Without Love, We Are Nothing

(published in The Jakarta Post on 25 July 2009. Click here)

The bombers of the Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotel at Jakarta last week made the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of their faith.

Talking about faith will always bring us to two different perspectives. We could say what the bombers did was wrong, evil, brutal, ferocious and against humanity. We could condemn the attack as well as curse the bombers infuriatingly. But, should the bombers still be alive and we could ask them why they did it, they would firmly say that they did it as exalted act.

They dedicated their whole life to religion or even to God Almighty. They let themselves be killed as martyr because it was a stairway to heaven. Why? Because they believed their faith demanded it as a holy duty.

Who could have told them they followed a deviated path and why they should have turned to the right path, such as ours? Who could have convinced them that what they believed was wrong, and conversely our beliefs were right?

We could have opened any religious books and shared our principles with them, then convinced them that terror was against all religions principles, but believe me that they also had their own principles to which they were wholeheartedly devoted. We could have asked them for repentance but they would have defended their faith at any cost because faith is the highest entity of any religions and people are willing to die for it.

We may have enough faith to move mountains, but if we do not have love, we are nothing. We could give away all of our possessions, even hand over our body to be burned, but without love, we actually gain nothing. These advice came from a man who was initially so vicious but then repented due to the touch of love.

We can practice our faith without love, but love will never be practiced at the same time as hatred. We can practice our faith with selfishness, but love rejects selfishness since love always gives sincerely. We often practice our faith while judging others, but Mother Teresa said: “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”

The bombers breached the two hotels’ tight security perfectly. They accomplished their holy duty according to their faith for which they deserved a martyrdom status, but was their devoted militancy inspired by love?

They never knew the bomb they detonated would create such deep misery for all the victims. They never knew a baby-boy was born fatherless because his father, Evert Mocodompis, the banquet chef of JW Marriott hotel, had been killed by the bomb at that day.

So whatever we do, whatever our faith requires us to do, should it contradict with principle of love? How could we claim to be practicing the faith while doing violence at the same time? “Non-violence is the article of faith,” said Mohandas Gandhi. It means if faith walks together with violence, it is doubted as the true faith because true faith and love springs from one source, i.e. God who is also love.

Faith, again, can always be seen from two different perspectives, but love only seen from a single perspective because love is universal. We, regardless our religion, will agree that love heals and does not injure, love forgives and does not punish, love revives and does not kill, love creates peace and does not detonate a bomb.

Now the bombers had already gone, gone where we will never know, but the mastermind may be watching TV today with smile and pride because they succeeded in breaching security and killing those who they judged as infidels. Although they continue to spread fears among people, we don’t need to bow down to the terror and being paranoid. Life should go on as usual because our paranoia will grant them victory.

The bombers gained praise as martyrs from their supporters, the victims gained love as ordinary people from their families, relatives and sympathizers. If I could, I would choose to have a love rather than praise, although I am only an ordinary man today, and would die someday still an ordinary man. Why? Because love lasts forever, while praise only until death.

***
Serpong, 22 July 2009
Titus J.