Religions 'need to focus on real issues' to counter moral global capitalism
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Is religion still needed in this modern era? Or should its role be taken over by a new creed -- "moral global capitalism" -- where fair trade activists use economic mantras to convince big businesses of the unfair global economy?
This was one of the issues aired at a seminar on religion and globalization here on Wednesday.
Trisno S. Sutanto of the Indonesian Conference on Religion and Peace (ICRP), said religions should no longer close their eyes and turn deaf ears to poor countries that fail to take advantage of competition-based globalization.
"Religions should no longer deal with rituals and doctrines but open their eyes to the changing world and take an active role to create the changes, so that the world becomes a more secure and peaceful place to live in," he said.
Trisno commented on economist Susan George's controversial book The Lugano Report: On Preserving Capitalism in the Twenty- first Century a polemic on the negatives of globalization.
"All religions and their adherents should wake up from their long sleep and translate their teachings into applicable rulings and work hand-in-hand to counter the strong tide of globalization. Otherwise, globalization will become a new religion with neo-liberalism and capitalism as its main doctrine," he said.
According to Trisno, Susan predicted in her book that half of the world's population would no longer be needed because high population growth was a serious threat to the global capitalism. Rapid population growth would certainly cause a lack of supply in raw materials, damage the environment and weaken consumers' purchasing power, she said.
Rev. J.N. Hariyanto S.J. of the ICRP, said that the market- oriented globalization was inevitable but religions had to take an active role in defending their moral function.
Referring to the confrontation model introduced by two philosophers, Max Weber and Karl Marx, he said religions could be perceived as part of the market because they were one of the social systems in the society.
"Apart from their achievements, religions have also another function -- to criticize and assess all changes in the market and society. Religious institutions have the authority to determine their stance on moral issues," he said.
Masdar F. Mas'udi, a member of the law-making body of the country's largest Muslim organization, Nadhlatul Ulama, criticized developed countries for their ignorance of poor countries, saying global disparity was widening.
"Developed countries taking advantage of globalization have ignored poor countries, making the world's problems more complex," he said.
The United States and other developed countries had donated less than 1 percent of their annual revenues to poor countries, he said.
According to Islamic thought, the main tasks of governments were to distribute the bigger part of taxes collected from businesses to the poor, the elderly, children and orphans.
Francis Wahono, the executive director of the Cindelaras Foundation in Yogyakarta, said religious institutions should formulate religious teachings in simple and applicable language.
"Religious doctrines must be applicable in the field, otherwise they will be left idle or be twisted to justify immoral practices," he said.