Indonesia and the Future of Muslim-Christian Relations by BERNARD ADENEY-RISAKOTTA
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Indonesia and the Future of Muslim-Christian Relations BY BERNARD ADENEY-RISAKOTTA wenty years ago, Farsijana and I married in Berke- ley, California, and moved to Indonesia. We arrived just after President Suharto’s resignation. THis 31-year rule over, Indonesians were navigating diffi- cult times, including tensions between Christians and Muslims. Some Christians feared that Islamists were try- ing to take over the country. At the same time, Muslims worried about Christianization and the growth of the church. Deadly conflicts broke out all over the country. Most foreigners fled, as many countries issued travel bans for Indonesia. We decided to stay. We were energized by Indonesian hopes for a just and PC(USA) mission co-workers Bernard and Farsijana democratic society. Duta Wacana Christian University Adeney-Risakotta offered us a nice, safe house in an enclave of Christian fac- ulty and staff. However, we wanted to be agents of recon- Immersed in a culture that highly values tolerance and har- ciliation, breaking down barriers. We decided that by mony, the church thrived, growing from about 3 percent building a home in a Muslim neighborhood, we could con- of the population at the time of Indonesian independence nect with Muslims, in addition to the Christians we met from the Netherlands (1945) to the current 10 percent. through the university and our church. Could we, as For some Muslims, this is an alarming demographic shift. Christians, also be part of a Muslim community? Twenty Some people wonder whether interreligious peace is years later, we still believe the answer is yes. now under threat. Are Indonesian Muslims becoming more intolerant of non-Muslims? Related to that question, A Long History and Complicated Present we must also ask how non-Muslims treat Muslims—both Indonesia is the fourth largest nation-state in the world, in Indonesia and the rest of the world. The more often with a population of more than 260 million.1 This includes Islam is subjected to blanket condemnation and attack in the largest Muslim population in the world (209 million), the West, the more adamantly Indonesian Muslims assert roughly two thirds as many as in the entire Middle East their identity as Muslims. Over the past 30 years there has region.2 In fact, the Middle East is home to just 20 percent been a dramatic growth in the practice of orthodox Islamic of the world’s Muslims, while the Asia-Pacific region is piety in Indonesia, and, today, signs of it are apparent home to 62 percent of the world’s Muslims.3 The Muslim everywhere. population is 87 percent of Indonesia’s population,4 while Western domination of media, technology, wealth, sci- Christians make up 10 percent of Indonesia’s population ence, education and weapons doesn’t result in submission (26 million).5 to Western superiority; rather it results in resistance in the Indonesia never experienced widespread “wars of reli- name of transcendent values that Muslims find in Islam. gion” like the ones that plagued Europe for centuries. Sometimes intolerant acts against religious minorities in 26 This article originally appeared in the January/February 2018 issue of Horizons, the magazine or Presbyterian Women. To subscribe, visit www.presbyterianwomen.org. Indonesia, including Christians, accompany the resistance. Despite these pockets of conflict, most Religious Harmony in Indonesia? Indonesian Muslims and Christians BY DÉSIRÉE M. YOUNGBLOOD continue to live side by side in peace. ndonesia is a very religious country. In fact, belief in Religion in Indonesia Ithe one and only God is one of the five principles of the national philosophy (known as Pancasila) and signs The Indonesian Constitution is based of this belief are many. On Java, Muslim mosques are on five principles (Pancasila): everywhere. On Bali, Hindu shrines are outside most of 1) the Great Unity of Deity—there the homes and businesses. In North Sulawesi, a are various religions but only one Christian church seems to be on every block. God or transcendent principle; The national motto of Indonesia is a Javanese 2) the Oneness of Humankind— phrase, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika, which means “unity in there are many races and cultures, diversity.” Most of the Indonesians whom I met said but one humanity; that they get along well with their neighbors of 3) the Unity of the Nation-State of different faiths. While the majority of Indonesians live Indonesia—more than 13,000 in harmony, religious extremism and some cultural islands, many languages and practices threaten indonesia’s “unity in diversity.” cultures, but one nation; To ensure that everyone claims a religion, In Kuta, Bali, a parking lot shared 4) government based on sovereignty Indonesia requires every driver to have a religion by a GPIB church, a mosque and a of the people—a representative Hindu temple stands as an declared on his or her driver’s license. Although this democracy; illustration of the