Be good; God is on television

M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Tune in to virtually any local TV station during prime time these days and God-believing folk will find that the Supreme Being as they know Him has turned into a malevolent entity.

The television programs, regular soap operas with God's name attached to their title, carry a formulaic story line in which sinners of all kinds, from corrupt state officials and gamblers to a misbehaving son, will be punished by God with a very painful death, ranging from literally being burnt in hell, eaten by flesh-eating worms to being swallowed alive by the earth.

By the drama's end, after a noisy commercial break, a preacher will appear on screen to give a sermon about what sinners will face in the afterlife in return for their misdemeanors and will remind viewers not to commit sinful acts.

In the past three months, all television stations but the state-run TVRI and news channel Metro TV, have broadcast such programs, which boast titles such as Rahasia Ilahi (God's Secret), Takdir Ilahi (God's Design), Titipan Ilahi (God's Own) and Azab Ilahi (God's Wrath).

The saturation of airwaves with religion-infused programs took place after private broadcaster TPI, owned by the Bimantara Citra group, hit the big time with sermon-filled soap operas, and enjoyed an astronomical increase in ad revenue.

Along with talent scouting shows for dangdut singers and young comedians, religious programs elevated the status of TPI from the least-watched TV channel last year to a highly popular TV station earlier this year.

TPI public relations manager Theresia Ellasari said that her company could claim originality for their shows and affirmed that they had lasting appeal.

"We have better stories and better packaging; that is our strength," she told The Jakarta Post.

Ellasari said that just like comedy or dangdut music, shows that promoted religious piety would find true devotees in any era.

Data from AGB Nielsen Media showed that from four programs in the weeks following last year's fasting month (November) until late May 2005, the number of religious program had swollen to 35.

Viewers, however, have every reason to feel uneasy with the programs these days as they have started to show some worrying signs.

Frustration and escapism

Some of the soap operas have already degenerated into campy horror shows, in which devout religious leaders become engaged in Armageddon-like battles against demons (portrayed with red skin and two horns on their head) and ghosts of all kinds.

There was also growing concern that the programs only added to the sense of powerlessness on the part of the public against growing social ills such as corruption, as sinners would only get their just deserts in the Great Beyond, which therefore renders more worldly laws impracticable.

"I don't believe that the endless supply of religious soap operas will right the wrongs in our society. I don't believe that people can find their way to salvation just by watching television," media analyst Veven S.P. Wardhana told the Post.

Veven also doubted the claim by television stations that the religious dramas were based on true stories. "How can miracles occur so often?" he queried.

Ellasari said that it never ran out of good scripts as it obtained a steady run of stories from articles printed in Hidayah, a traditionalist-leaning Islamic magazine. Some of the materials for the show were based on hadists (written documents on words and deeds from the Prophet Muhammad).

Veven said that religious programs gained currency after the populace was dealt a series of natural disasters such as the Aceh tsunami and unbearable social ills such as corruption.

"In the face of such incomprehensible calamity people tried to escape from reality. They also grow desperate, as corruption remains unbridled; religious programs are a kind of escapism," he said.

Despite their dubious quality, the country's religious establishment has embraced the programs with open arms.

The Indonesian Ulemas Council (MUI) has mulled the idea of giving awards to TV channels that run them.

Secretary-general of MUI Din Syamsudin was quoted by Gatra weekly as saying that there had been an internal discussion about the possibility of such an award.

In the past few years, MUI has given awards to TV stations and print media that have made a contribution to enlivening Ramadhan fasting month.

Ismail Yusanto, spokesperson of Hizbut Tahrir, also a traditionalist-leaning Muslim organization, said that the religious shows breathed fresh air into TV programming.

He said the programs came as a relief for viewers who were bored to death by dumbed-down TV.

Veven, however, begged to differ.

He said that the religious programs likely offended non-Muslim viewers or Muslims who rejected simplistic and doom-laden interpretations of their religion.

Veven, who is also the director of the Institute for Media and Social Studies, said that despite their present appeal, religious shows -- like any other TV programs -- were simply a passing trend.

"I assume that their shelf life will be only six months, so we shall only have to deal with them for another month or two," he said.