Pandaya, Jakarta – Last week's passage of the controversial antipornography law, a symbolic victory for conservative Muslims, can further undermine Indonesia's increasingly fragile religious harmony.
Proponents of the bill turned a deaf ear to the fierce objections raised by rights and pro-democracy groups. They underestimated rejections by the non-Muslim majority provinces of Bali, Papua and North Sulawesi for reasons of culture and religion.
How can these politicians endorsing the law prove their claims that it won't in any way threaten the unity of this multi-ethnic and multi-faith country when some provinces vehemently reject it?
From its inception, the bill has received a cold shoulder from those suspicious that Islamic political parties had sheathed their sharia agenda within it. And the agenda is plain to see. The Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) and numerous Islamic groups had aggressively campaigned for its passage to save the "people's morality".
Islamic parties such as the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), the United Development Party (PPP), the Crescent Star Party (PBB) and the National Mandate Party (PAN) account for the law's main proponents.
It's a shame the so-called "nationalist" parties, including the Golkar Party and the Democratic Party, danced to the Islamic parties' tune. Afraid of losing Muslim support in next year's elections?
Probably. The fact the porn law has always been religiously hyped, promoted by Islamic parties with the zealous support of Islamist groups, gives credence to the suspicion that the legislation is part of the "Islamization" of Indonesian politics.
Critics have from the outset questioned the (Islamic) religious values underlying contentious issues in the disputed legislation. Although the religious overtones that pepper it have not become a main subject of debate, the undercurrent is strong.
The Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) flatly rejected the bill on the grounds that the legislation "disrespects the nation's diverse cultural expressions" that the 1945 Constitution guaranteed.
The Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI) saw the controversy surrounding the porn bill as increasingly "ideological and political",warning it could trigger conflict among citizens.
"There are many more urgent issues for the House of Representatives to address than the porn bill, which is opposed to by many for good reason," the KWI said in its Sept. 17 press statement.
People in the predominantly Christian North Sulawesi, which has openly rejected the law, say it is incompatible with Christianity and local traditions.
The predominantly Hindu Balinese say the bill should be thrown into the trash can because it does not respect the "local culture" that accounts for the backbone of its tourism industry.
In a 2006 interview with The Jakarta Post, Hasyim Muzadi, chairman of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) – the country's largest moderate Islamic organization, and on that has long rejected the formalization of Islam in state politics – said many mostly Muslim regencies were anxiously awaiting the porn law.
Local government bureaucrats, Muzadi went on, needed the porn law as a legal umbrella to adopt sharia-based bylaws to win support from Muslims. Countless regencies and cities have adopted morality ordinances in the name of autonomy, whose interpretation has often been overstretched by local politicians exploiting the weak central government.
Assuming cleric Muzadi is right, the advent of the porn bill will inspire more predominantly Muslim regencies to adopt sharia bylaws. Some mayoralties and regencies in Aceh, South Sulawesi and West Java make Koran-reading skills mandatory for prospective civil servants.
The government has turned a blind eye, if not tacitly condoned, this disturbing trend – despite objections and warnings about its potential dangers.
Now that the porn bill is here to stay, love it or hate it, let's hope the religious fanatics will not take to the streets and attack anything they deem "pornographic" on their way, although the new law does ask "members of the public"to participate in enforcing the law.
The passage of the law with only two of the 10 political factions in the House of Representatives – the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and the Prosperous Peace Party (PDS) – opposing it has only demonstrated politicians' shortsightedness. They underestimate the danger of making a flawed law for short-term political gains.
By the way, no need to worry, because Bali's rejection of the law means you can still go to the souvenir market there and buy that enormous, shiny brown wooden penis to tickle your friend's heart.