Be good; God is on television

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.