Indonesian hope requirement was established with the intent of 5) social justice for all Indonesians. for religious harmony. The three supporting Pancasila, it can be abused in the hiring houses of worship share space and The first principle implies that all process so that a workplace only includes people of resources, seeking to live “world religions” are good and worthy the “correct” religion. harmoniously. of respect. Indonesians often say they Although many children befriend children of other religions, they are not allowed to have neither a monoreligious marry a person of a different religion when they are grown. Interreligious marriages are (Islamic) state, nor a secular state that forbidden in Indonesia, so one person in an interreligious couple must convert. separates religion from the public Radical Muslims have declared their intent to push Christians out of Indonesian sphere. Instead they have a multireli- politicial offices. In early 2017, the Christian governor of Jakarta, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, gious, monotheistic state. All Indone- cited a verse from the Quran as evidence that Muslims could vote for non-Muslims. An sians are guaranteed religious freedom edited version of his citation was circulated and he was accused of blasphemy against in the Constitution, although there is Islam. He received a two-year prison term. no freedom to spread antireligious In a conversation with some college students, I learned about religious inequality in the ideologies, such as atheism. school system. In public schools, Muslim holidays are observed by all children, including Globalization and digital commu- the Christian children, but the Christian children are not allowed to celebrate their own nication mean that events, ideas and religious holidays. A Christian teacher would be prosecuted under the blasphemy law if trends in the Middle East, Asia, she attempted to proselytize students. Yet, Muslim teachers try to convert children Europe, Africa and America deeply without any repercussions, according to the college students. impact Indonesia. Indonesia is the Yogyakarta, which is known as the center of education, is also considered to be a city third largest user of Twitter in the of religious harmony. Yet, Majelis Mujahideen Indonesia (MMI), a group known for its ties world (after the U.S. and India). to Al Qaeda, is based in Yogyakarta. At the opening ceremonies of the Synod Assembly of Events—like Brexit and the election GMIM (Christian Evangelical Church of Minahasa), Gomar Gultom, the General Secretary of President Trump—and the atti- of the Indonesian Communion of Churches, warned the churches to stay vigilant because tudes behind them ripple into of the threat of church bombings in Jakarta by Muslim extremists. Indonesia. In a seminar with women pastors of the GPIB (Protestant Church in Western Indonesia), I learned that building a Christian church in a Muslim-majority area can Muslim-Christian prompt demonstrations. Everything is fine when they begin building a new chapel, but Relationships as soon as they put a cross on the building, extreme Muslims will stage demonstrations. Most Indonesians try to adhere to Pancasila and honor each other’s religions, Portrayals of Islam as a dangerous but religious extremism and suspicion of “the other” can threaten even a society built enemy of the West lead many on diversity. Indonesians to feel that their religion January/February 2018 27 is under attack. Religious tensions and Islam are implacable enemies. Separate But Equal and populist trends spread fear of the Both are embroiled in an unending A second perspective, which is more other, prejudice against those who are and primordial competition for world- popular in Indonesia than the first, different, and anger against those per- wide dominance. Each see the other views the different religious communi- ceived as a threat or an enemy. Just as as, at best, misguided, or, at worst, the ties as ideally tolerant of each other, American nationalism and religious embodiment of evil. They believe the but best kept strictly separate. Even in practice surged after 9/11, so Indone- very survival of their religious commu- tolerant Java, villages that are 99 per- sian nationalism and Islamic identity nity depends on defending themselves cent Muslim are reluctant to allow a intensify in response to anti-Islamic from the aggression of their rival, if new church to be built in their com- rhetoric in the West. necessary with military means. munity—just as small, majority Chris- Indonesia is as complex as the This perspective has a long history tian towns in the U.S. might not allow United States or any other country in Indonesia. It is part of a narrative a permit for building a mosque. Some with different religious groups pres- that sees Western colonialism, imperi- Balinese villages are very sensitive ent. Therefore, no single mindset alism and capitalist exploitation as not about allowing a mosque or a church typifies Muslim-Christian relations in only between the global North and into their Hindu neighborhood.