Tolerance is getting more costly
Tolerance is getting more costly
There is this irksome joke which goes like, Indonesians differ
from Westerners in that when the latter get up in the morning,
they think of what they have to do, while the former think of
what they have to destroy.
The joke is absolutely untrue. However, if we turn our eyes
to the destructions committed by our people, we realize there is
a grain of truth in the joke.
Social conflicts, ethnic violence, corruption which has become
even more deeply ingrained in every layer of society, destruction
of public facilities, and legal abuse are examples of how low our
tolerance is, as a nation.
That is why President Megawati's call for Indonesian Muslims
to uphold tolerance among the values should not be interpreted as
an empty rhetoric.
Megawati's call when opening the National Koran Reading
Contest (MTQ) in Palanka Raya, Central Kalimantan on Wednesday
was indeed addressed not only to Muslims, but to all the people
of Indonesia.
Since the core of democracy is tolerance and a democrat should
respect people from other groups, intolerance would be a big
problem for our nation.
In fact, our democracy appears to be attractive in its rules,
but terrible in implementation because culturally, we learn
democracy through books rather than through practice in our daily
lives.
Thus, to be tolerant, we have to ask our centers of education,
whether our schools, society and families have taught us the
importance of tolerance.
Have the school teachers, religious teachers and priests ever
sat at one table to say that all religions have similarities, at
least in developing the morality and spirituality of their
followers?
Because we hear mosques, as well as churches, frequently
reverberate with the sounds of sermons on the importance of
tolerance and living in perfect harmony, we realize that all
religions teach their followers to love their neighbors as they
love themselves. -- Media Indonesia, Jakarta
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A three-month truce
JP/6/
A three-month truce
The Islamic Militants Hamas and Islamic Jihad on Sunday
declared a three month truce. At the same time, Israel began to
withdraw from the Gaza strip.
But as usual, the setbacks are waiting just around the corner.
The risk that the Sharon regime will bump off a high Hamas
activist, and thus undermine the cease-fire, is immediate. It is
also unclear how the stubbornly Islamic groups will uphold the
demand that Palestinian prisoners held by Israel be released.
In other words, its business as usual, but the fact that the
United States is more engaged than anyone would have predicted
even a month ago, conveys hope.
-- Expressen, Stockholm, Sweden
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Nuclear power plant in N. Korea
JP/6/
Nuclear power plant in N. Korea
Effort to dissuade North Korea from its nuclear development
has assumed new urgency.
North Korea reacted angrily to the U.S. request that the
president of the United Nations Security Council issue a
statement denouncing North Korea. There is still a wide gap
between the United States and North Korea over how to discuss the
issue, with the United States pressing for multilateral talks and
North Korea insisting on one-to-one negotiations with the United
States.
At the same time, a U.S. official said there is no longer any
way to complete construction of two light-water nuclear reactors
in North Korea by the Korean Peninsula Energy Development
Organization, suggesting that KEDO's work could even be
dissolved.
The questions is whether it is best to proceed straight to
abolish the KEDO program right now because it has lost its shine.
Suspending or freezing construction of the light-water reactors
would be a significant message to North Korea, whose economy is
on the verge of bankruptcy.
Exertion of such pressure is indispensable in negotiations
with the North. But if KEDO is buried once and for all, the only
mechanism for the rest of the world to talk to North Korea about
its nuclear program would be lost.
-- Asahi Shimbun, Tokyo