sport competitions and bathing areas.

Likewise, Norway, which in 2012 began to separate religion and state, has not yet fully shown respect for the minority, although according to Larsen, some changes are taking place. Norway was originally a monarchy based on the Evangelical Lutheran religion. The Norwegian Constitution of 1814 did not grant freedom of belief and religion. It prohibited its people from adopting other faiths contrary to that promulgated by the state church and denied Jews and Jesuits entrance to Norway. Only in the 1840s did the gradual shift in the constitution come into effect, lifting several religious compulsions and allowing various communities of faith and atheism to establish their communities and congregations without restriction. The exceptions were made only for Norwegian royal family and state officials who were required by the constitution to be Lutherans. But this constitution too was then amended on 21 May 2012 by decreasing the connection of the church to the state, and from 1 January 2017, by employing a full separation. The church no longer functions as a state agency, with the clergy no longer being state employees.

However, having gone through a long period of united state and religion, the Norwegian government has not really separated itself from religion. In some of its policies, the state still seems to control religious practices. Article 16 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway which states “All inhabitants of the realm shall have the right to free exercise of their religion. The Church of Norway, an Evangelical-Lutheran church, will remain the Established Church of Norway and will as such be supported by the State. Detailed provisions as to its system will be laid down by law. All religious and belief communities should be supported on equal terms” implies that the national government and local municipalities provide financial support to the church of Norway. The same is also given to existing religious communities by registering their groups and fulfilling the given requirements some of which are reporting religious teachings, regulations and activities, reporting names of board members and responsibilities of group leaders, to the process of operating rules on voting rights and the process for amending statuses and dissolution. Only faith communities with faith members around 500 will be granted state finances.

Larsen sees that although the government of Norway and several countries in Europe have legally established the freedom of religion, the enforcement of these laws is not always consistent. In Norway, discriminatory practices that show the domination of majority against the minority still occur. With the influence of humanists, the political framework has succeeded in bringing Norwegian politics to the privatization of religion. Even though it provides opportunities for minorities to vacation and enjoy their religious holidays, Norway does not allow animal slaughter to be carried out except by giving animals anesthetics before slaughter, making traditional kosher and halal slaughter illegal.

Although it appears to provide financial support to religious groups, the accommodation provided is part of a control mechanism. According to Larsen, this kind of accommodation is conducted within the framework of fighting against extremism, so that religious communities can be independent from the influence of the outside world, both financially and ideologically. Through this accommodation, the government requires minorities to assimilate with Norway’s sociopolitical environment, which is now adopting new values in the form of ‘benevolent’ secularism, as Larsen terms it. Namely the state model that develops semi-secular politics where it does not entirely ignorant of the religions.

Government intervention in religious life is indeed increasing in various parts of the world, especially in Europe. Many countries have placed limits to women’s dress where the number has increased from five countries reported to have restrictions in 2007 to a four-fold increase to 20 countries in 2017. But with many cases of discrimination against religions, conversations, and discussions are also brought to the table.

In Norway itself, awareness of pluralism is coming to term. As Larsen narrated, young Muslims are now taking part in community engagement. Many women have even become board members of Mosque communities where they begin to take initiative for freedom of religion within and outside their religious communities.

Accepting Pluralism

What is happening in France, Norway, and elsewhere in the region is a picture of the complex religious life in Europe. Each country established its own rules and policies based on their national identity. Therefore, Larsen argues, it is imprecise to use one model of freedom of religion to represent the life of religion in Europe. The long history of state-religion relationship has in fact grown into a cultural character that cannot completely disappear. Despite self-proclaiming to be secular, both the French and Norwegian governments cannot escape the shadow of religion.

According to Larsen, secularism does not guarantee freedom of religion. In many cases, it ruins it. Several countries that officially proclaim themselves as guarantors of freedom have failed to guarantee the fulfillment of this right. The growing number of European governments setting restrictions to religions are evidence of how secularism fails to facilitate a right to believe and practice one’s religion.

Instead of applying antireligious relations, Lena argues that embracing a positive attitude towards pluralism shows rather promising steps to humanity and interfaith harmony. Overcoming diversity by abolishing differences will actually give birth to frictions and social tension. Differences are not to be erased, but to be reconciled. Promoting freedom of religion is to accept pluralism. Larsen said, “It’s to accept pluralism. It is to accept that human quality in each human being and that you are nothing more, nothing less, and to have this deep respect and critical approach”.

In fact, the high level of harassment against religious minorities is a collective work to be solved. Interfaith dialogue for religious freedom in Europe and elsewhere in the world should focus on cooperation. Larsen mentions, “In Norway, we have example of dialogue and cooperation. We are not looking into religious truth. We are looking at the humaneness of each other and how we can agree upon common principles and common practices”. Larsen proposes that communities of believers should engage with one another to nurture the culture of acceptance. It is through work and cooperation that believers can encourage European politics and culture to embrace pluralism, to respect freedom of religion, and to guarantee equal rights for all without discrimination.

Written by Athanasia Safitri

Professor Nelly van Doorn-Harder, who teaches in Wake Forest University (North Carolina, USA) and the Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), attended an international conference hosted by Universitas Gadjah Mada in July 2022 titled Religion and Human Rights: Pedagogical Challenges and Opportunities in Higher Education in Indonesia. Van Doorn writes and edits books and articles on religion with regard to gender, leadership, interfaith engagement, and issues pertaining to freedom of religion, and shared her insights in a session of the conference titled “Emerging Discourse on Freedom of Religion and Belief in Indonesia”. Her inaugural lecture last March was entitled “Strong Rights, Fragile People: The Politics of Freedom of Religion or Belief” talks about child marriage in Indonesia, where it relates with the Muslim religious practice and its consequence on women in Indonesia. The article shows the way Van Doorn learns about the influence of Indonesian Muslim religious practice during her close observation in the last five years with several groups, especially on gender issues and freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in Indonesia.  

