Public Guest Lecture: Religion, Atheism and the Quest for Indonesian Identity

The state of Indonesia is neither a theocracy, nor it is a laical state. In both the state ideology of Pancasila and in the constitution, Religion – conceptualized as monotheistic believe – is portrayed as the foundation of the state. Religion is crucial for the construction of a national Identity in the culturally highly diverse country. The state supposes to guarantee the freedom of believe. This freedom, however, is limited to the acknowledged religions. Public expression of atheist thoughts is prohibited by law since it is considered to be a thread to Indonesian Identity and the cultural standards of the nation.

Despite the emphasis on religion for national identity, there is a considerable number of atheist citizens. Atheism, since it signifies the constitutive outside of Indonesia`s national Identity, is inevitably present in discourses and an object of ongoing controversy. I want to illustrate what it means to be an atheist citizen in Indonesia and how the state and society deals with the phenomenon of atheism. Finally, the lecture will deal with the function of atheism for the identity of Indonesianess.

Timo Markus Duile, PhD

Is a post-doc at the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn. He holds a doctorate in Southeast Asian Studies from the same university and is lecturer of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of Bonn as well as in anthropology at the University of Cologne.

The lecture is part of the Southeast Asia Signature Series (SEASS)