State Management of Religion in Indonesia (Routledge Religion in Contemporary Asia Series) - Softcover

Seo, Myengkyo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1138183008 ISBN 13: 9781138183001

Publisher: Routledge, 2015

Synopsis

Although Indonesia is generally considered to be a Muslim state, and is indeed the world’s 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 state’s 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.

About this title

About the Author

Myengkyo Seo completed his doctorate at the University of Cambridge, UK and now teaches Southeast Asian Studies at the Department of Malay-Indonesian Studies, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Korea.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1138183008
• ISBN 13: 9781138183001
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 200