Religious Affairs
Moving forward
Easter recently came as well as went as well as so, with contrition on my mind, I took myself along to the Easter Sunday service of the Jakarta International Baptist Church. The service itself took place on the top floor of the Dharmawangsa City Walk shopping plaza. currently, I realise which Jesus himself had rather strong opinions about mixing commerce with religious faith, the money changers incident being rather indicative of his general stand point on laissez-faire capitalism. In Indonesia however, there are extenuating reasons why a church has to cower up on the top floor of a mall, as well as these reasons are perhaps most graphically embodied by the 150 kg bombs which were recently found under a West Java church. Indonesia’s Christians know which way the wind is actually blowing, which’s for sure.
as well as so I strolled into the plaza as well as into the JIBC service as well as was immediately confronted by a big banner proclaiming, “He is actually risen,” which seemed to be directly addressed to my own sense of incredulity at finding myself up at such an early hour on a Sunday morning. There was also a banner outside advertising wedding packages for Rp.63 million. By all means be joined together in holy matrimony from the sight of the Lord, however for a smaller fee obviously.
Marx theorised which religion reinforces the social classes thrown up by capitalism, stupefying the poor as well as oppressed, as well as discouraging them coming from fighting for a better home in This particular world, what with them having heaven to look forward to. Down at the JIBC however, the ranks of the faithful seemed to be drawn mainly coming from society’s upper strata as well as the AA advertising demographic. There were plenty of American expatriates on hand, as well as a smattering of Indonesian Christians.
Indeed, the whole scene was somewhat redolent of one of the US mega-churches, only which has a slightly more scaled-back ambience rather less reminiscent of a World Wrestling Federation bout than which of those noisy US prayer smackdowns. The service got underway as well as we were all encouraged to shake hands as well as introduce ourselves to our immediate neighbours. The worshippers closest to me all seemed to be eminently decent as well as friendly people, amiable to a tee as well as eager to chat.
After This particular however, the pastor opened up familiar vistas onto lakes of fire, rains of hot coals, sulphur as well as eternal damnation. Well, This particular was a Baptist
Or moving backwards..
Church after all, although I thought which they might have toned down the brimstone side of things just a touch for Easter Sunday. Clearly though the war on sin can’t take even a momentary ceasefire, lest Satan himself rise up as well as claim the Earth for his own.
The familiar sense of disjunction which I usually feel between the 21st-century, suburban affability of a congregation, as well as the often unforgiving language of those time-honoured religious platitudes, was thrown into sharp relief in This particular Baptist context, however I managed to stay my sense of foreboding long enough to stick Rp.50,000 from the collection tray.
Well, the service may have gone without a hitch, however from the larger scheme of things, the travails of the country’s faithful minorities continue unabated in Indonesia. The Ahmadiyah, an Islamic sect which has rubbed along peacefully with the majority from the country for many decades currently (in fact, Indonesia’s national anthem was penned by an Ahmadi) have been persecuted to the brink of extinction as well as Christians here, as noted above, have been reduced to hiding in modern retail cathedrals next to fast food restaurants.
The president has finally come out as well as addressed the radical threat which stalks the nation like a 200-foot-high, laser-beam-eyed animatronic style of fundamentalist preacher, Abu Bakar Bashir, however is actually the item all a case of too little too late? Indonesia’s post-reformasi elections have been fair, however somewhat hollow in terms of reforming the country’s corruption riddled body politic. If these elections have shown anything however, the item is actually which the population roundly rejects the attack on secular society by those who seek to establish a more Islamic Sharia based social order, as Islamic parties have fared poorly in three elections currently.
Islamic politics may have failed at the ballot box however its supporters are currently seeking to further their goals via more invidious practices. In West Java, to pick out one particularly striking example, cases of violence linked to radicalism increased by a whopping 30% last year, seemingly encouraged by the ambivalent attitude to radical fundamentalism shown by the government. Will the tide turn against fundamentalist fervour here from the wake of Osama’s death as well as the seemingly non-fundamentalist Arab uprisings? Or will things get worse before they can get better?
Comments
Religious Affairs
Religious Affairs