Source/Credit: The Jakarta Globe | Jakarta
By Zubaidah Nazeer - Straits Times Indonesia | April 30, 2011
A guard discovers a bomb tucked under a pew in a church, grabs it and runs out to save the congregation. It explodes some distance away, killing him instantly.
The scene is from a newly released film about religious tolerance, but its eerie similarity to the discovery of bombs placed near a church in West Java last week is chilling.
The movie’s characters explore struggles with their faiths through scenes such as inter-religious marriage or workplaces that challenge the practice of their beliefs. One controversial scene has a character playing a Muslim working in a restaurant that sells pork.
The movie, simply titled “?”, has sparked protests from some quarters, but many Indonesians feel it is high time society talked openly about these topics.
“It captures issues that people are grappling with in Indonesian society, especially how we are trying to respect each other’s right to practice different faiths,” said business consultant Putra Pratama, 30.
“I can relate to the idea that each of us has our take on how religious we want to be. The film also shows how some can be irrational when dealing with religious issues while others use common sense.”
The film has drawn flak from the hard-line camp, such as the Islamic Defenders Front, which threatened to raid cinemas that screen it. It labeled some scenes blasphemous.
Joining the fray, the Indonesian Ulema Council warned that it is considering banning the film for its bold portrayal of some issues, such as implying that it is all right for one to abandon Islam, and for showing alternative paths to God, which the council said�goes against its beliefs of championing the religion.
What is clear is, after the shock of last week’s discovery of bomb plots and networks of homegrown terrorists, Indonesians are tired of radical elements lurking in their society.
On Thursday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono rallied his citizens against increasing violence by extremists.
In a speech at a national development conference, he said: “In the long term... if it continues, it will change the character of our communities, which are tolerant and love harmony and peace. It must not happen, we should not be passive... We have to take responsibility to save this nation and save its people and its future.”
Indeed, Indonesia has a rich heritage of diversity and won praise from United States President Barack Obama last November for being a model for tolerance.
It is also seen as a country tough on terrorism. In 2002, its anti-terror forces rounded up hundreds of Islamist militants soon after local radicals detonated bombs in Bali, killing 202 people, mainly Westerners.
But analysts have said religious intolerance has grown under President Yudhoyono’s rule and they blame the authorities for failing to crack down on violent vigilante groups that advocate extreme laws.
Some Indonesians have responded by banding together to spread messages of pluralism. Netizens have been recommending the film. One such tweet by “bubblesome” read: “Must watch... That’s how the unity in diversity in Indonesia should be.”
Others have been cowed by the recent terrorist acts.
A veteran journalist in a leading female magazine, who declined to be named, said she was instructed not to write a review of the film for fear that the magazine would be shunned and its business affected.
Hanung Bramantyo, the director of the movie, has a different view. “All I try to do with my films is to present different perspectives. The only way we can wage a proper battle against the stupidity and ignorance that cause so many problems in our lives is to strive for a well-rounded and informed viewpoint.”
Sociologists feel that airing such issues in movies or elsewhere can promote better understanding among people of different faiths.
Thamrin Amal Tomagola, a sociologist at the University of Indonesia, said rising religiosity was inevitable after decades of “forced harmony” during president Suharto’s 32-year rule that ended in 1998.
He suggested that the freedom to express beliefs be allowed with clear boundaries so that the practice of one religion will not cause friction with another group with a different set of beliefs.
In a seminar on pluralism recently, Zainal Abidin Bagir, director of the Center for Religious and Cross-Cultural Studies at Gadjah Mada University, told the media: “Many Indonesians are of the opinion that the Indonesian Ulema Council does not accommodate their views and ideas.”
Added Dr Dede Oetomo, who lectures at Airlangga University: “The tone of the film indicates a new awareness to counter such radical ideology in a more organized manner. How else do you get messages on the importance of cherishing inter-religious relations through nowadays? I think the urgency of the situation now requires such expressions through mediums such as movies.”
Pluralists are also holding discussions on Pancasila, Indonesia’s state ideology promoting unity in diversity as one of its pillars.
A string of discussions is being lined up next week at the Gadjah Mada University to examine why there was a shift from the national ideology resulting in a weakening of the spirit of pluralism.
Reprinted courtesy of Straits Times Indonesia. To subscribe to Straits Times Indonesia and/or the Jakarta Globe call 2553 5055.
Read original post here: Indonesian Film a Question of Religious Tolerance
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