The control and management of religion in post-independence, Pancasila Indonesia

Pancasila, the political ideology of the nation state of Indonesia, is an inventive construct which gave form to the Republic of Indonesia. Upon their Declaration of Independence, Indonesia adopted Pancasila as the unifying narrative for their country. Yet Pancasila's simplistic statements needed to be given meaning. Social movement theory looks at how politics uses frames as a means of creating their narrative. Over the past 60 years, three governing periods have framed the first principle (sila) -- belief in One Supreme God -- in ways that have furthered their political agendas. The first period was under Sukarno, a radical nationalist who viewed Pancasila as a means of ensuring territorial integrity by including Christians in the fabric of the newly founded nation. The second period was under Suharto, an uncompromising autocrat who saw Pancasila as a way of establishing a stable state through eliminating the armed Islamic rebellion of Darul Islam and violent Indonesian Communist Party (Partai Komunis Indonesia - PKI). Suharto utilized Pancasila as a means of rejecting both the Islamic and the Atheistic state. The final period is under fluid democratic rulers. Under this period, religion is being globalized and is no longer confined to territorial entities. As religions are freed from territory and culture, Pancasila has taken on the role of creating a national community between religions groups. This thesis analyzes how the three modern eras of Indonesian government - Sukarno, Suharto and various Democratic leaders - have redefined Pancasila to facilitate their vision of the state which allowed them to control and manage religion in support of their vision and agenda.