Shariah don't like it…? Punk and Religion in Indonesia

Pamphlet, 52 p.

The influence of religion in Indonesia is substantively different to the UK, and even to Poland despite the boasts of influence by the Catholic Church there. Religion infiltrates into the state and is at the root of organised terror campaigns, the affordable schools are madrassas, pressures from society and family are intense, and atheism is unlawful. Religion wields huge power in Indonesia and it does not allow its influence to be escaped easily. The examples of openly anti-religious punk discussed above are exceptional. They are also illegal. In ‘the West’ punk opposes religion, even if religion is far less concerned with punk. In Indonesia the ‘opposition’ flows predominantly in the other direction, with religious groups actively repressing punks, while punks seek to maintain affiliation to a religious identity or culture. Any sense of an expected or ‘ordinary’ relationship between punk and religion completely breaks down. The imperialist/neo-colonial/Orientalist argument would run that Indonesian punks will become more atheistic with increasing exposure to their ‘more advanced’ or ‘further developed’ atheist comrades in the West.