Child marriage to reflect the women’s position in FoRB

During a lunch break at the conference, Van Doorn shared her thoughts on the practice of FoRB in Indonesia. She had mentioned during her lecture that child marriage in Indonesia is an issue that should be discussed regularly to ensure a better implementation of FoRB, especially with regard to the position of women in the Muslim community. She particularly presents the term of shaming men as a way to teach the next generation that child marriage is not beneficial, especially to young women who are subject to child marriage. The idea is to educate men in the environment of child marriage to understand the consequences it causes. Problems arise when the unprepared and mostly uneducated girl gets married against her will. She will go through a wedding that she did not want in which eventually she will divorce resulting in additional hardships. Society will see how she suffers and blame the men in the family, mostly the father since the weddings were approved by the father as wali. The shame the father feels is also shared by the brother of the young woman. It may not affect the father directly, but her brother or other male relatives will start to see the effects of the child marriage and avoid doing the same mistake in the future. It is hoped that shaming men will make the men within the circle in the next generation learn and treat their young women relatives differently, and somehow lower the number of child marriages.

Regarding child marriages, the economic background can be one of the reasons, among other things, including the religious, cultural, and social environment. Physical and psychological points should also be considered. Poverty, religiosity, social status in the society, local tradition, and dependency can be the cause of child marriage.  When these young women do not have the choice, some adults must stand up and protect them. Moreover, when there has been discussion that child marriage is carried out based on religious grounds. One of the helps coming in the way is the research institution called Rumah Kita Bersama (Kitab) which interprets texts in Qur’an to provide supporting means for these women from a religious perspective. Together with Komnas Perempuan, there has also been an educational campaign for the public using mass media, digital platforms, local meetings and private Qur’an study groups, to introduce the concept of freedom of religion for women. There has also been discussion to advocate the fiqh for children, to facilitate the realization of human rights for children in regard to Islamic teaching. This process may take a long time, but it offers the opportunity and the choice needed by these young women and children.

Many child marriages are forced due to pregnancy. And there is also a group who are modern, but they do it to show the obedience to their religious teaching. It happens as a way for them to conduct their religiosity, or as a part of the society norm when they live in a remote area or villages. Rumah Kitab works together with groups from the local government, youth groups, and pesantren which are against child marriage. Sometimes they hold meetings for children, and there is someone who talks and encourages their peers not to get married at such a young age. When these young women are given options, then they will make other choices. Even so, there are still the fathers, or the old fashioned females who are against prohibition  of child marriage. If some experiences of child marriage are shared, people start to see how they can better protect the young women.

A shifting paradigm supported by men

When this sort of education takes place over time, there will gradually be a different situation in the future. The paradigm will shift when there is a different course in the system, or there is a different system that enables the changes. Situations in some areas can change if there is support to make the system work. Besides that, there must also be a strong will from the women’s side. This is the gap where society should encourage the shift. And it can only happen when the religious community and the leaders give the opportunity which encourages the desire of the women to rise up. When the system and the environment around them change, they can live their life freely. The elevated knowledge and changed societal system will enable different roles for women, for example education opportunities and independence in many areas in life. This can occur when the males of society begin to lend their support.

Sometimes, the solution cannot be gained in an instant due to the existing rule, the local culture, and the tradition that most communities have at the moment. But like most scholars and activists of FoRB understand, they all are fighting for the basic principle of human rights and also religion, not for the benefits of their generation since the result can definitely take longer, but for the generation to come. Van Doorn also thinks that not only should we have the next generation in mind when striving for a better implementation of human rights but also remember the generation before us since they began down the path for us. As experienced in today’s world and practiced before since the beginning of religion, men play an important role in life, and therefore it is time men are directing their course in life to help achieve equality for women. When we bring up the subject of opportunity, desire, and choices for women rights for life in general, there must be a follow up discussion as well on how women can obtain their freedom in religion. And it is a path that every human being should be striving for, both men and women.

One of the discussions nowadays related to FoRB are the social problems which hide behind the issue of religion. For example, the avoidance of divorce within Christian marriage and polygamy in the Muslim tradition. Not only the economic reasons but also the psychological background play an important role in these practices. This is why, in the field of education, van Doorn states that society needs to be in a sort of kindergarten since we have to always learn continuously. Especially with religion and human rights as the topic, priorities and systems can change that make differences appear and create interfaith, interculture, and intersocial relationships in the society. The role of men becomes pivotal for the actions made within history, and the change must also be initiated by men to support this type of freedom.  

There should also be a contribution from the academic scholars on the issues of gender equality and  FoRB for women in Indonesia must create proper and appropriate materials for distribution. Educational material does not stop only with texts, but also recording in radio talk shows, short movies or podcasts so people can engage in as many different ways as possible. The problem of inequality in terms of religion, especially in the Muslim tradition in Indonesia, does not necessarily center on the interpretation of the text from the historical era in the early years of Islam, but so much more. Van Doorn makes her remarks on how the economic, social, cultural, and even psychological background influence the practice of FoRB, and also the equality of Indonesian Muslim women. Furthermore, a better implementation of FoRB can only occur when men actively participate along with women to seek a new paradigm that is in favor of the practice of equality between men and women.

Written by Jekonia Tarigan

Freedom of religion has become an important aspect of human rights as declared in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948.[[i]] However, the challenge of freedom of religion or belief has been rolling throughout the history of human life and to this day is often still a problem. The challenges are now are greater and more pressing than before. The challenges at hand cover important sectors of modern life, from culture and civic society, politics and identity, security, and conflict.[[ii]] This is in line with the remarks delivered at the opening of the International Conference on Religion and Human Rights on 18 July 2022 by Prof. Djagal Wiseso, the Vice Rector for Education, Learning and Student Affairs, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM). Wiseso noted that religion and human rights is a timely issue; therefore, he really appreciates this conference. Prof. Siti Malkhamah, the Dean of the Graduate School of UGM, also delivered a welcoming speech to participants, speakers, and paper presenters.

