The attempt to expand the discourse of science and religion by considering the pluralistic landscape of today's world requires not only adding new voices from more religious traditions but a rethinking of the basic categories of the discourse, that is, “science,” “religion,” and the notion that the main issue to be investigated is the relationship between the two. Making use of historical studies of science and religion discourse and a case study from Indonesia, this article suggests a rethinking of the categories, including giving more attention to indigenous religions.

The landscape of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in Indonesia has been shaped by two elements: first, the progressive adoption of human rights in the new laws and amended constitution, as a result of the democratization which started in 1998; second, the old governance of religion which acknowledges limited religious pluralism and emphasizes harmony over freedom. A striking feature resulting from this combination is the addition of “religious values” as a ground of FoRB limitation in the new chapter on human rights in the amended Constitution, which otherwise draws its inspiration from the ICCPR and other international human rights covenants. Indonesian “public order” and “public morals” are understood to consist of, among other things, respect and protection of religious values. While the emphasis on religious values and public order produces most restrictions, when it comes to limitations to FoRB on grounds of public health, the government seems reluctant to impose necessary restrictions.

When speaking about Islam and contemporary issues in science, Guessoum's Islam's Quantum Question shares many characterizations with Barbourian science and religion discourse. The focus is on theological responses to particular scientific theories. In this article I suggest an expansion of the discourse by looking at how science meets religion (as well as other local system of knowledge) in practice, in particular events such as natural disaster, when they are called upon as sources of meaning making. The encounter takes place not only at the cognitive level, but may take the form of competition, collaboration, or negotiation over the authority to provide explanation. In practice the authority is supported not only by objective knowledge but involves many other factors, including politics. Thus, part of my proposal for expansion suggests the broadening of how we understand science and religion to include how assertions of authority are made in practice.

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This research attempts to investigate an intermingled relationship of political interest and religious issues, particularly in the Jakarta's Gubernatorial Issues in 2017. Basuki Tjahaya Purnama or Ahok, one of the governor candidate and also the former governor was accused of blasphemy issues after his speech in the Pramuka Island becomes viral. Although this case ended with a court, which ruled that he was guilty and received a sentence of 2 years in prison, this has become an unforgettable fact of Indonesian democracy. The proposed inquiry is how far religious issues influence political tension for based non-religion countries such as Indonesia. By using approach of hate Spin, within the combination of hate speech (vilification or offense-giving) and indignation of the offense-taking framework, this paper focuses on the entanglements of a political campaign and religious issues in the election period. This issue is significant for the reason that the tension of religious and political issues put both democracy and multiculturalism in Indonesia. Indeed, there is still a good opportunity for maintaining diversity through producing tolerance view, and enforcing the law for the actor of hate speech and hate spin.