Memories Of Today, December 9, 2014: The Ministry Of Religion Does Not Regulate Restrictions On The Use Of Religious Attributes Ahead Of Christmas

Christmas decoration at a mall in Indonesia. (Between)

JAKARTA - Today's memory, nine years ago, December 9, 2014, the Minister of Religion (Menag), Lukman Hakim Saifuddin, emphasized that his staff would not make regulations that limit the use of religious attributes before Christmas. The problem should be resolved with tolerance, not law.

Previously, there were protests against companies that forced their employees to wear the attributes of a cultured religion. Instead of being seen before the Christmas commemoration, the move also came ahead of the Muslim holiday, Eid al-Fitr.

Christmas is often celebrated with joy in Indonesia. All Indonesian people are late in preparing for the religious big day.

Shopping centers are starting to present religious ornaments. Likewise with hotels and restaurants.

The narrative is considered capable of supporting the excitement ahead of Christmas. However, that does not mean that being dissolved in the euphoria of celebrating Christmas cannot be separated from the problem.

The celebration is often a problem because many companies to entrepreneurs force their employees to wear religious attributes.

In fact, their employees do not necessarily come from the same religion. The scene then received protests from here and there in 2014.

The narrative is considered to bring bad precedents for the existence of religious harmony in Indonesia.

Echoes of rejection also appear everywhere. They demand that the government and religious leaders immediately take a stand regarding the issue of coercion of attributes. Various businesses from restaurants, hotels, to malls are written one by one.

All the people want no coercion. This desire is so that religious harmony is maintained.

DPD-RI member from DKI Jakarta Fahira Idris said he received hundreds of emails and SMS from various regions that reported that there were still companies that required their employees to wear Christmas attributes. If they violate, employees will be subject to sanctions. Fahira said that most of the letters and SMS she received from Muslim female employees and most of them wear headscarves.

According to him, this is a form of intolerance and he has sent an appeal letter to retail associations, shopping centers, hotels, restaurants, and companies so that there is no obligation for Muslim employees to wear Christmas attributes. So far, what has happened has actually turned the issue around. Consider that the attributes commonly used by employees during the Christmas season as part of religious attributes are actually a wrong understanding, "explained Frengki Napitupulu in the book Santa Claus: Christmas in the Snare of Capitalism (2020).

Gaung protested then entered the ruling family. Ministry of Religion, for example. Minister of Religion Lukman Hakim Saifuddin appealed to companies and entrepreneurs not to force their employees to wear religious attributes.

The power of attorney is limited to an appeal. The Minister of Religion was reluctant to formulate his appeal in the form of legal products. He is of the opinion that his staff will not make rules that limit the use of religious attributes ahead of Christmas or Eid on December 9, 2014.

For him, this problem only needs to be solved with a form of tolerance, not law. Companies or entrepreneurs must be sensitive to maintaining peace between religious communities. This simplicity will later create a harmonious life of the nation and state.

The Ministry of Religion certainly will not make rules containing orders or prohibitions regarding the use of certain religious attributes and clothes. A Muslim does not need to be charged with wearing a cross necklace or sintex hat in honor of Christmas Day.

"Also non-Muslim women do not need to be forced to wear headscarves in order to respect Eid al-Fitr. Tolerance is to understand each other, understand, and respect each other's differences, not demand that other parties who are different from themselves," he said as quoted on the Ministry of Religion website, December 9, 2014.