As a Catholic, I am sad because of the resurfacing of an old video of a Q&A hosted by a famous Ustadz. It was not because of his answer, that is degrading the crucifix, specifically the Catholic crucifix. Catholics are the one who have Jesus on our Crucifixes, it is to remind us of the sacrifice He made on the cross, for everyone. It wasn’t because the fact that he spoke badly of the Crucifix in Catholic hospitals, the one that was built not only for Catholic patients, but for everyone.
It wasn’t all that, it was the laughter that ensues after the answer was given. Hearing the symbols of the greatest sacrifice being ridiculed is really sad. I was overwhelmed, who would have such an ill-intention of sharing these? The fact that the video was shared with a name of @KAJIANUSTADABDULSOMAD_ and was tagged with “follow and share” made it a bit worse. The Ustadz allegedly got reported to the police for the video, but the one sharing these video is the one that should be reported and facing the consequences. Because we did not have to hear that, sharing it only cause troubles and unneeded social problems.
Jesus has said in Matthew 5:38-42:
You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
As a Catholic, we have always been taught not to struggle or resist any attacks that’s directed to us. Our pastors always have the same sentiment, it’s always due to what Jesus has said.
However, that’s not all, a backlash is coming, with a form of #KamiBersatuBersamaUAS trending topic and suddenly quotes like these are appearing:
“Follow the Ulama that’s hated by the infidels … ”
< A video of a Christian preacher spewing hate towards Muslim >
“This is probably common in their churches too”
“Why is everyone targeting our Ulama?”
This is heartbreaking, what have we done, as Catholics in Indonesia to receive this? Did we provoke you, dear brothers? We were slightly hurt by the Crucifix being degraded, but did you really have to put salt in our wounds? Our pastors do not rally us to do anything but to forgive. Yes, media reported that the Ustadz was reported, but turns out no reports have been given until today, said the NTT Police.
When I was a Protestant, I did hear some snide remarks from a preacher, but never once I heard a Catholic pastor speak in derogatory terms to our Muslim brothers. We do not hate, we do not insult you in our churches, we never spoke badly of your Ulamas. The Catholic institution, namely the Archdiocese of Jakarta has even been actively trying to promote our Unity in Diversity and Pancasila. We are trying to create a great relationship from within our church and to the society around us, we are not your enemy.
I ask my Catholic brothers to keep following the teaching of Jesus and the guidance from our pastors to not get offended by this. I hope no one will report the Ustadz, but rather I hope someone can find the one sharing the video and let a proper apology be uttered by that person.
I ask my Muslim brothers not to blow these up further, there’s no need to defend nor squabble. I understand that this is a teaching platform for you and it should be kept private.
I believe that to each one of us, our own religion, we should not be squabbling among ourselves, if we do, we’re only hurting ourselves, while people start to abandon religions at all, our common enemy is the same, those who want to paint all religious person as bad and ignorant, and let us not prove them right.
Rather than talking about #UAS, I would rather we talk about the pollution in Jakarta and how can we lessen the threat that is literally killing us slowly.
Disclaimer: This is my opinion and I welcome any feedback. I will not share any video that is mentioned.
Josef Matondang 