Leaders blamed for moral decadence
A'an Suryana and Asip Agus Hasani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Yogyakarta
Muslim figures hailed on Thursday a united call from religious leaders to address the moral decadence facing the nation and were quick to attribute the crisis to the country's leaders.
Rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Institute for Islamic Studies (IAIN), Azyumardi Azra, labeled the country's leaders as the source of the moral decay that had been prevailing in all walks of life.
"The leaders, including political and religious leaders, are unable to act as role models. They fight each other and fail to prove that they are immune from, for example, the disease of corruption," Azyumardi said.
Splits in the United Development Party (PPP) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) are the latest examples of the political elite's susceptibility to conflict.
Azyumardi said that such disputes between members of the elite would thwart their ability to defuse conflicts at the grassroots level.
"People no longer trust their leaders, and in the absence of respected leaders grassroots conflicts will continue," he said.
Over the past few years, Indonesia has seen prolonged communal clashes, including in Kalimantan, Maluku, Poso and other regions.
Also speaking out on Thursday were leading preacher Abdullah Gymnastiar and senior Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) activists Mustofa Bisri and Mahfud Ridwan.
They were commenting on a meeting between leaders of various religions, who pledged to work together to bring the country back from the brink of moral catastrophe.
Despite setting out different perspectives on the causes of and solutions to the moral crisis, the Muslim figures agreed that a failure to address the problem would lead society to the point of total moral bankruptcy.
Unlike Azyumardi, Gymnastiar said that the moral crisis had originated from people's pursuit of material possessions.
"The materialistic orientation has led people to pursue their interests, regardless of morality," said Gymnastiar, adding that this attitude was a source of corrupt practices.
To ease moral decadence, the Muslim figure proposed that the people empower themselves to act as society's moral guardians, since their leaders had lost credibility.
"Leaders have failed to establish the law, and even they are involved in corruption. Therefore, people themselves must be front runners and create credible pressure groups to raise the moral quality of society," said Gymnastiar.
Gymnastiar added that religious leaders had been right to issue a call to address the moral crisis.
"The sense of moral crisis is detrimental to the conduct of our social life, since it has become a source of economic and political decadence in the country," he said.
Moral crisis, manifested by, among other things, the presence of rampant corrupt practices in the country, had precipitated the country's economic downfall, he said.
Gymnastiar believes society's moral crisis has escalated, saying that "it has affected government officials, legislators and even religious leaders in our country."
Azyumardi shared Gymnastiar's view, saying that the moral crisis was indeed present in all walks of life.
"Political leaders are struggling for seats, regardless of moral deeds, through, for example, money politics. Sadly, corruption, drug abuse and broken families are also rampant today in our society," he said.
Mustofa Bisri offered a somewhat cliched solution to the moral decadence: a return to religious teaching.
"People's neglect of God has led them into selfishness and greed, therefore the only way they can purify themselves is by practicing religious teachings," he said.
Echoing Mustofa's views, Mahfud Ridwan said that recent religious clashes could be reduced if people practiced moral principles in their daily lives.
"If we understand the true morality of religions, there is no reason for people to fight each other in the name of religion," he said.