As a closing session of Sociology of Religion course, Undergraduate Program of Departmen of Sociology, in cooperate with LabSosio, University of Indonesia, held an public lecture titled “Agama, Demokrasi, dan Pancasila” (‘Religion, Democracy, and Pancasila’). This public lecture was held on Thursday, November 30, 2017, at the Auditorium of Juwono Sudarsono, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Indonesia. This public lecture invites Dr. Anas Saidi (researcher of LIPI – ‘Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia’) as the speaker and moderated by Lucia Ratih Kusumadewi, DEA (lecturer of Sociology of Religion course, University of Indonesia).

According to Dr. Anas Saidi, Indonesia is a social context in which there is a relation between democracy and religion. The context is said to be unique because, in fact, the majority of countries with a majority of the religious population (Islam, in this context) tends not to promote democracy. Another fact is that the ‘majority religion’ in Indonesia (Islam) tends to be textual in contemporary times, which then raises different groups within the internal of Islamic adherent in Indonesia. At the same time, democracy in Indonesia is in a dangerous position due to the prevalence of primordiality that threatens diversity in Indonesian society.

Pancasila, in the middle of this kind of social context, then indicated covering many actions that actually does not respect diversity. Pancasila, refers to Dr. Anas Saidi’s statement, is an ideology that needs to be recognized as socities spirit; on the other hand, Pancasila fails to address crucial issues in Indonesia. Pancasila then becomes an issue presents only when ideological crisis occurs, since the Post-Soeharto’s generation (better known as ‘generasi milenial’) does not experienced the hegemony of Pancasila during the New Order.

At the end of the public lecture, Dr. Anas Saidi argues that Pancasila’s weakness is its fluidity and diverse interpretation diverse that was born fromit. If in Indonesian democracy there are still majority and minority groups, Pancasila seems to be an instrument used by tyranny. Dr. Anas Saidi also emphasized the importance of critical attitude towards an issue in Indonesia, given the fact that the acceptance of societal diversity still in minimal level.