Nathanael Gratias Sumaktoyo's Blog
"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." -Mother Teresa
Yes, apathy- and skepticism-based golput is fine, but, elections are for humans, not angels. The perfect candidate is next to impossible to find. Most of the time, politics happens in a way that means a less bad candidate being defeated by a bad candidate. The rule of every election is simple; President Barack Obama put it eloquently: “Don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative.”
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Admitting that there is a problem is almost always a first good start to actually solve the problem. Or: what Indonesia needs to solve its tolerance problems.
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The challenge to make changes is not only about how to push the government, but also about how to erode ignorance. There may be times that we cannot rely on the government to influence the society we live in, as it might be too weak or too indecisive. But there will never be times that we cannot rely on people — if only we awaken them in time to realize the real condition of our society and understand what is at stake. Because maybe, it is not about what is in the head that makes a radical, but rather what is in society.
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The most important thing to remember is to be honest to admit that we do have tolerance problem. At the very least, we must be willing to admit that we will have the problem if we do not work hard enough now. A sick person will not get cured by merely assuring himself that he is healthy.
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The ironic thing is, violence towards Ahmadiyah and resistance towards particular worship house are easily visible, felt, and found. Even the organizations involved in the actions can be mentioned easily. They are not ghost. We can touch them, and they do not work in underground. But for most of us, what is easily seen is less interesting than intangible ghost called NII. We care less about religious violence than talking about NII.
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Instead of supporting secular democrats, we must support the democracy itself, regardless who participate in it. Democratization is, in a sense, secularization. If we do the democracy rightly, it will moderate any group participating in it and make violent mobilization less attractive. The end does not justify the means and a good end needs a lot of hard works. We just need to work harder and ignore the temptation of the easy way –political restriction.
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