A choice between and humanity

A choice between morality and humanity

Soe Tjen Marching

Why was pornography prohibited in Indonesia? If you tell me that it was done in the name of morality, I completely agree. But if you tell me that it was in the name of humanity, hang on a second.

Because morality and humanity in Indonesia are two different things, and sometimes they are not related whatsoever. Here, morality seems to be a principle considered crucial, indispensable and rather holy.

Therefore the sources of morality like state ideology Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution cannot be touched, no matter how irrelevant some of the chapters are for the contemporary world.

Doesn't morality have huge authority? And for this very reason, morality can be a powerful means of control.

The consideration that morality is indispensable and eternal has also seen only selected people know about morality.

It no longer belongs to the people of Indonesia but to merely the powerful ones.

The people only become the slaves, who nod their heads like kindergarten kids being taught to memorize Pancasila.

Hence, a tyrannical government is not the one who forgets morality.

On the contrary: they are the one who are persistent with the existence of morality.

How pushy Soeharto has been with the morality of Pancasila so that it was forced upon to anyone.

Indeed, in this confusing world, morality is a means of people to control life: the fast and easy bypass which doesn't need to be questioned much.

In Beyond Good and Evil, Nietzsche believes morality is merely human ambitions to control others.

The feelings that we are right and they are wrong make humans become God-like, and judge or even punish others.

In the name of morality, rules are constructed for human, but vice versa, so that morality does not respect humans but hates them and even make them enemies.

How many people have been sacrificed for the sake of morality?

In the name of Pancasila morality, millions of people were murdered between 1965-1969.

In the name of religious morality, women were accused of being witches and burnt alive in European Middle-Ages.

In the name of Christian morality, crusades were initiated.

In the name of national morality, women's navels become an enemy.

But don't forget: the morality of our nation (called an archipelago in the past) had also been condemned by the Europeans, and for this reason, they felt they had the right to convert the people and even to colonize them.

The persistence in morality often makes people see differences as something to be scolded: We are more moral than you, because you don't walk along the same path as we do.

Such fear of "foreign" culture is reflected in the draft anti-pornography bill, which is soon to be legitimized by the government.

It mentions the impact of globalization can influence the pornographic action, spread and use, as well as immoral and obscene actions in society.

This can threaten the national identity and the social way of life of the Indonesian people.

But how about all of the female laborers who have been ripped-off by multinational companies? Why haven't they been mentioned? Haven't they been victims of globalization?

Yes, this is the danger: the persistence in morality is nothing but a method of hiding the fear against more powerful force.

Criticizing globalization by chasing women with lipstick and mini-skirts is indeed far easier than challenging huge and powerful companies with zillions of dollars.

Opting morality rather than humanity can indeed be a lot more beneficial for the government.

They seem to be doing something for the country by implementing some rules.

But what they are doing are merely cowardly acts of punishing the powerless and letting the powerful slip away and freely rip-off their own people.

Well, wasn't that what the Pharisees did a long-long time ago? They bowed to the authority of Herod while trying to stone Mary Magdalene, a woman who was victimized by the injustice of the King, and trying to make a living by selling her body?

When this "prostitute" approached Jesus, all Jesus' students chased her because their morality didn't allow them to accept her.

However, with humanity, Jesus welcomed her. And for his humanity, Jesus was finally punished.

Do we want our country to repeat this kind of history?

Really, Indonesia is rich with morality, rules and laws. Really, we should stop talking about morality and start talking about humanity.

I no longer believe in morality in Indonesia, because I'd rather believe in humans with all their commotions, differences, and passions which seem chaotic but somewhat beautiful.

The writer is author of The Discrepancy between the Public and the Private Selves of Indonesian Women. She can be reached at smarching@yahoo.com.