Let there be peace
It is of course purely coincidental that this year two of the most auspicious days that are observed by two of the world's great religions fall so close together. It only happens once in every so many decades that Christmas, which Christians the world over celebrate to mark the birth of Christ, and Idul Fitri, the end of Islam's holy month of Ramadhan in which the initial verses of the holy Koran were first revealed to Prophet Muhammad, falls in the same week.
This is indeed reason for celebration. More than merely celebrating the birth of Christ, Christmas is a time for promoting goodwill among people and peace on earth. The message of Idul Fitri is no less noble and peaceful. Moreover, Islam regards Christians as fellow "people of the book" who must be treated with deference even though they have "strayed" from the teachings of the faith.
Thus, for decades, up to and during the initial years of independence, Indonesian Muslims and Christians have lived side by side in perfect peace and harmony. It must be said, however, that the situation has drastically changed in a number of regions over the past few decades. The province of Maluku provides an example par excellence of a region where things have gone wrong. Today Muslims and Christians are killing each other and forced religious conversions are taking place. But Maluku is not the only example of a region where the religious harmony has been rudely shattered. Even in Jakarta, acts of violence continue to occur with the law enforcing apparatus apparently unable or unwilling to interfere.
Rather than merely being a cause for celebration, this year's Christmas and Idul Fitri should give Indonesians reason to reflect on what exactly went wrong. The Dutch were probably the first to have, in the colonial days, introduced the notion of Indonesians being het zachtste volk ter aarde (the most gentle people on earth). That same theme has since been gratefully taken up by the tourist industry, which continues to portray Indonesians as being by nature, gentle, friendly and hospitable. Current events, however, show that Indonesians would do well to ask themselves, in all honesty, how much of this is fiction and how much is true.
Among the more current comments on the true nature of Indonesians are that they are vengeful, savage, greedy, selfish and ready to kill on the slightest insult. Of course, such comments are far from flattering, and many Indonesians would probably be right to reject them as unfair. The point, however, is that Indonesians cannot escape the fact that violence and killings do occur. The religious tolerance and harmony that was once the pride of the nation are almost totally gone.
What went wrong? According to some observers, what went wrong was that during the more than three decades under Soeharto's New Order regime, nation and character-building, two aspects of development which Indonesia's founding president Sukarno put so much of emphasis on, was completely neglected. In its place, the New Order regime emphasized on the material development of the country while encouraging, for purposes of self-preservation, the strengthening of sectarian interests through the education system. The spirit of national unity and the sense of belonging to one nation, that president Sukarno cultivated and eventually established, was allowed to decline.
Therefore, Indonesians would do well to use this Christmas and Idul Fitri celebrations to ponder the question of where the nation stands at this juncture of its history, and whether it is worth saving, and if so, how. By doing so, Indonesians would be making a most valuable contribution to realizing the ideals of peace and harmony which all great religions seek to promote.