Ahok, The New Gus Dur

(published by The Jakarta Post on 3 Aug 2015. Click here)

I was overcome with delight to see Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama defend religious minorities while other leaders choose to keep silent.

It is not because he is a Christian that he defended the Indonesian Protestant Christian Church (GKPI) in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, from demolition recently; he has also defended other faiths, including protecting a congregation of Ahmadiyah Muslims in Tebet, Jakarta, from eviction.

Ahok noted that dozens of mosques had also been built in violation of zoning regulations, but there was no effort made to tear them down. I am convinced he is not intolerant of Islam, but as governor he has to uphold justice. Justice means treating all citizens and all communities equally, regardless of whether they are in the majority or the minority. Moreover, when dealing with faith, leaders should be very clear that all citizens should be allowed to worship according to their faith, as guaranteed by the Constitution. The state has to be available for the persecuted at any cost.

Ahok did not venture an opinion on the whether the Ahmadis are heretical, as their detractors insist, but demanded only that they be treated as humans. As soon the news went online, many netizens posted comments lauding his bravery.

“I had lost hope for this country until this man came along,” read one typical comment.

“He comes across as a very caring and decent human being,” stated another commenter.

If regional and national leaders were as brave as Ahok, the joint ministerial decree that regulates building permits for houses of worship would be repealed. The decree was intended to maintain harmony among all believers, but is in fact exploited by the intolerant, who use it as a tool to prevent worshipers performing their religious activities, citing a lack of permits even in cases where the building has stood for decades.

We should not pretend it is easy for the minority to earn approval from surrounding communities to build their house of worship. Perhaps there are some egalitarian people living among us as good neighbors — they must use their voices to advocate for tolerance for minorities.

Building a house of worship does not require drawn-out bureaucratic wrangling, it requires statesmanship. Ahok’s bold move reminds me of Abdurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid, who always protected minorities from persecution.

Ahok is aware that his stance is not without risks, but he appears ready to show real leadership.

***

Serpong, 30 July 2015

Titus J.

Comments

Eisenhower, The Top Figure Army General, The Modest President

This is a portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower, a young dreamer, charting a course from Abilene, Kansas, to West Point and beyond. Before becoming the 34th president (two terms from 1953 to 1961), Ike –as he was called– was a five-star general in the U.S. Army during World War II and served as Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe. This book reveals the journey of the man who worked with incredible subtlety to move events in the direction he wished them to go. In both war and peace, he gave the world confidence in American leadership. In the war period, Ike commanded the largest multinational force ever assembled to fight German troops in leading the Western powers to victory. During his presidency, he ended a three-year war in Korea with honor and dignity. Not a single American died in combat for the next eight years. He resisted calls for preventive war against the Soviet Union and China, faced down Khruschev over Berlin, and restored stability in Leban...

Bertrand Russell Critical Analysis on Western Philosophy

“Philosophy is something intermediate between theology and science,” said Bertrand Russell. Theology and science occupy their own territory. All definite knowledge belongs to science, all dogma as to what surpasses definite knowledge belongs to theology. Between theology and science there is No Man’s Land, exposed to attack from both sides. For that the philosophy is present. The No Man’s Land is philosophy. Then he added, “Philosophical conceptions are a product of two factors: one, inherited religious and ethical conceptions; the other, the sort of investigation which may be called ‘scientific’.” Bertrand Russell who was born in 1872, he himself was a British philosopher as well as mathematician, logician, historian, writer, and social critic. In this book, which was firstly published in 1945, Russell divided the philosophy chronologically into three parts: Ancient Philosophy, Catholic Philosophy and Modern Philosophy. This book is a widely read and influential philosophical history ...

Perhentian Ahok di KM 19.4

Ketika angka quick count hasil perolehan suara Pilkada Jakarta 19 April yang lalu menunjukkan 42 persen untuk Ahok-Djarot dan 58 persen untuk Anies-Sandi, banyak yang terkesima, sedih, dan tak sedikit yang menangis. Herannya, yang menangis bukan hanya orang Jakarta, tetapi juga mereka yang tinggal di luar Jakarta, bahkan luar negeri. Media sosial riuh-rendah dengan komentar, seolah tak percaya dengan angka yang terpampang di televisi dan berseliweran melalui WhatsApp group. Di saat itulah tiba-tiba kita merasakan ada sesuatu yang hilang - sesuatu yang pernah kita miliki, yang pernah mewarnai denyut kehidupan kita walau hanya lewat surat kabar dan media sosial, dan sesuatu yang selalu kita rasakan kehadirannya walaupun jarak memisahkan. Kita – bukan cuma orang Jakarta tetapi siapapun yang selama empat tahunan ini menyemai harapan dan optimisme, tiba-tiba secara bersamaan membisikkan tanya, “Bagaimana rupa Jakarta nanti tanpa Ahok?” Tanggal 19 April itu seperti satu titik di ...

Titus Jonathan's Stories

Search This Blog