MAMA ... I CAN’T GET MARRIED

Marriage in Indonesia may be quite surprising. Every bride should be in one belief, or more particular, they have to embrace the same religion. As a country with 220 million people that newly admitted 6 religions for its citizens, Indonesia has a regulation in which residents who want to marry must first be in one religion. A regulatory phenomenon may be very unfair for some people but when confronted with the reasons why and the assumptions underlying the making of these regulations, a new reflection appears.

For Indonesian people, religion is a basic principle or way of life for every individual. Although in practice, government guarantees the freedom for each individual to embrace any religion he/ she fully believe, but in matters of marriage, the government of Indonesia limits the application of two-religion-based marriages. This is because many problems that families will be confronted if the husband and wife have different religions. The problems might arise due to that marriage especially related to the wedding ceremony itself, the harmony in worship, and children’s education.

At first glance, this restriction is not in accordance with Human Rights but of course the Government has deep review of this rule for the peace and harmony of its people. In essence, such as another posting of this blog some time ago, know that religion is really important in Indonesia.