After the initial remarks from the Vice Rector and Dean, the conference was officially opened by Dr. M. Iqbal Ahnaf as the conference coordinator. According to Ahnaf, there has been abundant literature investigating the relationship between religion and human rights. It ranges from exploring the tensions between or the convergence of the two enterprises, attempts to construct religious justification of human rights principles, or exploration of the many dimensions of the right to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). A consensus on these matters is not the main issue, but a continuous discussion. Yet promotion of human rights partly depends on addressing those issues satisfactorily and the ability to contextualize human rights within the diverse, lived experience of religious communities. he noted that universities teach human rights, law, and religion, but the intersection between them as well as specific issues of religious freedom are rarely covered in the teaching curriculum.

The conference was held in Yogyakarta and was scheduled for three days, 18-20 July 2022 as a combination of online and on-site events. The events were organized by several institutions: the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS) and the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) Universitas Gadjah Mada (Universitas Gadjah Mada, Duta Wacana Christian University, Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University); SEPAHAM (Association of Human Rights Lecturers); Center for Human Rights, Multiculturalism, and Migration, Universitas Jember; Indonesia Jentera School of Law; Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia; Center for Religion and Contemporary Issues Studies (PuSAIK), Graduate School, UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta; with the support of the Oslo Coalition for Freedom of Religion or Belief (University of Norway) and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (Brigham Young University). The theme of this conference was “Religion and Human Rights: Pedagogical Opportunities and Challenges in Higher Education in Indonesia.” The conference was attended by Indonesian human rights scholars and practitioners and alumni of the Freedom of Religion or Belief Fellowship from various universities in Indonesia.

The discussion on the first day began with a reflection on religion and human rights in higher education delivered by Dr. Lena Larsen, Director of Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Dr. Syamsul Arifin from Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang.

Larsen in her presentation argued that promoting freedom of religion and belief (FoRB) is the responsibility of all parties: religious leaders, government officials, politicians, diplomats, and of course academicians. For Larsen, FoRB is not about religion, but it is about the right of people to have conviction of their religion. Therefore, according to Larsen, it is important to build knowledge about FoRB and here the role of academician is needed, because academia does not deal with truth claims but with analysis. If FoRB knowledge is developed well, it can influence policy making and the implementation of FoRB. Meanwhile, according to Arifin, Islamic responses to the international human rights (IHR) discourse are varied: Islam is compatible with IHR, human rights can only be fully realized under Islamic law, human rights are an imperialist agenda that must be rejected, Islam is incompatible with human rights, and human rights have hidden antireligious agenda. For Arifin, the previous argument from Larsen found its place, that it is pivotal to develop knowledge about FoRB.

The discussion on the first day was followed by exploring the newly published bilingual resource book, Shari’a and Human Rights (HAM dan Syariat, Penerbit Mizan, 2022). The book was a result of the programs conducted by the Center for the Study of Religion and Multiculturalism, Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang since 2011. Plenary sessions based on the book’s topics were conducted: Shari’a and Human Rights, Dr. Haidar Bagir from the Mizan Publisher, and Ahmad Nur Fuad from the State Islamic University, Sunan Ampel Surabaya; Human Rights: History, Concepts and Its Future, Prof. Cole-Durham from Brigham Young University and Tore Lindholm, emeritus professor (philosophy) at the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights, University of Oslo, board member of the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief, and Cekli Setya Pertiwi from Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang. Moreover, the session on FoRB and Other Rights attended Prof. Brett Scharffs from Brigham Young Universitas, Provo, Utah, Dr. Lena Larsen (Oslo Coalition), and Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir, Director of ICRS. The last session of Day 1 was a presentation from Prof. Heiner Bielefeldt, former U.N. Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Religion or Belief, who conveyed his thoughts on the contribution of FoRB to societal peace.

The agenda of the second day consisted of paper presentations based on a selection of invited speakers. The presentations addressed opportunities and challenges of human rights education in universities and collaboration between higher educational institutions, CSOs, and government in FoRB advocacy, either as theoretical discussions or based on teaching or advocacy experience. The presentations were divided into six panels. In the first panel, the topic was FoRB in Higher Education: Legal Framework and Experience. Valerianus Beatae Jehanu, from Universitas Parahyangan Bandung, was one of the speakers in this panel. He presented a paper entitled “Interpretation Contest of Religious Freedom in The Law-Making Process of The National Education System Law Draft”. Jehanu examined FoRB in the context of the national education system in Indonesia with respect to the Law Number 20 of the National Education System of 2003 especially Article 1 number 2 which regulates “National education is education based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. rooted in religious values, national culture and responsive to the demands of changing times.” According to Jehanu, the national education system, rooted in religious values, produces a less conducive learning environment. This is then considered a problem of religious intolerance, because in the academic text of the National Education System Law Draft that cites the research of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah (2017) for instance. Research shows that 62% of teachers and lecturers and 55% of students agree with the opinion that Muslims are in a state of oppression. Jehanu argue that there is an urgency to resolve this problem through changes in the law.

The topic for the second panel FoRB was Local Contexts. In this panel there were two presenters from State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, who delivered presentations about FoRB in the context of West Sumatra. The first presenter was Zulfan Taufik who presented a paper entitled “Nagari Adat Bersyariat: Islamic Favoritism in Regional Development in West Sumatra” and the second was Nofri Andy with a paper entitled “Religious and Cultural Resistance to Implementation Freedom of Religions: The Ahmadiyah Experience in West Sumatera.” In his presentation Taufik explained that in the context of West Sumatra as a province with a majority Muslim community, Islam has become an inseparable part of the culture primarily through the popularity of the philosophy of adat basandi syarak, syarak basandi kitabullah (ABS-SBK). According to Taufik, ABS-SBK is an unwritten norm. However, this idea was later used to regulate and control the administration of government in West Sumatra. Interestingly, through his study, Taufik found that Nagari, based on ABS-SBK, has caused discrimination against non-Muslim minorities, both in the form of distinction, exclusion, restriction, and preference. Some of these discriminations can be seen in particular policies related to Islamic education programs (both formal and informal), financial subsidies that directly support Islamic institutions such as mosques, and applying Islamic-based individual and social piety standards. Meanwhile, Andy’s presentation focused on the Ahmaddiyyah community in West Sumatra which has long struggled with freedom of worship and the establishment of places of worship. Andy argued that this discrimination has a bad impact on society and creates a negative stereotype for the Ahmadiyyah congregation. He discussed how religion and culture should deal with FoRB, especially in terms of respecting the human rights of others. Andy argues that respect for human rights and FoRB as part of the implementation of human rights is the primary basis for realizing an ideal democracy

