A peaceful and merry Xmas
Christmas Day, when Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, is supposed to be both festive and serene.
It is festive because it marks the birth of a man who Christians believe to be the savior of mankind. He was the long- awaited Messiah whose mission was to liberate humanity from millennia of suffering and indignity. The day of his birth is a day of joy for Christians, who celebrate the coming of freedom. Christmas parties, ornately decorated Christmas trees, beautiful clothes and so forth are merely festive expressions of the spirit of Christmas.
It is a serene occasion because Jesus Christ was born into a simple family who at the time had to travel away from home. The poor family could not afford normal lodgings. Instead, they had to spend the night in a deserted stable. There was no crib to lay the newly born baby in, so they had to make do with a manger that shepherds used to hold feed for their livestock.
Religious services in churches on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day recreate that serenity with, among other things, beautiful Christmas carols. For Christians, the serenity of the Christmas service, as a community and family event, imbues peace.
For the past several years, however, the serenity of Christmas, and consequently its aura of peace, has become a luxury that many communities and families in Indonesia cannot afford. The Christmas joint message conveyed by the (Catholic) Bishops' Conference of Indonesia and the (Protestant) Community of Churches in Indonesia this year, expressed "a very deep concern about the disturbed peace".
On Christmas Eve last year, dozens of bombs exploded at a number of churches nationwide, killing at least 15 churchgoing civilians and seriously injuring 96 other innocent people. This year, Jakarta's police will deploy 14,000 personnel to guard churches on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
In other places like Poso and Maluku, many people will not be able to go to church to attend the Christmas service for the simple reason that their churches no longer exist. For many Christian families there won't be a Christmas gathering at home because they have been left homeless.
And they are not alone. Many Muslim communities and families in other places in Indonesia could not celebrate Idul Fitri properly last week. There are at least 1.3 million Indonesians in 19 provinces who have been uprooted from their communities and families because of ongoing violence and civil strife.
Indeed, this kind of situation has been going on for more than three years and Indonesians seem to be getting used to it. Violence instead of peace has become the order of the day. Lawlessness has become something that is not unusual, and is often aggravated by the phenomenon, "rule by law", instead of the "rule of law". Worse, we have let things go on, damaging the very basic tenets of human dignity.
We may still have the facade of a festive and serene Christmas this year in many places in Indonesia. However, if the meaning of Christmas is to incorporate the liberation of humanity from suffering and indignity, if Christmas is to imbue peace, then we all have to work together really hard to promote a more humane, civil society.
We wish you all a peaceful and merry Christmas.