- Author: Paul Marshall
- From: Wilson Professor of Religious Freedom, Baylor University
Abstract:
Muslims rightly emphasize that the Muslim world is diverse, but we should also remember that ?the West? is also very diverse. Much of the modern West has been shaped by a Christian background and in particular an emphasis on the freedom of faith and conscience that came to prominence after the Protestant Reformation. Most of Indonesia has been shaped traditional cultures often tolerant of other views; the largely peaceful spread of a form of Islam that has emphasized piety and spirituality; the major colonial power, the Netherlands, emphasized the co-existence of religious group in a ?consociational? idea rather than an individualistic one; Pancasila incorporated these elements and is in many ways was a synthesis of them. The United States and Indonesia obviously have very many differences, but their constitutional and basic laws show some surprising parallels. These include: An explicitly religious, not secular, foundation; expectation that the country will have a range of religious beliefs; rights are not restricted according to their religion; an emphasis unity and diversity. Of course, Both countries fail to live up to their constitutional commitments, but both have good models of religious co-existence. These models are currently under threat. In Indonesia by radical forms of Islam, often stemming from the Middle East. In the United States by radical forms of secularism which want to restrict the place of religion in public life.
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