In the third panel, the topic was FoRB in Laws and Regulations. Ari Wirya Dinata from Universitas Bengkulu was one of the presenters in this panel. He presented a paper entitled “The Strong Rights vis a vis the Fragile People: Asking the Judiciary Power in Protecting FoRB rights in Indonesia”. In his presentation, Dinata contrasted the law and constitution in Indonesia which support FoRB with the implementation thereof, which is not in accordance with the law. Dinata noted that UUD 1945. Art 29 para (1) and (2) stipulated that the State is based on One God, but it indicates that Indonesia is not based on a particular religion but recognizes religion as part state administration. Therefore, the recognition of religion guarantees the independence of its inhabitants to embrace their respective religions and to worship. Furthermore, freedom to embrace religion or belief is an absolute right for everyone that regulated by ICCPR as well as in Article 28 I (1) of UUD 1945. Unfortunately, the fulfillment of FoRB is frequently undermined in Indonesia, for instance, the issue of the religion column in the Citizens Identity Card. Before the Constitutional Court’s verdict, the state only accommodated six recognized religions and negated others. Although this issue is now resolved, other FoRB related problems such as interfaith marriage and the issue of wearing hijab for non-Muslim students.

The fourth panel covered human rights in Islamic and Catholic higher education. Achmad Faidi was one of the speakers who represented the State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN) Madura. His paper was entitled “Religious Moderation Movement in Islamic Higher Education: An Instrument for Developing Human Rights Values to Realize Social Harmony”. In his presentation, Faidi explored four main pillars that are carried out in the religious moderation movement of Islamic Higher Education (PTKI), namely commitment to nationality, commitment to harmony, nonviolent behavior, and deference to local wisdom. Faidi argued that these four pillars are expected to raise awareness of an inclusive, humanist, tolerant attitude and uphold human rights values in a multicultural Indonesian society. This is certainly a good step, but it still requires strategies and tactical steps to stem the movements of radicalism, extremism, and intolerant behavior that are contrary to human rights values and greatly disrupt social harmony. Thus, Faidi emphasized the strategic role of the Islamic higher education (PTKI) as an instrument to sow the values of humanism, inclusiveness, tolerance and human rights through dialogue, mentoring, and formulation of the concept of teaching materials included in curriculum construction, especially in the basic courses of Islamic Religious Higher Education in all faculties.

Subandri Simbolon, of the State Institute for Catholic Studies (STAKAT) Pontianak, presented a paper entitled ‘Understanding of Human Rights and the Response of Catholic Religious Higher Education Students to Sensitive Issues of Human Rights’. Simbolon examined the understanding of Catholic religion teacher candidates on the implementation of human rights in their relation to human rights issues such as gender, ideology, and religious minorities. Simbolon found that the students had an understanding of human rights and implemented that understanding in their relations with groups of different religions with an attitude of tolerance, acceptance of differences, and respect. However, with regard to sensitive issues such as LGBTQ, the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), and local religions, they still use the textual understanding that LGBTQ people are sinful because they are against nature, members of PKI are enemies of the state, and local religions are idol worshippers. The main reason is that they rarely come face to face with those who have this gender identity, ideology, or belief system. Another factor is their lack of understanding of the inclusive view of the Church on these issues. Therefore, Simbolon argued that it is necessary to accommodate meeting spaces to raise the spirit of humanity (through which principles of human rights, especially FoRB, are promoted) that is much more inclusive and offer more inclusive interpretations and attitudes of the Catholic Church toward these issues.

Panel five was about religion, freedom, and multiculturalism. Alimuddin Hassan of the State Islamic University Sultan Syarif Kasim Riau delivered an interesting presentation with a paper entitled “When Multicultural Awareness Begins to Fade: Symptoms of Intersectional Discrimination in Education.” Hassan argued that multicultural awareness in a person is relevant to efforts to eradicate discriminatory attitudes carried out by the state or group, or persons against other people. Hassan also emphasized that the better a person’s multicultural awareness, the better the awareness of human rights, especially on intersectional discrimination. For Hassan multiculturalism awareness refers to the spirit and understanding of the existence of differences, including race, ethnicity, culture, gender, and religion. Meanwhile, intersectional discrimination refers to discrimination based on religion and ethnicity, gender, or social class in society. Thus, the world of education is an institution that is often the scene of human rights violations, including freedom of religion and belief. In post-colonial discourse, one of the schools in critical social theory calls it an unequal power relation between the powerful and the ruled.

Panel Six was on religion and the rights of vulnerable groups. Michael Jeffri Sidabutar from Universitas Bangka Belitung was one of the speakers in this panel. His paper was named “The Politics of Recognition and Inclusion: The Fulfillment of Citizens Rights of Spiritual Believers (Study on Indigenous Peoples of the Lom Tribe, Air Abik Village, Bangka Belitung Islands)”. He explained that the Lom tribe is the oldest tribes in Bangka Belitung. Sidabutar examined the struggle of the Lom to access public services, especially population administration, education, and marriage because this tribe still faces discrimination, as they are indigenous people. Sidabutar found that indigenous peoples like the Lom use an institutional approach, build networks with stakeholders at the local level, as well as through the Indonesian Supreme Council of Trustees (MLKI).

