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Radicalism is one the gravest threats facing the nation. If left unchecked, it will tear apart the social fabric that has held Indonesia together since independence was won.
Having belatedly recognized this threat, the government is planning to reintroduce the national ideology of Pancasila into school curriculums in an effort to promote tolerance.
Lessons will be taught to students from elementary to university levels, according to Muhammad Nuh, the minister of education. Pancasila, which espouses the principles of one God, justice, the unity of Indonesia, a government that is based on consensus, and social justice for all Indonesians, has guided the relationship between the government and the people for the past 60 years.
The minister noted that today’s younger generation have very little understanding on the importance of maintaining unity in diversity. This ideological crisis is evident in numerous incidences of social conflict, terrorist attacks and the re-emergence of separatist movements such as the Indonesian Islamic State (NII), which aspires to establish Shariah rule.
Pancasila was conceived at the very start by the country’s founding fathers, and has become ingrained in the national psyche. In 1945, in an effort to pull together the religiously and ethnically diverse nation, President Sukarno set Pancasila as the country’s guiding principles. It was later used by Suharto’s New Order regime to keep religious extremism at bay, including demands that all political parties and mass organizations adhere to the ideology.
But to be truly effective, Pancasila needs direction and values. In today’s world of relativism, the belief system prevalent in society today, Pancasila is losing its place. As such, it has been reduced to no more than an empty slogan.
If everything is relative, there can be no absolute truths. In fact in a perverse sense, it is the terrorists who believe more strongly in their cause.
We must therefore return to Pancasila to regain a hold on some absolute truths. Pancasila is anchored in the belief in one God, and this belief is not just rhetoric or an empty slogan. If we truly believe in Pancasila, then religion, in the sense that it brings people a personal relationship with God, should be central.
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