Indonesia atheists go online

Indonesia atheists go online

Dec 23, 2010

They use the medium to gain acceptance in a nation where having no faith carries a stigma
By Zubaidah Nazeer, Indonesia Correspondent

JAKARTA: Mr Kosh (not his real name) has been living with a big secret for four years in Indonesia. Brought up as a Muslim, the 38-year-old no longer believes in God.

He has not told his parents or his wife, a 33-year-old Muslim who dons a tudung, for fear that she would leave him.

Three years ago, the former teacher at a government high school declared his religious views to his superior. He felt pressured to resign, he said, as he was told that he was not a 'good example' to his students.

Mr Kosh, who has since been teaching part-time, told The Straits Times last week: 'If I tell my wife, our marriage is finished. Forget about telling my mother... She would have a heart attack.'

He is among a small group of Indonesians who carry with them a weighty secret. They do not believe in God, and most dare not talk about it openly.

Their atheism goes against the grain of Indonesia's state ideology, Pancasila, which stresses a belief in one God. Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world, with 90 per cent of its 240 million people being followers of Islam.

While the Constitution guarantees the right to the freedom of faith, the government recognises only six faith groups - Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism.

It is not known how many atheists there are in Indonesia, as no such data has been collected.

The group was in the media recently when the Jakarta Globe newspaper highlighted its taking of its cause online to explain its position and seek acceptance under the law.

At least one group, Indonesian Atheist (IA), is on Facebook. Started in 2008 and having nearly 600 members, it is affiliated to the Indonesian Atheist Society, whose members comprise mostly students and professionals below the age of 30. IA founder Karl Karnadi, 27, said they meet regularly.

Engineering undergraduate Dewi, 23, a member of the society, said they share stories of the stigma they face for being 'non-religious'.

'It makes us stronger in dealing with any discrimination we get in our daily lives,' she said.

Singapore-based senior research fellow Aris Ananta said atheism is not a new trend in Indonesia. The country has actually experienced a religious revival in the last decade, with more outward expressions of religiosity, he said.

But being an atheist has always been taboo. Indonesian communist supporters in the 1960s - when then President Suharto was trying to crush communism - were labelled as atheists, said Professor Azyumardi Azra from Universitas Islam Negeri.

Mr Karnadi is hoping though that Indonesian society will one day accept those who have no faiths, and that the law requiring citizens to declare their religion on identification cards will be abolished.

Senior editor Endy Bayuni, who is with The Jakarta Post, said this would be a 'realistic aim' for atheists. But it would not be possible to tweak the Pancasila 'unless there's a revolution', he added.

Meanwhile, Indonesia's atheists seek support from one another on the Internet, away from the glare of the public eye and via a medium that allows them to remain anonymous.

Said Mr Kosh: 'At least we can use this to engage discussions as a group with the wider community. Who knows, we can form a lobby group and fight for some rights.'

zubaidah@sph.com.sg