The final day of the conference included a scholar-practitioner networking session. This session was a continuance of several meetings in the past years which discussed ways to strengthen advocacy and research on FoRB. Those meetings, involving academics, activists, and representatives of governmental institutions emphasized the need to strengthen collaboration and communication between different actors. The last meeting in Puncak, Bogor, January 2022 (co-organized by PUSAD Paramadina, YLBHI, CRCS, and ICRS), produced a brief analyzing the agenda and gaps in knowledge building and advocacy for FoRB. This meeting discussed several ideas to go further and at the same time attempted to activate the network of FoRB fellows/lecturers. Several ideas that have emerged from preliminary discussions among organizers are: creating a roadmap of research and advocacy on FoRB, an association of university lecturers teaching FoRB, regular (annual) congress on FoRB, and the possibility of creating ‘legal clinics’ specializing on FoRB in universities.

[i] https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights article 18

[ii] Tore Lindholm, Cole W Durham, and Bahia G Tahzib-Lie, Facilitating Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Deskbook (Martinus Nijhoff, 2004). p. xxvii,  https://books.google.co.id/books?hl=id&lr=&id=ZhnvCAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR13&dq=facilitating+freedom+of+religion+and+belief+&ots=QyE0ehC1sk&sig=VV281bewBNYbKe4858jcd5h_wgs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=facilitating%20freedom%20of%20religion%20and%20belief&f=false

Written by Maurisa Zinira

Human relations are influenced by the operationalization of power, including those carried out by state institutions. In Indonesia, the practice of power played by the government is often authoritarian as it continues to emphasize the assimilation of various local powers into the structure and logic of the government. Often local people are forced to give up some of their cultural values ​​to adapt to these demands. As a result, discrimination and marginalization often arise due to unequal power relations between state authorities and minority groups.

The Reading in Social Science forum raised this concern in its 6^th meeting entitled “Ragam Kuasa di Indonesia: Hukum, Seni Tradisional, dan Kebebasan Beragama (Pluralities of Power in Indonesia: Law, Traditional Arts, and Religious Freedom)”. The forum that was held on June 24, 2022, discussed Lorraine V. Aragon’s article entitled “Pluralities of Power in Indonesia’s Intellectual Property Law, Regional Arts, and Religious Freedom Debates” published in Anthropological Forum, 2022, VOL. 32, NO. 1, 20–40. Came as the speakers at the forum were Samsul Maarif—the head of the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies and Asfinawati—a lecturer at the Indonesian Law College, Jantera.

Narratives and the Practice of Power in Indonesia

In her article, Aragon mentions that power has various models and characters. Through her research on two regulations in Indonesia regarding the expression of traditional arts through intellectual property law and the Constitutional Court ruling 97/2016, Aragon concludes that plurality of power exists, negotiates, and even overlaps with each other due to their different characters where one is unilateral and the other decentralized. This variety has existed even before the regulation emerged as something embodied in the life of Southeast Asian people. The differences in power models lead to different narratives and practices in the regulations that emerge later.

Aragon’s opinion on the plurality of power departs from Benedict Anderson’s view of the concentration of oneness by rulers and fluid cosmic forces. The first is an authoritarian hierarchy based on singular principles traceable to Indic prehistory, while the second is based on local cosmological concepts of ancestral authority and practice, which invokes precedence through origins and negotiated alliances. It is more decentralized and fluid over time, built on negotiation between differences. These two types of power contrast with the Euro-American model of power, which Anderson describes as heterogeneous, potentially infinite, and morally questionable. It is an abstract concept that describes relationships of obedience or compulsion.

In her article, Aragon avoids analysis that puts forward a binary analysis of dividing power in terms of “West from the rest” or the strong from the weak. This is because the differences in power in Southeast Asia are more of historical heritage—hereditary and become the character of the society that influences various distributions and relations of power, including religion. Aragon mentions, “Instead, the historical and contemporary evidence indicates that both authoritarian unity and more inclusive diversity framings of power have coexisted in Indonesia, and Southeast Asia generally, for a long time. Sometimes they overlap in time and place with or without notable friction.” She claims that the two powers continue to co-exist with the alternative of internationally supported arguments such as human rights, religious freedom, or indigenous heritage protection.

The deployment of the two power models is illustrated in the law on intellectual property and the Constitutional Court ruling 97/2016. In the first issue, the Indonesian government requires that local cultural products in the form of dances, ritual performances, graphic arts (mostly handmade products), etc., be registered with the government through intellectual property law (IP). The government pursued training to build public awareness and encourage them to develop cultural arts to protect their rights and support the improvement of community welfare. Unfortunately, along with efforts to achieve these goals, its practices often turn cultural products into economic and business commodities, which results in the relinquishment of local values, including the cosmic ones. The cosmic power that underlies various cultures is diminished, causing the loss of respect and recognition for local beliefs embraced by the people who own the culture. This situation is exacerbated by the obligation to include the religious identity on the identity card. Although the Constitutional Court now grants freedom for believers to practice their faith and to decide for themselves the identity of their preference, this right has not fully guaranteed the fulfillment of other rights, considering that the negative stereotypes of the community towards believers are still high.

 Power and Control

The plurality of power that has emerged in Indonesia is not devoid of context. In contrast with Aragon who sees the two powers mentioned earlier as unique ancestral heritage, Samsul Maarif—the discussant of the forum—argues that the power operated by the state is heavily influenced by the Western paradigm. The hierarchical order as shown by the government through the two regulations is the adoption and adaptation of the Western framing of power.

