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Indonesians claim that Western values are disgusting; therefore they condemn free sex and the use of condoms. Indonesians think that Westerners are immoral people who just can't control their animal-like behavior. "Those people are so sinful, they have sex before marriage, they drink alcohol, and they don't respect their parents."
What about Indonesia? Are we religious enough? Yes we do condemn free sex, alcohol, and drugs, but are we really acting virtuous? Jakarta is once again a good example. Yes, the mosques are crowded on Fridays. But does that mean you can't find prostitutes in Jakarta? The answer is yes and yes, you can and it's easy!
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Nabi Hendrik perlu ke Amriki untuk mencek kebenaran tulisan si penulis bahwa Amerika itu ternyata konservatif
Living more than ten months in America has made me realize that America, or at least some parts of it, is more conservative than people in the East think. Yeah, that's right, America is very conservative.
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From: ariel_heryanto <ariel_heryanto@
To: indonesian-studies@
Sent: Wednesday, December 26, 2007 5:20:22 AM
Subject: [i-s] Religiously we are good, what about morally?
The Jakarta Post, 24 December 2007
Religiously we are good, what about morally?
Tasa Nugraza Barley, Maryland
When I lived in Pakistan for three years the one thing I was really proud of was that I was a Muslim from the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. When people asked where I was from I would proudly say, "I'm from Indonesia." In a country like Pakistan, where religion is a big deal, a Pakistani will be more than happy to know that the foreign guy he is talking to is a Muslim. So they would reply, "Indonesia? Oh, you are brother."
Indonesian Muslims are always proud that they are the majority and they are religious. Non-Muslims may be in the minority but they have the same kind of feeling: We are a religious nation! Muslim parents will beat their children if they don't want to pray daily, while Christian parents will yell at their children if they sleep in on a Sunday morning.
Indonesians claim that Western values are disgusting; therefore they condemn free sex and the use of condoms. Indonesians think that Westerners are immoral people who just can't control their animal-like behavior. "Those people are so sinful, they have sex before marriage, they drink alcohol, and they don't respect their parents."
Indonesian Muslims may not have the world's very greatest mosque, but I am sure they have some of the best mosques that have ever been built by humans. And for sure there are more mosques located in Indonesia than anywhere else in the world since there are more than 200 million Muslims.
In Jakarta, for example, you can find mosques everywhere. Every Friday they are full when the men go there to pray. During my six years of living in Jakarta I can tell you that I never saw one mosque that was not crowded on a Friday. Wow, what a religious country we have. Or do we?
Living more than ten months in America has made me realize that America, or at least some parts of it, is more conservative than people in the East think. Yeah, that's right, America is very conservative.
In America, if you are young, you have to show your ID every time you buy a beer or other alcoholic drink. You have to show your ID to go to a nightclub. Prostitution is only legal in the state of Nevada, and then only in some counties. It is even illegal in a city like Las Vegas.
You can still find girls lining up on the streets but they are very localized, and most likely you will never see them on major streets. And yes, right now there are four states that approve same-sex marriage, but there are many more states that still say same-sex marriage is out of the question.
In the area where I live, people smile at people they don't know on the streets more than I experienced in Jakarta. Children are so valued that every time a school bus stops to let children out, cars from every direction have to stop for safety reasons, no questions asked.
Seniors and people with disabilities are always treated well. They get special parking spots and other public advantages. When you open a door at a store or other public place you have to be aware if there is someone trying to enter behind you so you can hold the door until that person reaches it. When you do, most likely that person will say, "Thank you," and a smile will be your bonus.
"What about free sex?" you might ask. Well, it is true that there are a lot of people in America who consider sex to be no big deal, just a physical need. But even so, I would say things are not as bad as Hollywood movies suggest.
So America is more conservative than what you might think. But being conservative is different than being religious. Being religious means living your life based on religious values, while being conservative means believing in traditional values.
Religious values might be part of traditional values, if you think about it, but since many American conservatives feel religious values are just part of traditional values then those values are not absolute and they can be "twisted" a little bit based on current conditions. Such people would rather be called conservative than religious.
What about Indonesia? Are we religious enough? Yes we do condemn free sex, alcohol, and drugs, but are we really acting virtuous? Jakarta is once again a good example. Yes, the mosques are crowded on Fridays. But does that mean you can't find prostitutes in Jakarta? The answer is yes and yes, you can and it's easy!
Just go to places like Blok M or Kota in the evening and you will see girls in sexy dresses standing on the streets waiting for fancy cars to pick them up, or go to Taman Lawang for a different scene. These prostitutes are not even localized and they pick some of the major streets to "market" themselves.
You want to buy alcohol? Easy, just go to any store. If you are too shy to do that, you can still get pletokan (alcoholic drinks) at traditional stalls on the streets. And while we think that a condom campaign to stop AIDS is ridiculous, we can still buy condoms easily on the streets; you don't even have to look like an adult, just hand over your money.
Now, do I also have to mention the corruption? I guess not. People might say that the bad economy forces people to do things that religions prohibit in order to survive. But will a good economy automatically encourage people to be behave more religiously? Can the material side of life really be an excuse for sinful acts?
The writer is a founder of the organization Jakarta Butuh Revolusi Budaya (Jakarta Needs a Cultural Revolution). His personal blog is http://guebukanmonyet.com.
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