Violence is only the tip of iceberg<\/p>\n
Violence can take on many forms and the one that utterly
\nmanifested itself in last week's riots in Jakarta was just one of
\nthem, according to Father B.S. Mardiatmadja, a Catholic priest
\nand a lecturer of philosophy at STF Driyarkara.<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The word violence easily conjures up horror
\npictures in our minds these days, like the hundreds of people who
\nbroke through store doors, stole goods and sometimes killed the
\nstore owners or, even worse, killed passersby. We remember also
\nhow some were killed during the recent weeks of demonstrations in
\nour cities.<\/p>\n
Many have expressed sorrow and even dismay over such violence.
\nIt is real. It is understandable. We should be sorry that we
\ncould engender such violence.<\/p>\n
When referring to violence, we immediately think of physical
\nviolence against a person, including, in its most extreme form,
\nmurder. But we should see the whole picture, even the invisible
\npanorama. Then we will find that physical violence is only the
\ntiny tip of a huge iceberg.<\/p>\n
We see the unhappy reality, that individuals and small groups
\nare increasingly becoming victims of various forms of violence.
\nAmong the groups who are experiencing systematic violence as a
\nmethod of control are minorities, local tribes, women, children,
\nthe unborn, bonded laborers, domestic workers, refugees and
\nmigrants, prisoners and all those working in unorganized labor
\nand in low-income groups.<\/p>\n
Violence is, in principle, any encroachment on the fundamental
\nrights of an individual or a group. It is the control and
\nsubjugation of one human person to the will of another, which
\ndiminishes both the dignity of the oppressed and the humanity of
\nthe oppressor.<\/p>\n
Moreover, violence is not only a desecration of individuals,
\nbut also of whole groups in society. And as such, violence is a
\ntransgression against the created order established by God.<\/p>\n
In our society, there are individuals or groups who, because
\nof their social group, are denied opportunities granted to
\nothers, they are given inadequate pay and forced to take only the
\nlowliest, most menial work.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, there are individuals or groups who are
\nprivileged to have better opportunities because of their birth
\n(because they are children of influential people), or their
\nrelationships (because they are friends of very important
\npersons). There we see how nepotism and collusion are potential
\nand very often actual causes of economic violence.<\/p>\n
There are persons who are dismissed from their positions,
\narrested, even tortured and deprived of their rights because of
\ntheir political stance.<\/p>\n
Then there are people who can do nearly everything to
\ninfluence and determine the political course of the country.<\/p>\n
A positive law could enable them to become a very strong
\npressure group. There are also oppressive and discriminatory
\nlaws, ruthless or biased law enforcement, unrestricted police
\npractices, summary arrests, long-delayed trials, an over use of
\nArmed Forces to deal with civil disturbances, the suppression of
\nthe right to dissent and freedom of association, excessive
\nmilitarization, and the most pervasive of all, corruption in
\npublic life.<\/p>\n
It is possible, therefore, that certain laws and bylaws become
\ntools for political violence.<\/p>\n
In this view, we could do violence if we uproot and evict
\npeople from their lands and homes on the pretext of \"progress\" or
\nfor the \"unity of the country\".<\/p>\n
This way, making individuals or social groups feel themselves
\ninferior, backward and \"dispensable\" is really a violence to
\none's self-image ad self-respect.<\/p>\n
It becomes a reality when we invade, degrade or destroyed
\npeople's values, traditions and historical past. This is called
\ncultural violence. In this sense, denying religious freedom,
\nmaking an individual or group suffer for their beliefs and
\ndiscriminating groups of citizens because of their faith is truly
\nreligious violence.<\/p>\n
It is a pity that sometimes, cultural or religious violence is
\ndone in the name of culture or religion.<\/p>\n
We believe that family life is one of the most sacred
\nsanctuaries for our love. In the realm of love, we do not often
\nthink of violence but, gender violence does exist.<\/p>\n
When the dignity and rights of women are violated, when they
\nare paid less for the same work as a man, sexually harassed,
\ndenied educational opportunities, or viewed as inferior to or
\nhaving lesser status than men, then we have gender violence.<\/p>\n
Even against children there are violent actions. This happen
\nwhen they are forced into labor, often in subhuman conditions, or
\nsubjected to physical abuse at home or school or sexual abuse by
\npedophiles and sex tourists.<\/p>\n
There is still much more violence besides physical violence.
\nThere are even indications that many physically violent acts are
\nthe result of greater or deeper violence.<\/p>\n
It is our wish that we could stop street violence. But we
\ncannot wholly erase violence from our society unless we stop also
\neconomical, political, cultural, psychical and religious
\nviolence.<\/p>",
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