In this paradigm, art is often disconnected from religion. Secularism places religion in the private sphere as something sacred, which is entirely different from any worldly life, including art. As a result, various (art) cultural activities as a manifestation of belief are often considered heretical when they differ from official religious interpretations. The definition of “religion” in Indonesia refers to the concept of religion which limits the definition to several provisions, namely (1) an encompassing way of life with concrete regulations, (2) teaching about the oneness of God, (3) having a holy book, which codifies a message sent down to prophet(s) through a holy spirit; and (4) be led by a prophet.[1] With this framework, beliefs that are outside this working framework are therefore superstitious

Such a division of concepts and terms continues to be a mechanism for state control over citizens. This hierarchical authority model is also included in the concepts of democracy, human rights, and religious freedom which, although aimed at protecting minorities, still leaves problems of state control. This is also a concern of Asfinawati who sees the risk of belief being administered by the population administration office. It may be that the inclusion of trust in the ID card is not really intended to accommodate citizenship rights but, on the contrary for minority control.

Such a power model is very much at odds with local power that comes from community belief. According to Maarif, cosmic power, as seen from various local communities in Indonesia, is not oriented toward control, but toward cosmic balance that is open to various expressions and promotes inclusiveness. Under this framework, art is not separated from belief because religious ideas are reflected in songs, dances, ornaments, and various other rituals/performances.

Unfortunately, various regulations and even concepts of human rights and democracy also sort and divide art and religion/faith into something different. As a result, local values, including cosmic power, are neglected in various discussions around the law, democracy, and human rights. Asfinawati herself claims that the universality of human rights severely limits diversity that potentially excludes different practices and ideas. Therefore, the human right should be positioned as a norm, but rather as a discourse that accommodates debates and brings various values to life. Maarif proposed that the idea developed with the Western paradigm should not be rejected. It should instead be positioned as the lingua franca in global discussions regarding human dignity. It needs to be engaged for us to come up with more inclusive narratives.

[1] Sita Hidayah, “The Politics of Religion: The Invention of “Agama” in Indonesia”, Kawistara, Vol.2, No. 2, 17 Agustus 2012. p. 125

Recorded discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz4kVDxh_RU

Written by Jekonia Tarigan

Women often face multi-layered suffering such as poverty, discrimination, gender-based violence/injustice, human trafficking, and domestic violence. Women are also often more vulnerable to religious-based violence, especially in situations of increasing religious intolerance. This was conveyed by the Rev. Dr. Suryaningsi Mila, Lecturer of the Sumba Christian Church Theology College. According to Mila, an alumna of the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) at the ‘Dialogue on Diversity #7’ which was held on July 16, 2022, with a presentation entitled ‘The Dynamics of Encountering Women in Cross-Community Reading Rooms’. In fact, according to Mila, women have an important contribution to maintaining peace and efforts to build peace in many places, including post-conflict areas. There are two villages in Central Sumba, North Wendewa and Watu, where women’s groups are very active in building a dialogue about life through sharing food and clean water and supporting each other in various ways. But it is ironic because women are often absent in dialogue forums organized by the Religious Harmony Forum (FKUB), although Muslim and Christian women have women’s religious organizations such as the Taklim Council for Muslim women and the Women’s Commission for Christian Women.

Interestingly, North Wandewa and Watu Asa Villages are the two villages with the largest Muslim majority in Central Sumba. In 2020, there were 2,231 Muslims and 222 Protestant Christians, 35 Catholics, 4 Hindus, and 3 Marapu adherents. On the other hand, North Wendewa itself is known as a village of harmony by the Ministry of Religion of Central Sumba, which is symbolized by a monument to the house of harmony in the form of a traditional Sumbanese house. The philosophy of the house of harmony is tana nyuwu watu lissi which means strong solidarity among all people from various religious backgrounds, social, economic, educational, and ethnic. Their kinship is like a connected earth and a stone that are close together. Most of the Muslims in this village are local residents and a mix of Sumba and Ende descent, and the rest are immigrant Muslims from Bima and Ende. Most of the Christians are the original Mamboro people who previously observed the Marapu religion. However, in general, the Mamboro people live in a social, religious, and cultural hybridity. Values of local wisdom are part of the daily life of the community. Some of the values ​​of local wisdom that are lived are as follows: the tradition of tana nyuwu watu lissi (strong ties of brotherhood/sisterhood), the mandara tradition (the bartering tradition of exchanging staple foods), the palomai/palonggamai tradition (sharing food, sharing basic needs, visiting each other in neighborly life), the tradition of pandula wikiki (helping others is like helping yourself); the tradition of li kawana li nikahni (involving men and women in every meeting), and the tradition of paoli (embracing each other as brothers and friends in a circle of solidarity).

With this background, Mila sees that Muslim and Christian woman in the villages of North Wendewa and Watu Asa practice their life dialogue based on local wisdom values. Therefore, Mila argues that such a community has the potential to conduct cross-faith readings of the Qur’anic and Biblical texts to see the dynamics of women’s encounters in cross-text/cross-community reading rooms, to build reflections on reading from women’s perspectives, and experiences to strengthen interreligious relations between groups. Mila believes that exchanging two different texts, but having the same message, can be a model of liberative and transformative dialogue (for liberation and renewal). Mila explained that according to Archie Lee, the term ‘cross,’ is ‘a process of jumping from one tradition to another to discover the new meaning from reading more than one scripture or oral tradition’. This method aims not only to compare two texts but also to illuminate one another. Cross-textual reading helps the Asian Christian community to expand their understanding in encounters with other religions. [[i]] Meanwhile, according to Mila, Daniel Listijabudi also develops Lee’s thinking by creating a cross-textual reading pattern, which not only resonates the similarities of the two texts but also discovers the differences including differences that cannot be reconciled/compromised to enrich the other, so that it can become one of the approaches in interfaith hermeneutics for peace work. [[ii]]

The two selected texts that Mila chose were the stories about the women who protected the young Moses/Musa. This story is written in Exodus 1-2 and Surah Al-Qasas 28. According to Mila, these two stories highlight women’s struggles against the cruelty of the king of Pharaoh. The struggle of women around Moses is relevant to the struggle of Muslim and Christian women in the two villages, because they cross religious, geographical, and cultural boundaries to protect their children and families. These women are moved by compassion. Their courage in taking risky actions, facing the threat of danger by crossing the boundaries of hostility, and working together for the survival of their community to save the powerless. Women challenge themselves and their nation to embrace ‘the outsider’ as a neighbor who must be protected.

