Promoting Pluralism in Indonesia

central issues to the programme

Pluralism is a heavily debated issue in present-day Indonesia.In the past few years, the media has increasingly reported about different positions in the debates, in response to the growth of religious and social conflicts in the country. Both those who are in favour and those who are against fundamentalist forms of religion have frequently expressed their views.

‘Religious pluralism’ in the Indonesian context does not merely mean the co-existence of different religious groups that tolerate each other’s beliefs. Pluralism implies that one actually believes that each of the religions is ‘true’. To many Muslims, this is an unacceptable and relativist point of view. It opposes their belief that there is only one God. Even worse, it would demonstrate that each of the religions is equally not true.

Other Muslims, however, feel that pluralism is very compatible with the Islamic religion. They argue for a pluralism based on Islamic tradition. At the same time, ‘pluralism’ as a label has acquired a bad name. It is associated with a new form of Western domination which does not fit the Indonesian context. The groups in favour and the groups against pluralism seem to be very polarised on this theological view. This polarisation, which has sometimes become manifest in violent incidents, is visible. To illustrate:

Religious based conflicts have dominated Indonesia’s social political dynamics, such as the anti-pornography bill controversy, the attacks of churches by Moslims, bible-inspired local regulations in Papua.

A particular case that has drawn attention is the situation of the Ahmadiyah. The followers of Ahmadiyah believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad received divine revelation and treat him as a prophet. The Ahmadiyah group is controversial since the mainstream of Islam in Indonesia represented by the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI) does not accept the existence of another prophet after Mohammed. Due to this controversy, followers of Ahmadiyah have been attacked by thousands of people belonging to the Indonesian Muslim Solidarity group. They vandalized Ahmadiyah’s the Ahmadiyah complex in Parung, Bogor in West Java and set a women’s dormitory there on fire.

In Indonesia, the Knowledge Programme on Promoting Pluralism will thus focus on pluralism related mainly to religious issues. Indonesian civil society organizations and religious groups have stepped up their response to the increased radical religious fundamentalisms that impose a rigid and literal interpretation of words and principles contained in religious texts. This literalism forms the basis for a worldview which does not tolerate divergent opinions. Such intolerance leads to radical actions of attacking minority religious groups or to legalize their conservative interpretations of religious text through local regulations.

The Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme wants to understand the different debates around pluralism and fundamentalisms and increase access of civil society organizations to that knowledge. Outcome of the programme should be a translation of this knowledge into new strategies to promote pluralism and peaceful co-existence of the diverse groups in Indonesia in practice.

In the Knowledge Programme, the emphasis will be on “civic pluralism” in which religious issues play prominent roles. Speaking of “civic pluralism” implies that the focus and the approach will not be on theological pluralism. Instead, central are the practices of pluralism in a society consisting of different communities identifying themselves in religious terms. In addition, the role of the state in policy-making related to religions and religious communities. In particular, the programme goes into law, law-enforcement, and formation of social consensus. Minority and vulnerable groups will receive special attentions for their vulnerability; they include gender issues, issues related to indigenous religious communities, and minority groups in general.