http://www.antara.co.id/en/arc/2007/7/30/syariah-law-theoreticallly-not-applicable-in-ri-lemhanas-chief/
07/30/07 21:29 Syariah law theoreticallly not applicable in RI: Lemhanas chief Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) Governor Prof Muladi said Islamic syariah law was theoretically not applicable in Indonesia because the country was not a theocratic state. Since the first principle of Indonesia`s state ideology, the Pancasila, was "Belief in One Supreme God", Indonesia was not a religion-based state but a state that recognizes religion, he said here Monday. The Lemhannas governor made the statement at a hearing with hundreds of local officials, academicians, community figures, as well as South Kalimantan Governor Rudy Ariffin. In the hearing on the topic "The Existence of Pancasila as the State Ideology and the Nation`s Way of Life Amid Cultural Shifts in the World," Muladi said since Indonesia was not a religion-based state it should not be dominated by any particlar religion. Therefore, he said, religious and political interests should not be mixed in the state because the function of religion was to maintain order in the republic, and adherents of one religion should be tolerant toward followers of other religions and all people should be able to conduct their own religious services in a free and peaceful atmosphere. Making religion a greater means to serve the nation`s interest was the responsibility of clerics, religious figures and the government itself, he said. Commenting on the popular joke that while more and more people went on the hajj pilgrimage and mosques and churches were being built, corruption continued to be rife, Muladi said changing this situation was the responsibility of all parties, especially clerics and religious figures who had to be able to make religion a way of life leading to truth and betterment.(*)
