Violence leads to violence, but do we have to follow?

Violence leads to violence, but do we have to follow?

JAKARTA (JP): A strange feeling struck me at the cinema a few
weeks ago. I was watching Spielberg's latest critically acclaimed
harrowing war movie Saving Private Ryan and the theater was
almost full. Many people had been waiting to see it on the big
screen even though bootlegged VCDs had been circulation from last
year.

The movie opened with a horrifying battle scene: the actors
seemed to be breathing down my neck and the vivid atmosphere
provoked by the images disturbed me greatly.

I had never seen anything like it in a movie before. The
combat was gripping, not glorified. Hand-held camera work made
you feel that you were up there on scene. It was a no-holds
barred portrayal of war. Who can forget the scene in which a
soldier has his arm blasted off during the chaos of gunfire? Who
can forget hi horror search for the missing body part among the
pile of his dead friends?

Unexpectedly, laughter broke out around me. I was incredulous
and turned to look around. The inappropriate response left me
wondering if I was among aliens on tour from another galaxy who
enjoyed watching human agony.

Another outburst of laughter was prompted by a scene in which
a solder, hit by a bullet in the head was saved by the
bulletproof properties of his helmet. In amazement he removes his
helmet and is killed by a bullet wound to the head. Many in the
audience were hooting with laughter. When their hilarity occurred
a third time I walked out.

I am always amazed at our extremely high tolerance of
violence. Such realities have been our language for a long time.
Mentioning examples will probably elicit yawns. Violent incidents
are broadcast on the news everyday and may even happen in our
backyard. What is the cause of such callousness? Is it just part
of human nature, something we can't help but preserve?

It could be countered that people in other parts of the world
have more respect for human lives. They even talk about
protecting animal rights. Fur coats and leather jackets become
hot topics: "How many snakes were killed for your hand bag,
lady?" However, we continue to watch news about a mass slaughter
and then switch nonchalantly to the weather report.

Perhaps it is just that our manner of expressing feelings is
different from others. (Recall protest demonstrations on the
news, especially ones of factory workers demanding a wage
increase. Recall their faces, their cheerful expressions. They
laugh, they dance, they look so happy!)

We seem persuaded that violence is the first choice for
solving problems. Recall the violent crises which have plagued
our country. In Tanjung Priok, East Timor, Aceh, you name it, a
military operation has been put forward as the solution.

You must have heard stories about how police torture criminals
during the interrogation process. If they are all true, the
interrogation scene from In the Name of the Father, the movie
about an Irishman falsely accused of a bombing, looks like a
slapstick joke from one of those Srimulat (local comedy group)
episodes.

For years, we have tolerated this state of affairs for one
constant reason: we can do nothing about it. So we are faced with
a choice between either going numb or going mad. Some of us won't
give up and go mad (we leave the country or are committed to a
mental institution). But most of us have become numb.

Current pervasive unrest in Indonesia makes it seem as if we
are due to harvest violence and ignorance in huge quantities.

Reading news about the Ambon and West Kalimantan killings
makes some of us ask what kind of human beings are capable of
such deeds. It seems as if everyday a new standard for obscene
acts of violence occur. Body parts are strewn in the street as
trophies. Are we that angry? It is true that for years we have
faced many injustices and been powerless to fight. Think of the
illegal land grabs without acceptable compensation and curbs on
freedom of speech, to name just two injustices. But is it just
our muted anger that now runs amok?

In these times when politics and everything related to it are
wildly overrated, it has become common to hear that provocateurs
started a riots, linking it to a politician's agenda. This
scenario may be true, but blaming outbreaks of violence on
provocateurs, leaving ourselves as puppets on a string, will only
kill our sense of responsibility.

It's like blaming aliens and UFOs for thinning our ozone layer
and the devil for every bad thing we do. When the heat is applied
to a situation, former diverse groups of people that lived
peacefully together turn suspicious and suddenly become capable
of committing acts of horrible violence.

Why doesn't the government reserve their biggest effort for
analyzing the roots of the problem instead of trotting out their
endless: "We're still looking for the provocateurs, we have some
names, we'll tell you later" spiel. Death tolls are rising as
fast as the cholesterol in some bureaucrats' blood. Hey, if you
can't do it, step down and let somebody else perform the job.

For years we have tolerated this untenable situation; now it
is payback time. One question concerning our capability to commit
heinous acts of violence persists: are we damaged, or just a
bunch of sinners?

-- Jokoanwar Dekan