Green campaign comes under the cloth

Green campaign comes under the cloth

By Riyadi

JAKARTA (JP): After helping with the government's family
planning campaign, religious leaders are being asked to join in
another crusade -- the campaign to preserve the environment.

Protecting the environment is a religious obligation whether
one is a Moslem, Christian, Roman Catholic, Hindu or Buddhist,
Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher said during a meeting
with leaders of the five religions last Saturday.

"All the major religions that exist in Indonesia teach their
followers to live in harmony with the environment ... and not to
destroy it," Tarmizi said at a seminar on "Environment in the
Perspective of Religion" at his office.

The meeting was organized by the Forum for Religion and the
Environment, which includes leaders from the five recognized
religions in Indonesia.

Tarmizi said the government has launched a series of programs
to preserve the environment, ranging from a river cleaning
campaign to the introduction of waste management concepts.

Much of the success of these programs, however, depends on the
people and very often this is where the problem lies, he said.

This is where religion, and religious leaders, are expected to
play their part in bringing people to accept and realize that
preserving the environment is a religious duty, he added.

Given the influence that religious leaders have on the
people's daily activities, the government has counted on their
assistance in many of its programs.

This was most notable in the family planning campaign, which
government officials admit would not have been successful without
a push from religious leaders.

Now that the call to preserve the environment is reaching a
higher pitch, religious leaders have been summoned to once again
to exercise their influence.

All religions

All the five religions were represented at the seminar and
addressed the forum. There was M. Yunan Yusuf (Islam), Alfons S.
Suhardi (Roman Catholic), Victor I. Tanja (Protestant), Ida Bagus
Rai Wardhana (Hindu) and Corneles Wowor (Buddhism).

The speakers concurred that religion can play a major role in
the environmental drive and given that all faiths inculcate the
need to live in harmony with the environment, it follows that the
more pious people are, the more conscious they should be of their
obligations towards their surroundings.

The Director of Hindu Affairs in the Ministry of Religious
Affairs, Ida Bagus Rai Wardhana, said Hindu's concern over
environment is apparent from its three main religious rituals:
Tumpek Wuduh (the planting ceremony) Tumpek Kandang (an animal
ceremony) and a ceremony on preserving the universe.

These ceremonies inculcate Buddhists with a belief in peace
with the environment as well as with other human beings and with
God.

Yunan Yusuf said Islam sees human being as God's viceroys on
earth, and that they are responsible for its goodness.

He proposed several campaigns which religious leaders and
institutions can promote, including leading a less consumptive
life style, promoting environmental ethics, promoting controls on
industrial waste and promoting environmental activities among
Moslem youngsters called tadabbur alam (reflections on the
universe).

Yusuf also suggested that Moslem preachers include
environmental messages in their sermons during Friday prayer.

Alfons S. Suhardi however stressed that the core of
environmental problems in Indonesia had to do with mass poverty.

He said collusion between industrialists and bureaucrats has
made these problems even worse.

"Now if religious leaders are also involved in the conspiracy,
then there is only one solution: the world needs to be washed by
another of Noah's floods," he remarked.

Victor I. Tanja acknowledged that capitalism, which was born
through protestantism, is partly responsible for the decline of
the world's environment condition.

"But capitalism is like a naughty son who deviates from the
whole family," Victor said.

Victor said the World Church Council has issued a general
theme for all countries: justice, peace and integrity of creation
and these encompass environmental preservation.

Corneles Wowor shared Victor's opinion that to preserve the
environment is almost the same as to preserve justice.

"That's why Buddha said those who cultivate lands should get
the seeds, those who do business should get the capital and those
who work should get the wages," Wowor said.