Selling atheism in the shadow of religious fundamentalism Ary Hermawan ,
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Thu, 05/29/2008 10:35 AM | Potpourri
A man browsers the "God and Religion" section of Aksara's Plaza Indonesia
outlet. Aksara and other International bookstores in the country, like
Kinokuniya and Periplus, sell books on atheism.(JP/Ary Hermawan)
Does atheism sell in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim country and home
to such bigoted religionists as the Bali bombers?
Will it ever have a place in a "God-fearing" society whose forefathers had
unanimously decided to place the Abrahamic doctrine of the Unity of God as its
first national credo?
The default answer would be unsurprisingly "no". Atheism books like Richard
Dawkins' The God Delusion, Sam Harris' The End of Faith or Christopher
Hitchens' God is Not Great may have been on the bestselling charts somewhere
else and can now be spotted in nearly all international airports, but the top
local publishers have no interest in bringing these books to local bookstores.
Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia (KPG), which publishes the Indonesian
translation of River out of Eden, a book by the card-carrying atheist Dawkins
who happens to be an excellent writer on popular science, had considered
translating The God Delusion, but abandoned the idea.
"We thought about it last year and we decided that it was too provocative,"
Candra Gautama, the publisher's editor in chief, said.
KPG, however, plans to publish The Selfish Gene, Dawkins' book that has now
become a classic in popular science literature. Gautama said the book, despite
its apparent atheistic tone, did not explicitly support atheism. Dawkins, he
argued, is only explaining how evolution works; it has nothing to do with the
question of the existence or non-existence of God.
"The other reason why we don't publish the book (The God Delusion) is that in
it Dawkins, as a scientist, does not provide us with compelling scientific
arguments," he said.
Serambi, a small publisher that has enjoyed sizable profits from selling the
translation of Dan Brown's controversial novel, The Da Vinci Code -- a golden
opportunity passed out by the giant Catholic-leaning publisher Gramedia Group
-- said it had invited experts and readers alike to discuss the possibility of
publishing Dawkins' book. The conclusion they reached was that the public was
not yet ready to accept such an offensive book.
"We fear that people won't even read the book as there is already prejudice
against it. We actually have no problem with its content and even think that it
could actually enlighten people to reexamine their faith," Serambi's editor in
chief, Qomaruddin SF, said.
The book, he predicted, was unlikely to gain considerable success in the
Indonesian book market, while Serambi, as a commercial publisher, had to seek a
balance between the margins of its idealism and, of course, profits.
The country's biggest Islamic publisher, Mizan, which offers books containing
progressive thoughts in Islam, is not interested at all in publishing books
that "attack religions".
"There is no use in publishing those books for the public. They can of course
be used as an intellectual exercise for a small number of readers, and I think
their availability in English editions at some local bookstores is enough," the
publisher's founder, Haidar Bagir, said.
As a Muslim scholar, Bagir sees the new wave of books on atheism as a sign of
frustration of the anti-religion thinkers who predicted that religions would
naturally disappear in the twenty first century, and who are now facing what
appears to be the opposite: Religions persist and there are more people
returning to their faiths.
"We, on the contrary, publish books that counter the arguments of atheists,"
he said, adding that Mizan tried to be consistent with its mission: Religious
propagation and education.
If Mizan was to publish books critical of religions, it would only consider
the works of a sympathetic author like Karen Armstrong, a former nun who calls
herself a "freelance monotheist". Her books, such as The Battle for God
(translated into Berperang Demi Tuhan), Bagir said, had been selling well in
the past few years.
While the answer is -- for different reasons and degrees of rejection -- "no"
for the big players, the smaller publishing companies are taking all the risks
to say "yes".
Pustaka Alvabet, a Jakarta-based publishing company, said it had secured the
right to publish The God Delusion, of which Dawkins claimed, "If this book
works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they
put it down."
The publisher is now preparing to release Sam Harris' A Letter to A Christian
Nation (translated into Surat Terbuka Kepada Bangsa Kristen) and has already
published Spiritualitas Tanpa Tuhan (The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality
by French writer Andre Comte-Sponville), which advocates atheism.
"We are looking for the right moment for its release," Zulkifli A.H., the
publisher's editor in chief, said, suggesting that it could be by the end of
this year or early next year.
He said the company was aware of all the risks; being accused of advocating
atheism, being attacked by the beleaguered religionists, especially those who
liked to mob buildings and burn books in the name of, sadly, God, or getting
the books banned by the government.
Yet, he is upbeat that the atheism books the company sells will not face
severe resistance from the public or the government like communist and Marxist
books, which are considered by many as politically threatening. "So far, no one
has protested Sponville's book," he said.
He did not expect, of course, that anti-religion books would sell like hot
cakes -- especially since books on atheism seem to mock the whole nation for
believing in Pancasila, the first article of which is, according to Dawkins and
his allies, nothing but a delusion.
"We dare to publish those books because we think we have to. In the past
decade, we have seen that religion, any religion, is being used to justify a
lot of atrocities.
"In Islam, we all know, there is terrorism. Meanwhile, the foreign policies
made by such developed countries as the U.S., especially when dealing with Iraq
and Afghanistan, are undeniably influenced by certain theological
considerations," he said.
Zulkifli considers books by stringent atheist authors like Dawkins, Hitchens
and Harris as "enlightening" as well as "inspiring" critiques on religion. He
said such books needed to be advertised appropriately, but admitted that it
would not be an easy task.
"I think the most important thing we need to do in the Reform era is first
give the public access to any kind of information, including atheism," he said.
Harris' The End of Faith was translated and published last year under the
title Terbenamnya Iman: Teror dan Masa Depan Nalar by Pustaka Pelajar, a
publisher in Yogyakarta. The circulation was, however, so limited that it
virtually went unnoticed.
Local English bookstore Aksara said it never had a problem selling books on
atheism, which were placed in its stores' "religion" section.
"We always refer to the New York Times best-seller list in determining the
books we'd like to offer. We don't promote certain ideas, of course. But as
long as they encourage a healthy discussion, we would provide them here,"
Penny Purnawati, the bookstore's marketing manager, said.
Those books, however, are never on the bookstore's best-selling list,
although, she said, "they have their own consumers."
The God Delusion and John Connor's The Atheist Bible may have surpassed the
other titles in the genre, but they, even at Aksara, according to Penny, could
not compete with Habiburrahman El-Shirazy's Ayat-ayat Cinta or Lakmis
Pamuntjak's Jakarta Good Food Guide.
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Pustaka Alvabet
Ciputat Mas Plaza Blok B/AD
Jl. Ir. H. Juanda No. 5A, Ciputat
Jakarta Selatan Indonesia 15411
Telp. +62 21 7494032,
Fax. +62 21 74704875
www.alvabet.co.id
