Negotiating Boundaries of Religion Roles in the State System

Abstract

This chapter discusses the debates between the Founding Fathers of Indonesia about the position of agama (religion) in the state system in the preparation of Indonesia political independence as a republic on 17 August 1945. The debates on an Islamic state, negara Islam versus negara berketuhanan (an Islamic state versus a “religious-based” state) are the most important features in the Indonesian political system. In the end, they reached a compromise on the surface, making agama the marker of identity for the Indonesian nation-state, and berketuhanan was emphasized in the state system. While this principle was taken as the guide of an Indonesian ideology, Pancasila, and was clearly stated in all versions of the Indonesian Constitution, in fact the prolonged battle to negotiate the boundaries of religious influences in the Indonesian state system began at the outset.