[Mb-civic] On religious freedom

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

I thought this was an intriguing and worthwhile essay....and altho it is about France 
and Indonesia it has significant applications to the U.S., which Noam Chomsky has 
called the most fundamentalist countrty in the world...

Today's commentary:
http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2004-10/22vltchek.cfm

==================================

ZNet Commentary
Indonesia Teaching France About Freedom? October 23, 2004
By Andre  Vltchek 

INDONESIA TEACHING FRANCE ABOUT FREEDOM? 

In December 2003, in an attempt to "reaffirm separation of religions and
state", a presidential panel decided that France should ban Islamic
headscarves, as well as other "obvious religious and political symbols"
from the public schools. On February 10, 2004, the French National
Assembly voted (494 in favor, 36 against and 31 abstentions) to convert
the decision into a law. 

Mainstream politicians supported the decision but so did the right wing,
many left-wing parties and organizations, as well as women rights groups.
Around the time when the decision was made, The Economist ran a survey
indicating that while the majority of European Muslims opposed banning
headscarves, most of them were men. The majority of Muslim women living in
France expressed their support for the ban. 

There were demonstrations in France and in other countries across Europe
accusing the French government of discriminatory measures against its
substantial Muslim minority. But France stood firm, defending its decision
on the basis of historical secularism and separation of the church and the
state. 

One group that had hardly been surveyed was that of young Muslim girls
living in France . Were they in favor or against the headscarf ban? Were
they forced to wear hijab or had a decision been made for them by their
families? Had they freely chosen their faith? 

Working in Indonesia , the most populous Muslim nation on earth, I
surveyed several women when preparing the story on headscarves for a
European magazine. One of the questions I asked was whether they supported
the decision made in France . Answers were almost unanimous: every woman
expressed outrage over the ban. Statements ranged from: "people should be
allowed to express their religious beliefs" to "Indonesia could teach
France about freedom." 

But again, nobody mentioned the young girls. 

So how would Indonesia fare in comparison with France when it comes to
religious freedom? 

On paper, Indonesia is a secular country, but it's illegal not to have a
religion there. In fact, only a handful of religions are "allowed".
Religion has to be engraved in identity cards; there is no option such as
"other" or "no religion". Since birth, family determines to what religion
a child should belong. 

After the US-sponsored coup in 1965 (that deposed progressive president
Sukarno, who opposed Western colonialism and imperialism), brutal
massacres destroyed the Indonesian left. Members of the Communist Party
were massacred or sent to jail. One of the main executors of the slaughter
was NU – an enormous Islamic organization that held grudges against the
left for earlier attempts to expropriate large land-holdings and
distribute them among landless peasants. The Communist Party had been
banned and so had all progressive ideas. In Suharto's Indonesia , not to
have a religion was synonymous with being an atheist, a Marxist and
therefore, an outlaw. 

Tens of thousands of families lived in fear. Since most of the Indonesian
extended families consist of tens and even hundreds of members, almost
each and every one of them had some "skeleton in the closet"; someone who
used to be involved in progressive unions or had been a member of the
Communist Party. 

One way to avoid persecution and to survive in the climate of the fascist
oppression was to show nationalist and religious zeal. One way to
demonstrate that the family had broken with its "shameful past" was to
turn its members to pious Muslims, to indoctrinate children, to make them
comply with an increasingly conservative mainstream. While the majority of
Indonesian society before 1965 had been secular and extremely relaxed
about practical aspects or religion, in Suharto's era Indonesia accepted a
large scale of conservative elements of Islam, influenced by Saudi
Wahabism. 

Religion brought full compliance and compliance was exactly what Suharto
and his military cronies demanded. Headscarves became a normal occurrence,
even among middle class, highly educated women. Mosques began broadcasting
entire prayers over the loudspeakers (a move hardly describable as
tolerant towards members of other religions living in the same
neighborhood), something unthinkable even in the Middle Eastern countries
where only a call for prayer is audible. As the social system collapsed,
mosques (often funded by conservative religious streams in the Middle East
) became the only places where the poor and desperate could receive at
least some meager help. Of course, there was a price-tag attached. 

