Religions 'need to focus on real issues' to counter moral global capitalism
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.