Radical Islam in Indonesia is on the march, and the religious pluralism enshrined in the doctrine of Pancasila is coming under direct attack. Last week the Indonesian government has issued a joint ministerial decree telling the heretical Muslim Ahmadiyya movement to ‘stop spreading interpretations and activities’ which deviate from orthodox Islam. That decree has implications for other minorities as...
Enough of suffering, we have suffered much… The question is: How to end suffering? Can it be ended? And if it can be ended, then how do we end it? It is my firm belief that suffering can be ended. It is my conviction that we are not in this world to suffer. Pain is not natural to us. Suffering is foreign to human soul. It is like a virus that cause dis-“ease” and makes us uneasy. It is a sickness, a curable...
Jangan lupa shalat, karena kalau tidak….dosa…dosa….dosa..dosa… Ada api neraka…..” (Don’t forget to pray, sin…sin…sin…sin…There’s fire in hell) That was part of the lyric from a funky rap song which I was swaying to its tunes. I was practically moving my legs in rhythm and tapping my fingers against my bag in the middle of a shopping mall. When I realized the contents of the lyric, it is as though my brain just...
Tidbits from Global Forum on The Power of Peace: Using the Tools of Information and Communication – Hosted by UNESCO, in association with the Government of Indonesia, in Bali (January 21st-23rd, 2007) Collected by:Anand Krishna* The following words are not mine; they are collected by me during the proceedings of the conference in Bali. These are remarks made by the panelists, speakers, and participants....
We the participants of the Global Forum, Power of Peace – Building Peace through Communication and Information, Bali January 21-23, 2007 declare our commitment to continue to build mechanisms through which media and information technology can contribute to enhance mutual understanding, further dialogue among peoples and cultures and build peace. Today’s world holds many challenges to peace: In several quarters of...