Now, it is not unusual to see girls, as young as five, walk down the dusty
streets of the cities and villages fully covered, from head to toe. The
number of segregated religious schools are on the increase. Can these
girls choose whether to wear a headscarf or not? 

Chances are that these girls will never have a chance to encounter
alternative ideas. They will not read Hegel, Emmanuel Kant, Descartes,
Sartre or, God forbid, Marx. Evolution theory will be mentioned at schools
but immediately discounted. The fact that the biggest single group of
people on this planet has no religion at all will be hidden from them.
They will be "spared" any critical views offered by liberation Islam, too.
They will never learn how to question and how to doubt. But they will be
convinced that they actually opted freely for the headscarf, as they will
believe that they are religious by their free choice. And this is
Indonesia ; a country often described as "moderate" and fairly "secular". 

Once a member of a religion, it is basically impossible to escape. Society
puts enormous pressures on its members and so do the families; especially
on children and above all, girls, who are expected to marry as virgins, be
fully obedient to their parents, are forced to pray since very early age,
memorize entire passages of scripture, are banned from co-habitation with
their boyfriend once they grow up, and receive only one third of the
inheritance. 



"Exit from religion" in Indonesia is illegal, unless one converts to
another faith. A family whose member decides to abandon his or her faith
would be almost certainly socially ruined, ridiculed and scrutinized. It
is impossible to imagine a person visiting his or her family during the
month of Ramadan proudly announcing: "I decided to abandon my faith; I
don't think I believe in any of this, anymore, so while you are going to
the field, I'm going to do some shopping or search for a place to have a
beer." This person would be immediately disowned, excommunicated, damned.
There is only one choice – to have a religion and to conform. 



In the ideally secular world, a child would be exposed to all views, to
all religions and non-religious concepts. He or she would not be
indoctrinated since childhood but instead, it would be explained to him or
her, thoroughly, that there are many ways to understand our existence, our
place in the world. When reaching a certain age, a young person would
freely decide which religion to choose or whether to become an atheist or
agnostic. 



All of us are products of our environment, growing up in different parts
of the world, influenced by distinctive ideas and concepts. Ideal concepts
could, of course, not be fully implemented. And it's not only about
religion (almost all of us, growing up in the West had to fight against
indoctrination by the market fundamentalism and by the superiority complex
often pushed on us from behind grand words and slogans). But there should
be an attempt to expose children to a variety of worldviews and to shelter
them from one-sided indoctrination, offering them an entire range of
different options on how to see and understand the world. 

There should be definitely religious freedom in every decent society, but
children should be also protected. The question is: can a child truly
decide that he or she is religious and consciously decide to wear symbols
of his or her faith? Or is she simply conforming to her family's decision?
Can a twelve year old girl truly be a staunch Marxist or free-marketer?
Can she be true Christian or Muslim? Shouldn't she be given some time,
before she chooses labeling herself? Shouldn't secular society guarantee
that she receive that time? Would it be, for instance, normal for an
eleven year old girl to come to the school with the T-shirt proclaiming
"down with the God", or "Socialism or Death"? 

France is again facing a tremendous philosophical and moral dilemma. Its
decision to ban headscarves in public schools should not only be judged:
it should trigger intensive and open discussion about how children
worldwide are being indoctrinated (and again, not only by religions but
also by consumerism, media and advertising) and how they can be protected.
So far, there is not one single country that has succeeded in guaranteeing
true secularity, offering equally all-important ideas of humanity to its
children. Judged by its track record of the last 40 years, Indonesia could
hardly be considered as a guiding light for France or any other society. 

There are no easy answers and no easy solutions, but the issue is one of
the most essential in today's world. 

ANDRE VLTCHEK is an American writer, political analyst and filmmaker
working in the South Pacific and Southeast Asia and can be contacted at:
Andre-WCN at usa.net 




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