Islam and the Secular State in Indonesia

4. MODEL 2: Religious Democratic State

97 4 MODEL฀2฀฀ Religious฀Democratic฀State We฀have฀seen฀that฀Model฀1฀failed฀to฀become฀an฀alternative฀model฀of฀an฀ideal฀ government฀in฀Indonesia.฀The฀model’s฀vision฀of฀the฀state-religion฀relationship฀ is฀not฀applicable฀to฀the฀Indonesian฀pluralist฀community.฀Mohammad฀Natsir’s฀ and฀Zainal฀Abidin฀Ahmad’s฀view฀of฀equality฀and฀of฀minority฀political฀rights฀ is฀not฀conducive฀to฀a฀democratic฀state,฀which฀requires฀complete฀equality฀for฀ all฀citizens.฀Model฀1฀is฀likely฀to฀be฀suitable฀only฀for฀a฀Muslim฀majority฀with฀ a฀homogeneous฀understanding฀of฀Islam,฀and฀with฀a฀minority฀which฀is฀ready฀ to฀live฀with฀such฀an฀understanding.฀In฀reality,฀such฀a฀condition฀is฀obviously฀ difficult,฀if฀not฀impossible,฀to฀find. The฀next฀two฀models฀which฀I฀will฀discuss฀in฀this฀chapter฀and฀the฀next฀ are฀immediate฀responses฀to฀the฀prevailing฀failed฀model.฀Both฀models฀agree฀ on฀the฀importance฀of฀equality฀as฀the฀basic฀principle฀of฀political฀pluralism.฀ However,฀both฀differ฀in฀their฀view฀of฀the฀relationship฀between฀religion฀and฀ the฀ state.฀While฀ one฀ suggests฀ the฀ crucial฀ role฀ of฀ the฀ state฀ in฀ determining฀ people’s฀religious฀life,฀the฀other฀proposes฀that฀the฀state฀be฀neutral.฀The฀two฀ models,฀which฀I฀call฀the฀“Religious฀Democratic฀State”฀(RDS)฀and฀the฀“Liberal฀ Democratic฀ State”฀ (LDS),฀ emerged฀ at฀ the฀ same฀ time,฀ yet฀ they฀ developed฀ dynamically฀on฀different฀trajectories.฀While฀the฀former฀was฀dominant฀in฀the฀ Soeharto฀era฀and฀was฀widely฀welcomed฀by฀most฀Muslims,฀the฀latter฀remains฀ limited฀ to฀ intellectual฀ discourse,฀ particularly฀ among฀ the฀ younger฀ Muslim฀ generation. 04 I&SSI.indd 97 4/2/09 12:08:04 PM 98฀ Islam฀and฀the฀Secular฀State฀in฀Indonesia THE฀EMERGENCE฀OF฀THE฀MODEL Generally฀ speaking,฀ Model฀ 2฀ is฀ an฀ attempt฀ by฀ the฀ younger฀ generation฀ of฀ santri฀ Muslims฀ to฀ justify฀ the฀ model฀ of฀ polity฀ built฀ by฀ the฀ New฀ Order฀ regime.฀The฀word฀“justify”฀is฀perhaps฀not฀entirely฀appropriate,฀since฀it฀has฀ a฀negative฀connotation.฀However,฀it฀is฀not฀entirely฀inaccurate฀since฀many฀of฀ the฀exponents฀of฀Model฀2฀were฀directly฀or฀indirectly฀supporting฀Soeharto฀in฀ his฀project฀to฀build฀a฀new฀government.฀As฀we฀will฀soon฀see,฀many฀exponents฀ of฀Model฀2฀joined฀him฀in฀building฀the฀country.฀ Since฀ the฀ very฀ beginning฀ of฀ his฀ rule,฀ Soeharto฀ was฀ concerned฀ with฀ how฀ to฀ consolidate฀ the฀ ideologically฀ fragmented฀ national฀ elements.฀ After฀ the฀ destruction฀ of฀ communism฀ and฀ the฀ crumbling฀ of฀ Soekarno฀ in฀ 1967,฀ national฀consolidation฀was฀easier.฀Military฀factions฀were฀united฀under฀one฀ command,฀while฀political฀parties฀were฀fully฀controlled.฀Political฀ideologies,฀ particularly฀ nationalism,฀ communism,฀ and฀ Islamism,฀ were฀ not฀ given฀ a฀ chance฀ to฀ develop,฀ and฀ instead,฀ Soeharto฀ initiated฀ the฀ creation฀ of฀ a฀ new฀ national฀ideology.1 Pancasila,฀that฀new฀ideology,฀was฀not฀actually฀new฀and฀was฀not฀invented฀ by฀Soeharto.฀It฀had฀existed฀since฀the฀time฀of฀independence.฀It฀had฀also฀been฀ used฀by฀the฀nationalists฀to฀counter฀imported฀ideologies฀such฀as฀Islamism,฀ communism,฀ and฀ liberalism.฀ However,฀ in฀ Soeharto’s฀ hands,฀ Pancasila฀ was฀ reinvigorated฀ and฀ redesigned฀ in฀ order฀ to฀ unite฀ the฀ people.฀ Soeharto฀ considered฀Pancasila฀to฀be฀an฀important฀ideology,฀not฀only฀because฀of฀its฀ role฀as฀a฀glue฀for฀varying฀national฀elements,฀but฀also฀as฀the฀identity฀of฀the฀ Indonesian฀state.฀Inheriting฀old฀controversies,฀Soeharto฀knew฀the฀identity฀ of฀the฀state฀remained฀crucial.฀He฀did฀not฀want฀to฀have฀Indonesia฀called฀a฀ secular฀state,฀or฀a฀theocratic฀one.2 ฀With฀Pancasila,฀he฀believed,฀the฀country฀ would฀simply฀become฀“religious”,฀since฀Pancasila฀encapsulates฀the฀people’s฀ religious฀aspirations. For฀some฀Muslims,฀Model฀2฀is฀perhaps฀an฀irony;฀for฀one฀thing,฀it฀was฀ backed฀by฀Soeharto,฀a฀man฀who฀had฀been฀condemned฀for฀his฀mismanagement฀ of฀the฀country.฀However,฀we฀have฀to฀distinguish฀between฀the฀model฀as฀it฀ was฀intended฀by฀Soeharto,฀and฀the฀model฀as฀a฀theoretical฀construction฀set฀ by฀Muslims฀in฀the฀context฀of฀the฀political฀reality฀they฀faced.฀As฀Soeharto’s฀ creation,฀the฀model฀might฀not฀be฀free฀from฀his฀pragmatic฀political฀interests,฀ but฀ as฀ a฀ construction฀ of฀ reality,฀ it฀ can฀ be฀ accepted฀ as฀ an฀ “objective”฀ fact,฀ since฀it฀is฀desired฀by฀many฀Indonesian฀Muslims.฀In฀any฀case,฀the฀emergence฀ of฀ the฀ model฀ was฀ strongly฀ driven฀ by฀ the฀ socio-political฀ situation.฀ The฀ political฀transition฀from฀Soekarno฀to฀Soeharto฀not฀only฀meant฀the฀shift฀of฀ political฀order฀from฀the฀old฀to฀the฀new฀(hence฀the฀terms฀“Old฀Order”฀and฀ 04 I&SSI.indd 98 4/2/09 12:08:04 PM Model฀2:฀Religious฀Democratic฀State฀ 99 “New฀ Order”),฀ but฀ also฀ the฀ generational฀ shift฀ between฀ the฀ old฀ and฀ new฀ santri฀ Muslims.฀ Entering฀ the฀ 1970s,฀ the...