Indonesia on the face of it is a country drenched in religion. Religion usually is the opposite of moral liberalism. Members of the ruling elite should keep that in mind. If they forget, they will fail. Just now quite a number of the leading parts in the lawful institutions of the young Indonesian democracy are played by actors who seemingly are not up to these demands of their office.
Even though I’m a ardent non-believer, some remnants of my Christian childhood obviously are still there. Lately I can’t but think of the Bible occasionally. Not all, but some of the ten commandments seem to apply to the breaking news of last weeks: “you shall not murder”, “neither shall you commit adultery”, “neither shall you steal”, “neither shall you bear false witness”, ” you shall not covet your neighbors house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, …or anything that belongs to your neighbor”. And don’t at least four – lust, greed, envy and pride- of the seven capital sins from the title above, play an important role in the super soap which is being unfolded in the Indonesian media right now?
What I mean is that the obvious lack of morals of some people in the economical and political elite, may cause a strong wish among the civilian population to run for cover to religion. That is, to a large extent, to a false shelter of the ancient, authoritarian, suffocating but clearcut moralism which monotheistic hardliners offer.By their behavior the people in power are playing with fire. They make it easy for zealots to success. Shameless lust, greed, envy and pride is not just plain wrong, but may eventually jeopardize the very existence of the secular democracy. They may bring about a severe blow to modernity.
According to some fuzzy rumors the president of the RI may be involved in the possibly fraudulent case against Bibit and Chandra. Of course everyone is innocent until the opposite has been proved. Yet if this turns out to be true – God forbid- it would somehow remind of Watergate. That also was about abuse of power and illegal covert actions by the parties in power to protect themselves from “the enemy”. It ultimately led to the impeachment of US president Nixon. Some MPs in Indonesian parliament announced they are about to start (pretty premature I think) an impeachment procedure against SBY. It’s extremely ironic Prabowo’s party is among them, because he demonstrates that hypocrisy is the eighth deadly sin in my opinion. Nevertheless serious breaches of the morals of a secular democracy deserve this kind of punishments. So would SBY be guilty, the only honorably thing to do would be: say sorry, resign and wait for what prosecution and court have in store for you.
I read the beautiful Rani Yuliani provided the then KPK chairman Antasari – now standing trial- with a ‘handjob’ in a hotel room. They were caught in the act. Suspicious coincidence. And personally I think: “Big deal. Who cares? Consenting adults. So what? And it’s a kind of half hearted sexual favor anyhow”. Moreover the guy may well have been framed. A thought which is hard to oppress, because what happened next is almost too smooth to believe; after ‘the other man’, Naruddin, had been murdered Antarisari was accused by his enemies in the AGO and the Police, of having masterminded the crime . But even if he is a victim of a conspiracy, that doesn’t dismiss him; hanky panky games in a morally tight environment is unprofessional. Images of another fatal lady, Monica Lewinsky, exchanging sexual pleasures with the man on top, pop up in my mind. She and US president Clinton – a country with a majority of people with tight religious morals also- had a special relation of burning desire. It may have thrilled the president, but paralyzed his presidency. Not unlike the alleged behavior of Antasari in relation to the most famous caddy of the world, threatens to paralyze KPK. There is an old saying: “Do in Rome as the Romans do”. So keep morally on the safe side in a morally conservative society. In as much as I hope that all over the world the blessings of a moral liberal and tolerant society will prevail, forgetting about the society your part of is stupid.
The best way to safeguard the secular and modern democracy is by keeping in touch with the constitution of the democratic state as well as with the moral demands posed by the majority of the society.
Update: For people fed up with Police corruption, here is some cold comfort from Russia. After all: company in distress makes the sorrow less:
and not to forget, Indonesia is currently has the highest traffic of accessing porn site in the world. so much for religion. I could rant this like forever, but since nothing will change (and just recently the government made a fuss over visit of miyabi to Indonesia, the japanese porn actress, but said nothing about the infamous club polygamy).
@ calvin: I noticed the news item on Indonesians loving porn. O la la, these naughty boys ( and occasional girl). I love that kind of inconsistencies. The wide gap between what one preaches and what one does. It’s hypocritical of course, but it’s endearing me to mankind also in a mysterious way.
I’m not pessimistic. I’m sure things will always be changing. But we must take care the change will not take wrong directions as it threatens to do now.
Colson,
The majority of Indonesian Muslims are moderates in the sense that they are not fanatics, thus different from those in Iran Iraq, Saudi Arabia.
Political parties tried to gain influence by ’selling’ conservative Islam ideas, they failed to get enough votes compared to the nationalists.
RE: KPK
It’s just a cover up for far more bigger Bank Century case. If KPK has not been ‘naughty’ i.e. investigate the bank’s case incld. wiretapping high ranking officials, the story would have been different.
Many believed that Antasari was framed. If he wants to fool around with a caddy girl he would have done it at a safe hotel/motel like in Ancol Resort North Jakarta where one can come and go out of cottage without being seeing by other people. In stead he choose a hotel in a high profile crowded area in South Jakarta where people would easily see you get of a car and enter hotel.
The murder of Nasruddin was done by so many people (11) like in a military operation, whereas actually it can be only be done by 2-3 persons, thus limiting the risks of leak of information.
@ H.Nizam: You are quite right: the overwhelming majority of Indonesian Muslims always has been, are and probably will be moderate. They used to set an example to their brothers and sisters elsewhere. However the fact is that Indonesia is a religious society through and through. And generally speaking the values and norms, the public morals of believers, tend to be conservative.
Now I know huge differences exist between people in a metropolis like Jakarta and the men and women living in East Java or Aceh. And I am also aware of the striking discrepancies as it comes to moral theory and moral practice in a lot of cases. Yet I’m afraid that leaders who systematically and shamelessly demonstrate their contempt for the morality which 85% of their grass root supporters hold ( if for some of them only for ‘appearances’), ultimately undermine the credibility of the existing political system ( i.c. secular democracy).
As for the KPK: Your explanation is pretty convincing. One can hardly imagine Antasari can have been that stupid. Yet, eh, theoretically it is possible; sexual obsession and stupidity are twins.