REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DENPASAR -- The Indonesian Bishops' Conference (KWI) will reject the draft law on inter-religious harmony as it considers it to be a form of criminalization of religious adherents, Father Johannes Hariyanto from KWI stated here on Wednesday.
"The inter-religious harmony law, or whatever it is called, is a form of criminalization against religious adherents. In view of this, it is certain that the KWI will reject it," he noted when asked to comment during the Conference of International Asian Journey.
Father Johannes explained that religion and freedom of religion could not be made into a law as following a particular religion is a matter of personal choice.
"Religion is faith. Faith is not seen; it is only observed and implemented. How can a state regulate a person's religious observance and implementation? If this happens, it means the state criminalizes religious adherents, who in fact, have to be protected," he remarked.
He pointed out that if the law is implemented, it means the state determines the truth of a religion.
"The question is whether it is possible for a state to determine if a religion is right or wrong. This is really a form of criminalization by the state against religious adherents, who on the other hand, must be protected," he emphasized.
Moreover, Father Johannes stated that minimum inputs had been gathered from the concerned religious elements for the drafting of the law.
He noted that the drafting of the law has so far involved only a few people from a certain religion as a result of which the definition of a religion has become unclear.
He claimed that if the definition is limited to belief in One God (monotheism), revelation, and having a holy book and prophets, then religions in Indonesia will vanish since on this basis, only Islam and Christianity will be considered eligible, and this is a form of religious criminalization.
Moreover, he noted that the draft law had not yet been massively popularized across religions in the country.
"It must never happen that the draft law will be passed into a law without the people knowing about it. If this happens, the state will propagate a public lie," he affirmed.
In view of this, he remarked that the KWI has firmly committed to voicing its rejection to it, adding that a discourse has developed within the KWI to unanimously reject the draft law, and it has even formulated a rival draft law, which is more neutral and normal.
Based on various discussions, law is a live cultural teaching, and it protects the weak and limits the power of the strong, while every religion has a different interpretation about them, he remarked, adding that the inter-religious harmony law runs counter to its own concept.
Director General of Catholics Community Guidance of the Ministry of Religious Affairs Eusabius Binsasi stated that the government believes that the law is needed to protect religious followers and regulate social life between different religious followers.
He admitted that the draft law has been available, while its study and academic draft have been made on the basis of a joint regulation between the Ministry of Home Affairs and formulated by religious institutions in the country.
"The draft has been sent to all figures, entities, and religious institutions for collecting their inputs before it is passed into a law. Until now, the draft law is still under debate, and no agreement on it has been reached," he added.
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