State Management of Religion in Indonesia [Paperback]

Although Indonesia is generally considered to be a Muslim state, and is indeed the worlds most populous Muslim-majority nation, it has a sizeable Christian minority as a legacy of Dutch colonialism, with Christians often occupying relatively high social positions. This book examines the management of religion in Indonesia. It discusses how Christianity has developed in Indonesia, how the state, though Muslim in outlook and culture, is nevertheless formally secular, and how the principal Christian church, the Java Christian Church, has adapted its practices to fit local circumstances. It examines religious violence and charts the evolution of the states religious policies, analysing in particular the impact of the 1974 Marriage Law showing how it enabled extensive state regulation, but how in practice, rather than reinforcing religious divisions, inter-religious marriage, involving the conversion of one party, is widespread. Overall, the book shows how Indonesia is developing its own brand of secularism, neither a full-blooded Islamic state like Saudi Arabia, nor an outright secular state like Turkey.

Introduction  1. The Landscape of Christianity in Modern Indonesia  2. Defining Religious in Indonesia: Toward Neither Islamic Nor Secular State  3. Conversion to Minority: Violence and the State Management of Religion  4. Missions without Missionaries: Social Dimension of Church Growth in Muslim Java  5. The White Cross in Muslim Java: Muslim-Christian Dimension of Politics in the Javanese City of Salatiga   6. Falling in Love and Changing a God: Inter-Religious Marriage and Religious Conversion in Java  Conclusion

'Nowhere has the rising religiosity which marks the modern age wrought such profound societal changes as in Indonesia. Over the tumultuous sixty-seven years since independence, the 'Islamisation' of Javanese society has called into question traditional bellS+