Ali Jafar | CRCS | Wednesday Forum Report
The discourse about “religion” “and” “science” has been long contested among scholars. Since the nineteenth century, religion and science have often been understood as in conflict with each other, science is human method for understanding nature using reason and religion relies on divine revelation. From different starting point, both religion and science have difficulties in finding common ground. But, starting from Ian Barbour, in the 1950s, a new discourse about the contemporary field of religion and science has proposed that integration is possible. Starting from this question at the Wednesday forum of CRCS/ICRS on 9th September 2015 , Zainal Abidin Bagir called for both side to re thinking the relation between science and religion.
Bagir described the Barbourian discourse as sympathetic to religion, accepting of the basic theories and findings of modern science, and looking at scientists’ theories and theological beliefs to understand the relationship and its impact of the former on the latter. Barbour proposed a typology: conflict, independence, dialog- integration. In the conflict relation, we have to choose one. In the independent relation religion and science belong to separate world without contact. While in the dialog, we have to find similarities of them. The last is integration meaning that religion validate science each other.
Bagir explained that the territory struggle between religion and science outside the West is not about the content itself, but it is as part of resistance to colonialism. Among this contestation, bagir told about Islamic modernist movements. In Indian subcontinent there is Sayyed Ahmed Khan who integrated religious belief with modern science. Other example include Muhammad Abduh from Egypt, Muhammad Iqbal from Pakistan, and Hossein Nasr from Iran and so on, who were communicating religious belief with scientific ideas.
Indeed, Bagir argued that discussion of the discourse on the relation between religion and science should involve historical awareness. Moreover, it should not be just discussion of the content of the two fields but rather and examination of instrumental and social ethics, as well as epistemological and metaphysical view points. Bagir also noted that there are differences in the discourse between cultures and religious tradition. One example is that evolution is not a topic of debate in the Islamic world as in the United States.
Bagir discussed several instances of the “religion and science” discourse in Indonesia. For example, this question has arisen in relation to the educational models of Islamic Universities. When some of the IAINs (State Islamic Religious Institute) were transformed into UINs (State Islamic Universities), these new universities included faculties of natural and social science and medicine. Each university took its own approach to the question, but all tried to integrate the spirit of religion and the spirit of science.
Bagir also explained that the relation between religion and science at times of disaster can be one of competing authorities. He took an example from  Merapi volcano eruption in 2010, when there was debate between scientific explanation and defiance by Mbah Maridjan, the traditional spiritual guidance of the volcano, though Bagir argued that the central was issue trust, not science versus superstition. Anticipating next week’s presentation by Samsul Maarif on the forestry practice of the indigenous people of Sulawesi, Bagir argued that the “religion” part of “religion and science” must be radically questioned and opened up to include indigenous religion which are often the same as indigenous ways of knowing nature, i.e. indigenous science. Moreover we must ask what this discourse is for: it is to dominate the other or it is for the well-being of all, including non-human communities.
Responding a question about scriptural authority in relation to scientific knowledge, Bagir answered both are known through interpretation. Another question is from Fahrur, a CRCS student, who asked about Bagir opinion on the integration of religious studies and science and other field of study, including English, at UIN Yogyakarta. Bagir described the integration is still among debate. If the purpose of integration is to create Islamic identity, what makes a field of study become Islamic? He took examples from UIN Jakarta and UIN Malang. At UIN Jakarta, there is no integrated study. Science and Islamic studies each follow its own logic and methods. While in UIN Malang, student in all field are prepared for their studies by learning about Islam for one year in a boarding school that is part of the university. Still, the science learned in university is not integrated with religious science.
Concluding the discussion, Bagir explained that the discourse of religion and science is still debatable among scholar. There are many discourses and opinions of integration of religious and science. Thus, he insisted Dr. Samsul Maarif to be speaker in the next Wednesday Forum to explain indigenous science and religion. Dr Samsul Maarif has taken his research in Amatoan in which the indigenous sciences of Amaatoan about forest conservation are coherent with their religious belief. (Editor: Greg Vanderbilt)

