June 1, 2008, will be remembered as a black day in the history of Indonesian democracy. A group of people from different walks of life — Balinese Hindus, Javanese Catholics, Sumatran Protestants, Buddhists and Confucianists from Celebes and Muslims from all over Indonesia were beaten up by radicals.
“Indonesia is still in the process of becoming,” said a rector of a reputable national university in Jakarta last month. Hundreds of students from several universities in and around Jakarta sat mesmerized by his fine oratory and body movements, hearing him speaking without understanding just what he meant.
The phenomenal success of both the movie and the book Ayat-Ayat Cinta (AAC) is a reflection of our social conditioning and aspirations. What is interesting is that AAC has been able to dilute the “differences” in such conditioning and aspirations to the extent of being unrecognizable. The movie and the book have been equally appreciated by our President, our clergy and normal people.
“Pluralism is a ground fact here, so we have to accept it,” says a politician whose party has a set of religious dogmas and doctrines as its guiding principles.
It is frustrating and disheartening to see how we, the so-called “civilized” citizens of this “civilized” world, can still behave in a most uncivilized manner.