Islam and the Secular State in Indonesia

5. MODEL 3: Liberal Democratic State

140 5 MODEL฀3฀ Liberal฀Democratic฀State Model฀3,฀which฀will฀be฀discussed฀in฀this฀chapter,฀is฀a฀response฀to฀various฀ problems฀ of฀ the฀ religion-state฀ relationship฀ that฀ arose฀ in฀ Model฀ 2.฀ It฀ fundamentally฀ criticizes฀ the฀ hegemonic฀ position฀ of฀ the฀ state฀ over฀ people’s฀ religious฀activities฀and฀radically฀attempts฀to฀present฀a฀more฀feasible฀format฀ of฀ the฀ religion-state฀ relationship฀ for฀ Indonesia.฀ Like฀ Model฀ 2,฀ Model฀ 3฀ departs฀from฀the฀sociological฀construct฀that฀Indonesia฀is฀a฀pluralist฀country฀ and฀that฀any฀attempt฀to฀establish฀national฀integrity฀must,฀therefore,฀be฀in฀ line฀with฀the฀principles฀of฀pluralism.฀For฀Model฀2,฀the฀principle฀of฀pluralism฀ lies฀ in฀ religious฀ awareness฀ and฀ the฀ importance฀ of฀ the฀ role฀ of฀ the฀ state฀ in฀ maintaining฀people’s฀religions.฀Greatly฀dependent฀on฀the฀state,฀they฀reject฀ the฀idea฀of฀secularization.฀For฀Model฀3,฀on฀the฀other฀hand,฀the฀principle฀of฀ pluralism฀lies฀in฀the฀separation฀of฀the฀role฀of฀religion฀and฀the฀state.฀Pluralism,฀ this฀model฀argues,฀would฀not฀work฀properly฀if฀the฀state฀interferes฀too฀much฀ in฀people’s฀religious฀activities. This฀chapter฀will฀discuss฀Model฀3฀in฀the฀light฀of฀divergences฀between฀the฀ two฀models.฀It฀first฀examines฀the฀intellectual฀origins฀of฀the฀model฀and฀how฀ this฀model฀is฀fundamentally฀different฀from฀the฀previous฀ones.฀To฀make฀the฀ comparison฀and฀the฀argument฀consistent,฀I฀will฀examine฀the฀same฀problems฀ addressed฀in฀the฀previous฀model,฀namely฀the฀perception฀of฀secularization,฀ the฀ problem฀ of฀ religion-state฀ relationship,฀ the฀ attitude฀ towards฀ religious฀ pluralism,฀and฀the฀conception฀of฀an฀alternative฀economic฀system. 05 I&SSI.indd 140 4/2/09 1:14:22 PM Model฀3:฀Liberal฀Democratic฀State฀ 141 INTELLECTUAL฀ROOTS฀OF฀THE฀MODEL In฀contemporary฀discourse฀on฀political฀philosophy฀in฀the฀West,฀the฀idea฀of฀ the฀minimal฀state฀has฀been฀portrayed฀as฀paragon฀of฀a฀liberal฀state.฀Robert฀ Nozick,฀the฀most฀respected฀thinker฀of฀this฀idea,฀believes฀that฀the฀less฀the฀state฀ interferes฀in฀people’s฀affairs,฀the฀better฀the฀state฀will฀function.฀The฀core฀aim฀ of฀political฀liberalism฀is฀to฀give฀people฀their฀freedom฀and฀liberty.฀One฀of฀the฀ ways฀to฀fulfil฀this฀freedom฀is฀by฀limiting฀the฀state’s฀control.1 ฀The฀exponents฀ of฀Model฀3฀think฀along฀the฀same฀lines,฀though฀with฀a฀different฀emphasis:฀a฀ good฀state฀is฀one฀that฀does฀not฀interfere฀in฀people’s฀private฀affairs,฀including฀ that฀ of฀ religion.฀ They฀ certainly฀ do฀ not฀ use฀ the฀ term฀ “minimal฀ state”฀ or฀ “liberal฀state”฀to฀denote฀their฀view฀of฀an฀ideal฀polity.฀However,฀what฀they฀ think฀and฀formulate฀regarding฀the฀model฀of฀polity,฀particularly฀with฀regard฀ to฀the฀issue฀of฀the฀religion-state฀relationship,฀can฀be฀considered฀as฀such.฀In฀ any฀case,฀the฀use฀of฀“liberal฀state”฀or฀“liberal฀democratic฀state”฀is฀arguably฀ less฀controversial฀than฀that฀of฀the฀“secular฀state”,฀although฀from฀a฀religiouspolitical ฀perspective,฀these฀terms฀are฀equivalent. Muslim฀ discourse฀ on฀ the฀ liberal฀ democratic฀ state฀ in฀ Indonesia฀ has฀ been฀ growing฀ increasingly฀ since฀ the฀ downfall฀ of฀ Soeharto.฀The฀ change฀ of฀ regime฀has฀brought฀in฀a฀more฀liberal฀political฀atmosphere฀where฀freedom฀of฀ expression฀and฀speech฀has฀become฀normal.฀Various฀articles฀have฀appeared฀ in฀ newspapers฀ and฀ magazines฀ addressing฀ this฀ particular฀ issue.2 ฀ Mostly฀ written฀by฀members฀of฀the฀younger฀Muslim฀generation,฀these฀articles฀have฀ a฀homogenous฀message,฀namely฀to฀criticize฀the฀hegemonic฀role฀of฀the฀state฀ over฀the฀people’s฀religious฀matters,฀and฀to฀appeal฀to฀religious฀communities,฀ Muslims฀ particularly,฀ not฀ to฀ surrender฀ their฀ religious฀ affairs฀ to฀ the฀ state.฀ There฀are฀two฀main฀reasons฀articles฀of฀this฀kind฀have฀emerged.฀Firstly,฀as฀ ฀ part฀of฀the฀ mounting฀ criticisms฀and฀condemnations฀against฀the฀declining฀ regime:฀ while฀ economists฀ would฀ criticize฀ Soeharto’s฀ bad฀ economic฀ policy฀ and฀legal฀experts฀would฀criticize฀his฀bad฀implementation฀of฀the฀law,฀students฀ of฀religion,฀in฀turn,฀would฀criticize฀his฀policy฀in฀religious฀matters.฀Secondly,฀ as฀ a฀ response฀ to฀ the฀ emerging฀ groups฀ of฀ Islamic฀ fundamentalism฀ whose฀ agenda฀is฀to฀bring฀Islam฀to฀the฀state.฀Those฀articles฀are฀specifically฀addressed฀ to:฀ (i)฀ criticize฀ the฀ Muslim฀ demand฀ for฀ an฀ Islamic฀ state;฀ (ii)฀ criticize฀ the฀ Islamist฀agenda฀to฀revive฀the฀Jakarta฀Charter;฀and฀(iii)฀criticize฀the฀religious฀ bills฀whose฀essence฀is฀to฀let฀the฀state฀interfere฀in฀Muslim฀religious฀life. Certainly,฀ Muslim฀ discourse฀ on฀ the฀ liberal฀ democratic฀ state฀ did฀ not฀ emerge฀suddenly฀after฀reformasi.฀As฀a฀matter฀of฀fact,฀it฀had฀started฀since฀the฀ time฀of฀independence.฀As฀far฀as฀the฀santri฀Muslims฀are฀concerned,฀it฀began฀ in฀the฀early฀1970s฀when฀the฀Islamic฀reform฀movement฀(gerakan฀pembaruan฀ 05 I&SSI.indd 141 4/2/09 1:14:22 PM [18.226.150.175] Project MUSE (2024-04...