Politics of Religious Pluralism in Indonesia: A case study of Indigenous Believers in the Aftermath of 2017 Constitutional Court Decision

Abstract

This article examines the politics of religious pluralism in Indonesia, focusing on the position of indigenous believers (penghayat Kepercayaan) following Constitutional Court Decision No. 97/PUU-XIV/2016 (2017). Three objectives structure the inquiry: (1) to situate religious pluralism within the historical-normative context of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) as a sociological and constitutional foundation of the Indonesian state; (2) to identify the most prominent issues in the contemporary politics of religious freedom, specifically regulatory inconsistency, the intensification of religious conservatism, and the politicization of religious identity in electoral competition; and (3) to assess the prospects for political policy reform. A systematic review of primary sources, including annual freedom of religion and belief reports, constitutional court documents, and peer-reviewed scholarship, underpins the analysis. The findings reveal a persistent gap between formal legal recognition and substantive equality. While the 2017 ruling removed a clear form of administrative discrimination against indigenous believers, implementation remains contested and uneven, shaped by bureaucratic discretion, social prejudice, and the relational dignity frameworks specific to indigenous cosmologies. The ummah narrative, operating through dichotomous framing, emotional contagion via digital media, and victimization rhetoric, has degraded deliberative quality and marginalized minority communities, including indigenous believers. The article argues that durable pluralism requires three interlocking reform agendas: alignment of national regulations with the 1945 Constitution, elimination of discriminatory local regulations, and enforceable prohibitions on the politicization of SARA (ethnicity, religion, race, and inter-group sentiment) in elections. These findings carry implications for democratic consolidation, minority rights protection, and the governance of religious diversity in the world's largest Muslim-majority democracy.