Business as usual?

Business as usual?

After the celebration of Idul Fitri, business as usual is the
last thing we want. Fitri refers to a state of being cleansed, a
life begun anew with a clean slate after a month of fasting and
trying not to give in to worldly desires. Needless to say, the
earthly human may struggle mightily to leave all sins and bad
habits behind, but relatively few will likely manage to claim
that they feel they have progressed spiritually, at least by
their own standards, by the time they reach the "day of victory",
as Idul Fitri is also known.

This year's Ramadhan, in particular, was a showcase of
chilling contrast: the spirit of calm contemplation and
intensified worship on the one hand, and the lengths to which
certain people will go to in order to remind us how uncivilized
and barbaric humans can be on the other hand.

One heinous crime after another occurred throughout the month.
From the Bali terror attacks at the beginning of the month to the
savage schoolgirl beheadings at the end of the month.

Among the Balinese, religious divisions between Hindus and
Muslims were at least partially blamed for the violence that
occurred days before their important religious commemoration of
Galungan. Muslims continued to maintain that such acts could not
have come from people with a true understanding of their
teachings.

Days before Idul Fitri, the beheading of three Christian
schoolgirls in Poso, Central Sulawesi brought condemnation again
from around the world; even from Pope Benedict XVI. Some local
leaders and even parents of one of the victims in Poso, however,
indicated that they did not believe it was the act of their
Muslim neighbors. Andreas Yewangoe who heads the Indonesian
Communion of Churches (PGI) aptly summed up the pain of the
entire community -- still grieving from the communal violence a
few years ago: "Why did the killings take place as both the
Muslim and Christian communities were successfully improving
their relationship, moving away from hostility?"

Authorities called for restraint, reminding the public of the
likely provocation which could, if unchecked, lead to similar
bloodbaths that occurred both in Poso and, earlier, the Maluku
islands.

Business as usual would mean the mere dismissal of violent
acts as those carried out by a small, unimportant "minority" or,
in the words of the chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council, Din
Syamsuddin, "atheists."

Such statements may aim to appease many among the faithful
that the bad guys who were clearly made for hell and were not one
of "us"; they must have been one of "them." Surely men in masks
chopping off children's heads could not in any way be decent
people no matter what their religion was and regardless of
whether they had one.

But our leaders cannot stop there. Every one of us continues
to remain a potential victim of violence as long as the twisted
masterminds aim to exploit our diversity, even though the
motivation of the terrorist acts may be specific to each
location. The PGI chairman pointed out that he felt local leaders
in Poso had done enough to try and heal the feelings of revenge
among the different religious communities, but that law
enforcement was grossly lacking.

Would the same apply on a national scale? Have spiritual
leaders and those chairing the religious organizations done
enough to stress the need to respect one another and live
together in peace? Have they really gone all out to show what
tolerance implies?

One look at the ongoing squabble between Christians in Bekasi
who until last week had resorted to holding mass on the street
since their church was blocked by a group of Muslims -- is yet
another absurd, but saddening example of how far we have to go.

Each incident of violence splashes on to the headlines before
fading away. But following each case of bloodletting that seems
related to our diversity, survivors such as the millions in
Maluku and Bali were left painfully pondering whether they could
continue to live side by side with their neighbors.

If we are to live up to one message of Idul Fitri to cleanse
ourselves and begin anew before one's Maker and one's neighbors,
we would like to see much more from our leaders of religious
communities in taking up the crucial role of public education --
assuming that most Indonesians are religious, as we have been
told, rather than "atheistic."