The reading process itself is carried out in several stages. First, the preparation stage or internal reading where Muslim women read from the Qur’an and get an explanation from their Ustadz through tausiyah in the Taklim Assembly recitation event. Meanwhile, the Christian women’s group also read Exodus 1-2 and discussed during a Bible study facilitated by the church pastor. Then, in the first meeting, both parties held an introductory session, which was followed by reading selected texts in their respective religious groups while listening to readings from other religious groups. In the second, third, and the fourth meeting they exchange readings to find similarities and differences between the two texts but remain in their respective groups, then they exchange readings in mixed discussion groups. Finally, they discuss the texts as they relate to the issues within their village communities.

From this activity, Mila found that when women came to the scriptural dialogue, ordinary women had an important role in opening space for women to discuss their problems while reflecting on the struggles of the women who cared for Moses. Furthermore, the reading results no longer speak of textual reflection but rather a reflection on the daily life where women can color cross-textual readings by bringing their experiences and voices about women’s lives, struggles, and experiences and proves that women can penetrate the dialogue space around the text of the book.

Conversations between women in this activity also occur in a warm, fluid, and friendly atmosphere. Women learn from each other, and listen to each other, are full of empathy for one another, so that they strengthen the circle of women’s solidarity to protect life together. Therefore, a joint commitment from women after cross-community readings is needed to remain pro-active in building interfaith friendships, introducing and living the values ​​of local wisdom that support religious tolerance. They also need to initiate an  interfaith women’s agency and collaboration between the women’s commission and the Taklim council to fight together against domestic violence, marital problems, and various issues surrounding women.

In addition to Mila’s discussion for this forum, there was a second speaker, namely Dr. Fazlul Rahman, a lecturer from East Java UPN, alumnus of ICRS 2012. Rahman delivered a presentation entitled “Friendliness to People of Different Religions Among Students of the State Defense Campus”. According to Rahman, his research on this topic was motivated by the emergence and strengthening of the phenomenon of xenophobia or fear of people of different religions in Indonesia. Rahman argues that the problem of xenophobia does not only occur in the context of public life, but also in the context of universities where religious moderation ideally exists and it is hoped that hospitality will grow. Rahman explained that hospitality towards different religions leads to the issue of attraction between humans as moral beings (moral persons) and as individuals bound by law (legal persons). As a moral person, a person has absolute moral values ​​that are upheld and obeyed. These values are unconditional because they are an integral part of each person. Meanwhile, as a legal person, a person is bound by a law that is not absolute, depending on membership in a conditional society and certain situations and conditions. [[iii]]

In his research, Rahman asks two main questions: how does the influence of morality and legality affect the level of student friendliness and how does the level of student friendliness affect the xenophobia of people of different religions? In his research, he used quantitative methods to measure and determine how much influence the moral person and legal personas (independent variable) have on student friendliness through online questionnaires. Qualitative methods were used to reveal the perspectives of the lecturers of Islamic Religion and Defense courses. Rahman involved 372 student respondents from UPN Veterans Surabaya, UPN Veterans Yogyakarta, and UPN Veterans Jakarta. In addition, he also involved four lecturers who teach Islamic Religion and State Defense courses at UPN Veterans Yogyakarta and UPN Veterans Jakarta.

From this study, Rahman found that there was a significant influence of the moral person and the legal person on student friendliness based on the results of the R Square table of 10.4%. Meanwhile, the other 89.6% were influenced by other factors. The proportion of variance with the highest value was found in the dimensions of the moral person variable that affected student friendliness. In connection with these findings, the supporting factors which according to Rahman are influential are the plurality of the religious backgrounds of the students, the cultivation and application of hospitality characters formed through Pancasila, state and religion courses, religious teaching which is not only doctrinal by including the “Philosophy of Science” subject, and assignments through project-based learning and support from all leaders and teaching staff.

[i] Archie CC Lee, “Cross-Textual Hermeneutics and Identity in Multi-Scriptural Asia,” Christian Theology in Asia, 2008, 179–204. https://mis.kp.ac.rw/admin/admin_panel/kp_lms/files/digital/SelectiveBooks/Theology/Christian-theology-in-asia%20(1).pdf#page=194

[ii] Daniel K Listijabudi, Bergulat Di Tepian: Pembacaan Lintas Tekstual Dua Kisah Mistik (Dewa Ruci & Yakub Di Yabok) Untuk Membangun Perdamaian (PT BPK Gunung Mulia, 2019).

[iii] Fazlul Rahman, “Keramahan Terhadap Sesama Yang Berbeda Agama Di Kalangan Mahasiswa Kampus Bela Negara,” Dialog 45, no. 1 (2022): 13–28. p. 15, https://jurnaldialog.kemenag.go.id/index.php/dialog/article/view/583

[International Conference] RELIGION AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Written by Jekonia Tarigan

Across Indonesia’s rich cultural landscape are many unique funeral ceremonies. One of the most famous ones is from Sulawesi, namely Rambu Solo’ that is performed by the Torajan people in Toraja (or Tana Toraja). Rambu Solo’ is a traditional funeral ceremony which aims to respect the spirits as they return to immortality among the ancestors. In addition to Tana Toraja, other areas in Sulawesi such as Mamasa also have rich traditions of funeral ceremonies.[1] This topic was the focus of the Kamisan Daring Forum on June 2022. This forum was organized by the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies (CRCS), the Center for Religious and Democratic Studies (PUSAD) Paramadina, the Satunama Foundation, Institute of Sciences Indonesia (LIPI), and several other organizations.

The title for the forum was ‘Respecting the Celebration of Death: Fruits of the Hand of Mamasa and Toraja’. The first speaker was David Demmanasa, from the Rambu Saratu Mamasa Indigenous Community, West Sulawesi. The second speaker was Rivi Handayani, a Toraja culture researcher.