Ali Jafar | CRCS | Wednesday Forum

Many of us know Ammatoans from general perspectives about them. Their traditional ways of life are fascinating. Indeed, if we watch TV programs about ethnicity or similar topic, Ammatoans are usually portrayed as a small community group who “still” believe in “animism” and hold rituals for forest conservation. In some religious programs on Indonesian television, Ammatoans are shown as Muslim who practice “syncretism” because they give offerings to the forest, mountains and lands. Indonesians have a lot of stereotypes about Ammatoans, but who they really are without judgmen? Concerning with these stereotypes of Ammatoans,   On Wednesday 16^th September, Wednesday Forum of CRCS/ICRS presented Dr Samsul Maarif who had concerned his deep research in Ammatoans and said in otherwise fact.

Author: Ali Ja’far/CRCS
Editor: Gregory Vanderbilt

“Where religious freedom is heading to” is the big question nowadays. It is sensitive issue in pluralistic societies where blasphemy law and religious conflict are still dominant. Speaking in the Wednesday Forum of CRCS/ICRS, Dr Paul Marshal of the Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C., and the Leimena Institute in Jakarta argued that emphasizing religious freedom does not correlate with religious conflict, but the prevalence of religious restriction does. In his research summary, combining data from more than 180 countries, he showed that there are two factors related to religious conflict: religious restriction and social hostilities.

