When the Communists Found Christ: Religious Conversions and the Missionary Landscape of Post-Coup Indonesia

Year 2025, Volume: 36 Issue: 2, 425 - 448, 26.08.2025

Mohammad Muafi Himam

https://doi.org/10.26650/di.2025.36.2.1673651

Abstract

This article examines the mass Christian conversions in Indonesia following the 1965 G30S/PKI coup attempt, analysing them not as isolated expressions of faith but as strategic responses to intense socio-political pressures. Using Anthony Giddens’ structuration theory as a framework, this study explores how state policies, ideological realignments, and individual agency co-constructed new religious identities in the volatile aftermath of anti-communist purges. Focusing primarily on Java between 1965 and 1971, the research reveals that many conversions—particularly among Abangan Muslims—were influenced by a mix of survival instincts, religious practicalities, and the humanitarian outreach of Christian missionaries. Prisons became key microcosms where structural coercion intersected with strategic agency, often resulting in collective religious shifts. The study further explores Muslim responses, including rising interreligious tensions and violent backlash, as well as the Suharto regime’s evolving stance—from implicit support to tighter regulation of missionary activities. Ultimately, the paper argues that mass conversions were embedded in a broader state project to reconstruct national identity through religious conformity, positioning Christianity as both a tool and a symptom of New Order ideological engineering. This study contributes to broader discussions on religion, power, and identity formation in postcolonial states experiencing ideological rupture and sociopolitical reconfiguration.

Keywords

Religious Conversion , Christian Mission , Communism , New Order Regime , Structuration Theory

Komünistler İsa’yı Bulduğunda: Darbe Sonrası Endonezya’da Dinî Dönüşümler ve Misyonerlik Manzarası

Abstract

Bu makale, 1965 G30S/PKI darbe girişiminin ardından Endonezya’da yaşanan kitlesel olarak Hristiyanlığa geçme vakalarını, yalnızca bireysel inanç ifadeleri olarak değil, yoğun sosyo-politik baskılara verilen stratejik tepkiler olarak ele almaktadır. Anthony Giddens’ın yapılaşma teorisini kuramsal çerçeve olarak kullanan çalışma, devlet politikalarının, ideolojik yeniden yapılanmaların ve bireysel edimlerin, anti-komünist tasfiyelerin ardından nasıl dinî kimlikler inşa ettiğini incelemektedir. Araştırma, özellikle 1965-1971 yılları arasında Cava adasına odaklanarak, birçok Abangan Müslümanının din değiştirme kararlarında hayatta kalma içgüdüsü, ibadet pratiklerinin zorluğu ve Hristiyan misyonerlerin insani yardımlarının etkili olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Hapishaneler, bu yapısal baskının bireysel stratejilerle kesiştiği ve toplu din değiştirmelerin gözlemlendiği mikrokozmoslar hâline gelmiştir. Çalışma ayrıca Müslüman kesimlerin bu gelişmelere verdiği tepkileri, artan mezhep gerilimlerini ve şiddetli karşılıkları da incelemektedir. Suharto rejiminin misyonerliğe yönelik tutumu ise örtük destekten sıkı denetimlere doğru evrilmiştir. Sonuç olarak makale, bu toplu din değiştirmelerin Yeni Düzen rejiminin ulusal kimliği yeniden inşa etme projesinin bir parçası olduğunu ve Hristiyanlığın hem bir araç hem de bu ideolojik mühendisliğin bir göstergesi hâline geldiğini savunmaktadır. Bu çalışma, ideolojik kırılma ve sosyo-politik yeniden yapılanma süreçleri yaşayan postkolonyal devletlerde din, iktidar ve kimlik oluşumu üzerine daha geniş tartışmalara katkı sunmaktadır.

Keywords

Din Değiştirme , Hristiyan Misyonerliği , Komünizm , Yeni Düzen Rejimi , Yapılaşma Teorisi

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