In his presentation, Demmanasa explained that for the Mamasa indigenous people, death is a very sacred event. For or the Mamasa, death is the process of moving from life in this world to a new world in the afterlife. Therefore, to start a new life, various preparations and ceremonies are needed to bring the dead person to the next realm. In the Mamasa cultural tradition, people who have died are believed to be able to communicate with the living and the dead are also believed to be able to influence the lives of those who are still alive by praying and sending blessings. Due to the sacredness of death for the Mamasa people, as a form of mourning and affection for the deceased, a funeral ceremony is held that should be as festive as a party. In the life of the Mamasa, this is called a death party, but perhaps the term death party is seen as strange and unique to the outside community.

Demmanasa shared that the form of implementation of the death party is highly dependent on the social and economic strata of the deceased and their families. Often, there are corpses left unburied for days, weeks, months, or even years. This relates to the large cost of the feast and the main sacrifices in the form of buffalo and pigs. The lowest level that sacrifices only pigs is called disalubai. The next level is called dipaktentenan (slaughtering a buffalo, several pigs, and in the ceremony using drumbeats). The third level is dibalado, which is a feast for death by slaughtering two to five buffalo. The feast of death that slaughters six to eleven buffaloes is called diruran. The highest level of this death feast, allun, is that which sacrifices a minimum of 12 buffalo and hundreds of pigs with funeral rites lasting for years with various complicated ceremonies.

Demmanasa also explained that in the tradition of the death party, other aspects such as clothing are also regulated. Whenever there is mourning or death, the entire family and mourners must dress in black as a sign of mourning. Those with high social strata can also use red ornaments as a marker of higher social strata (nobles). For the nobles for whom buffalo are sacrificed, there will also be a buffalo that is striped in color, referred to as Tedong Matanda. Demmanasa also elaborated that the shape of the coffin of each person who died also differed according to their social and economic status, some in the form of an ordinary coffin, some in the form of a miniature Mamasa traditional house. Regarding the slaughtering and distribution of the animal flesh, there are certain rules of meaning. First, in Mamasa’s ancestral beliefs, slaughtered animals are brought to the underworld, along with all their clothes and valuables. Second, meat is also distributed to strengthen the bonds of brotherhood. Third, there is a portion of meat that is intended for the public, however small it may be, but must be evenly distributed to all villagers. Fourth, there is the meaning of appreciation, because there is a meat section for traditional community leaders, religious leaders, government, and so on.

Another interesting thing in the Mamasa tradition regarding death, according to Demmanasa, is the taboos during grieving. According to Demmanasa, during mourning or as long as there is a corpse in the house, all families will abstain from rice until the mourning ends. Abstinence includes abstinence from working in the fields, abstinence from holding festive events, abstinence from making dishes cooked with bamboo, abstaining from building a house, and abstaining from looking for forest products. Furthermore, for the Mamasa community, people who die are treated like people who are going to go far away, so that all clothes and valuables from the corpse will also be put in the coffin and into the tomb. Finally, in terms of burial, the position of the cemetery also depends on social and economic strata, some are buried in the ground and some in miniature homes. After the burial, many ceremonies are still held.

The second speaker in this forum was Rivi Handayani. Handayani gave a presentation entitled ‘Toraja, Rambu Solo’and Tourism of Death’. Handayani explained that the Toraja are one of four ethnic groups in South Sulawesi (along with the Bugis, Makassar, and Mandar).  The mountainous land of Toraja separates it from other parts of Sulawesi. The name Toraja was popularized by the Bugis-Makassarese as a term with ethnic connotations taken from the Bugis term to’riaja (people from above). Toraja people are redefining the term to’riaja to to’raja (a king). Toraja is known for its spectacular 700-year-old party of death or solo signs. In the 1970s, the Toraja people’s awareness of self-identity, as well as ethnic identity grew along with the development of the tourism industry. In the 1990s, tourism in Toraja experienced further rapid development. The tourism industry opened opportunities for the Toraja ethnicity to renegotiate its position in inter-ethnic relations in Indonesia, especially in South Sulawesi. The New Order government’s acknowledgment of the existence of Toraja was marked by the printing of an image of the tongkonan which is a symbol of the supremacy of Toraja culture on the 1980 edition of the Rp. 5,000 note. Toraja’s openness to the outside world has transformed the Toraja ethnicity from an agrarian and traditional belief society to a Christian society that relies on the tourism sector.

According to Handayani, for Toraja people, death is a process of humans transitioning from life on Earth to spirits in the supernatural realm. Someone who has died is cared for or treated like someone who is alive but weak. A deceased individual is considered truly dead only after the entire Rambu Solo’ procession is carried out. The Rambu Solo ’ritual procession projects two things at once, namely sorrow and joy. The splendor and perfection of Rambu Solo’ can determine the fate of spirits in the afterlife. Rambu Solo’ is central to the implementation of Aluk (custom) because this ritual legitimizes one’s death and well-being in the afterlife. The buffalo sacrificed serve as vehicles to the afterlife. If the buffalo that is sacrificed is a striped buffalo, then the faster that person arrives in the afterlife. However, if the sacrificed buffalo is only an ordinary buffalo, then the journey to the afterlife will be slower. However, the cost for carrying out this ritual, especially for buying striped buffalo (Tedong Bonga) is very expensive, so this ritual is also a contestation of social class. For aristocrats, elaborate funerals are a means to maintain social status after death. For non-aristocrats they carry out the Rambu Solo’ ritual to pursue a higher social status even though ordinary people do not need to make a lavish death party by sacrificing a lot of buffalo and pigs as required by the nobility. According to Handayani, the high cost of parties and contests between classes is one of the challenges facing Rambu Solo’. Other issues related to modernization and changing tourism trends, government policies, and even Pentecostalism which redefines Torajan rituals threaten Rambu Solo’.

Recorded discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPRTeKk-1s8