The January 7, 2015, attack on the Paris office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdoand the killing of eleven people has raised questions about universal values of human rights and freedom of expression, as well as religious blasphemy, since the attack was based on what some Muslims and others consider the mocking of the Prophet Muhammad. Hence, the questions about the French tradition of laïcité, which has a long history, as identity becomes significant to the discussion. One significant question is whether or not this tradition should be embodied in immigrants’ identity for them to be part of France. Following the attack, there is a movement supporting total freedom of expression as represented in the satirical cartoons found in Charlie Hebdousing the catchphrase “Jesuis Charlie” (I am Charlie).
In response to the movement, a French writer and long-time resident of Indonesia, Jean Couteau wrote a column entitled “Jesuis Charlie! Yes, but…” in a national newspaper, Kompas. Hence, Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies invited him to speak about it at its regular Wednesday forum on February 18, 2015.
Couteau explained the intellectual history of Charlie Hebdoto show how itis characterized by harsh criticism of social and political phenomena and how immigrants tend to oppose it. “Charlie Hebdo is a satirical magazine the purpose of which is to criticize any ‘power’ in social context, which really represents French tradition. It tends to be opposed to government, colonialism, religious intervention, and modern capitalism. It can be classified as at the far left of the political spectrum,” he explained. Its readers are multi-ethnicin background, such as French, Maghreb, and Jewish. However, this magazine is often sued in the court by Christians, Muslims, and members of the Jewish community, but it has always won. Then he came to the question, “Why is this magazine supported? Who supports it?” He contends that it is all about the freedom of expression, which is so much related to French intellectual history and that of Europe as well.
Discussing those questions, he explained the intellectual history of Europe. There was a period when religious absolutism existed in Europe in the sense that the church became an absolute power at that time. It decided everything regarding people’s lives. People were treated differently based on religion, ethnic, and race. However, the subjective-individual non-normative interpretation of the Bible emerged in 16th century, since printed media started to be used. It contributed to the Protestant reformation and Wars of Religion, until both the Catholics and Protestants reached a modus vivendi, leading to the emergence of “free choice” as a concept, in 17th century. Furthermore, in France between 1789 and 1799, the resistance towards Catholic hegemony emerged to free the individual from religious absolutism. Thus, the concept of citizenship based on nationality was constructed, the special right and discrimination based on social status, race, ethnicity, and religion were no longer accepted as inevitable or natural. The Declaration des Droits de l’Hommeet du Citoyen of 1789 declared certain rights as universal, contributing to the recognition of equal rights for minorities, such as Muslims, Jews, and others.
As Couteau contended that this action against religious absolutism was what led minorities in French to be equally recognized as citizens, there is no systematical discrimination as what happened before the revolution. He added that if there was no revolution, there would be no minorities in France. This is the root of French tradition embodied in the way in which Charlie Hebdocriticizes certain powerful ideologies and figures. “You can attack the opinion and idea, yet you cannot attack a people,” he said. However, the immigrants coming in the next centuries are not ready for this tradition, leading to cultural misunderstandings. They presume Charlie Hebdo is attacking the people, when it sees itself as, in fact, attacking ideology. They presume Charlie Hebdo’s satire on religious ideology, which often includes negative representations of the Prophet, means attacking Muslims.
Bernard Adeney-Risakotta of ICRCS raised the question whether the West can construct universal definitions of freedom and of blasphemy. It is very important since we live in a pluralistic society where our neighbor might see what we do as blasphemy. The more our society is plural, the more we need to listen to other views, he said. What we call freedom of expression always has limits. In reaction to this, Couteau emphasized that the meaning blasphemy changes shapes from time to time based on the context of society. He then took an example of a sewage hauling company in Bali fifteen years ago that was named “Vishnu” like the Hindu god. This would not happen nowadays, because it would be considered blasphemy. “So where does blasphemy come from?” he asked. It is shaped over time based on context. “We are witnessing things, including identities, changing over time,” he added.
Moreover, this discussion raised the question of identity. Hary, a CRCS student, asked whether French tradition of laïcité and critical opposition to religious absolutism must be embraced by the new immigrants to France or does to be part of France mean to embrace this tradition? If not, will the immigrants take the risk of being excluded from France? Couteau explained that neither ethnic origins nor religious identity of immigrants are counted in the census. One concept that has been negotiated is the notion of communitarianism, meaning that the immigrants should embrace the values of the French republic in order to integrate into French society. He further explained, as an example, why religious symbols are banned in public schools. In short, each cannot show his or her religious identity since we live with different people. If we do show our differences, it will lead to disintegration because each sees the other as different. In the Indonesian context, he explained, you cannot emphasize either Muslim or Hindu identity because the country will not survive. If national identity comes first then the country survives.

Wedforum | Hary Widyantoro 

Islam and politics has been difficult to separte. This is reflected in the situation in some Muslim countries, such as Mali and Somalia where violent struggles have shifted to periphery. In other regions, revolutionary movements like the Arab Spring were hampered by the politics of religion. On February 19, 2014, Dr. Andreas Radtke, the political counsellor in German Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, discussed these issues of political Islam in global terms at the regular Wednesday Forum lecture series hosted by CRCS and ICRS.

For this week, Wednesday Forum held on March 13, 2010, Ms. Mucha-Shim Q. Alquiza, an ICRS-Yogya student, spoke in behalf of all tri-people Filipinos in Southern Philippines regarding Inter-faith Dialogue; and Dian Maya Safitri acted as moderator.

With her carefully chosen theme “From Mission to Transformation: Dialogic encounter of peoples of faith in the bleeding Promised Land.” Ms. Alquiza presented her paper in three parts. First, she showed to the attendees the methodology she used for her paper; which is Michel Foucault’s theory on Knowledge, Power and Governmentality. Second, she traveled the audience to Southern Philippines with the aid of a map showing the places where the Bangsamoro people inhabit before where they occupied majority of the land and the present state where the Bangsamoro people occupy bits and parcel now of the land; the history of the Bangsamoro People; and their population since the first time there was a census until 2000, it showed that the population of the Bangsamoro people has decreased. And the third part, she presented the history of the dialogic encounter of peoples of faith in Mindanao and Sulu.