http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20060318.E02&irec=2 Religion in the public sphere
Suratno, Jakarta The controversies surrounding the pornography bill and the Tangerang prostitution bylaw are attracting a great deal of attention. The pros and cons have made many people question why it is necessary to legislate for the way we wear our clothes, comport ourselves in public and express our innermost feelings. >From the legal perspective, both the pornography bill and the Tangerang bylaw are unusual. Laws and regulations usually govern one's actions as they relate to others. However, the pornography bill and the Tangerang bylaw are designed to govern how one expresses oneself. Several problems arise in this regard. The Tangerang bylaw overlaps with the Criminal Code. It is also so loosely drafted that many people describe it as a catch-all bylaw. Chapter 4, for instance, allows the authorities to arrest a woman based solely on the grounds that she looks like a prostitute. Although the objective of both the bill and the bylaw is to "improve the nation's morality", they do not address the roots of the moral problems affecting the nation. When they enter the public sphere, certain aspects of morality and religion give rise to various problematic issues: First, the possibility of using religion to achieve social, economic and political goals. Second, the difficulty of translating and implementing religious values in the public sphere, Third, the fact that the public sphere is an area in which many groups attempt to show their power, Fourth, the fact that the public sphere consists of many different (pluralistic) groups. Therefore, one group cannot claim that it has the "best morality" or "best religion", and then try to force it on other groups. Basically, religion cannot be attributed in either the public or domestic sphere. This is because religion is not a functional entity, meaning it does not exist only when it is needed. Religion is an existential thing, meaning it forms an integral part of one's existence and life. A doctor, for instance, is only a doctor when he is treating and healing his patients. However, a Muslim will always be a Muslim. For such a person, religion must be translated and implemented in everyday social intercourse. This raises the question: which aspects of religion should be translated and implemented in everyday social intercourse (the public sphere), and to what extent? Many sociologists of religion, such as Jose Casanova, argue that only certain aspects of religious values should be presented in the public sphere, although not all of the public sphere is amenable to these values. Meanwhile, John Rawls in his book Political Liberalism (1993) supports Casanova's argument, saying that in a pluralistic society, religious values can be presented in the public sphere only if they are rational -- something Rawls refers to as "public rationality". In the case of the pornography bill, it is clearly difficult to even define pornography, while the application of the Tangerang bylaw has often led to citizens being denied their human rights. Based on the above arguments, when presenting religion in the public sphere, the religious values that are presented should not be based on those adhered to by one group alone. They should be based on the decision of the highest court of religious values through public rationality. The concept of good that is offered by particular groups must be rationally translated as the common good. Consequently, the concept of bad must also be rationally translated as the common bad. This is the best way of bringing religion into the public sphere in an elegant, fair and rational manner. To achieve this, the deliberation and legislative processes must be based on the principle of objectivity and inclusiveness. The writer is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Paramadina University, Jakarta. He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the School of Philosophy and a master's degree in comparative religion from the Center for Religious and Crosscultural Studies (CRCS), both at Gadjah Mada University (GMU), Yogyakarta. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Join modern day disciples reach the disfigured and poor with hope and healing http://us.click.yahoo.com/lMct6A/Vp3LAA/i1hLAA/aYWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Milis Wanita Muslimah Membangun citra wanita muslimah dalam diri, keluarga, maupun masyarakat. 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