James Bond

http://www.gatra.com/artikel.php?id=100630
INTRIK

Tahun 2007 konon adalah tahun James Bond. Setidaknya, itu yang diisyaratkan seorang paranormal kondang kepada saya. Terus saya sendiri bingung membuat interpretasinya. Pergilah saya berkonsultasi pada Mpu Peniti. Kebetulan, ketika saya datang, Mpu Peniti, mentor saya, sedang asyik menonton DVD James Bond. Mpu Peniti menonton episode ke-20 yang berjudul Die Another Day. Film James Bond dengan bujet tertinggi, hingga US$ 142 juta, dan merupakan film Pierce Brosnan yang terakhir sebagai James Bond. Film ini termasuk film James Bond yang sukses karena berhasil menjadi box-office dengan pendapatan di atas US$ 431 juta.

Usai menonton, iseng-iseng saya tanya Mpu Peniti soal hubungan 2007 dengan 007 milik James Bond. Dan beliau cuma terkekeh menanggapi kebingungan saya. Menurut Mpu Peniti, film James Bond sukses karena tiga hal. Pertama, filmnya akan seru luar biasa kalau James Bond punya musuh yang sangat tangguh. Semakin dahsyat musuhnya, semakin luar biasa filmnya.

Kedua, wanita cantik yang selalu disebut "Bond's Girl". Inilah elemen yang menjanjikan misteri dan penasaran. Pemilihan wanita cantik untuk mendampingi James Bond biasanya dilakukan sangat teliti dan saksama. Di dalam film, ada wanita yang memang berperan sebagai agen rahasia untuk mendampingi James Bond. Tapi ada juga yang awalnya di pihak musuh dan kemudian di akhir cerita menjadi kekasih James Bond.

Yang ketiga, dan terakhir, James Bond tidak pernah kehilangan akal. Apa pun situasinya, ia pasti bisa meloloskan diri.

Jadi, kalau mau sukses dan berhasil pada tahun 2007, resepnya sederhana. Persis seperti film James Bond. Dalam film James Bond, di awal cerita selalu ada bagian ketika James Bond bertemu dengan Q, tokoh yang jenius dan selalu menyediakan berbagai peralatan untuk meloloskan diri. Jadi, pertama-tama yang harus Anda siapkan adalah strategi untuk meloloskan diri, the exit strategy. Di dalam film James Bond tahun 1999 berjudul The World Is Not Enough, terjadi percakapan antara Q dan James Bond:

Q: "I've always tried to teach you two things. First, never let them see you bleed."
James Bond: "And the second?"
Q: "Always have an escape plan."

Artinya, apa pun yang terjadi, dan biar separah apa pun luka Anda, jangan pernah memperlihatkan kepada musuh bahwa Anda sedang berdarah-darah. Dan yang paling penting, selalu punya strategi untuk meloloskan diri.

Wanita cantik dalam film James Bond biasanya diberi peran bermacam-macam. Ada yang memang kolega dan sesama agen rahasia yang ditugasi membantu James Bond. Tapi ada juga yang berperan dari pihak musuh, yang kemudian di akhir cerita kadang membantu James Bond atau juga diselamatkan oleh James Bond dan akhirnya menjadi kekasih James Bond. Walaupun kadang wanita cantik ini perannya remeh, dan seringkali dijadikan pemanis saja, toh tetap saja mereka merupakan elemen yang bikin penasaran dan memberikan kejutan sesekali.

Menurut Mpu Peniti, kita harus cerdas memanfaatkan karisma yang ada di dalam diri kita. Tidak jarang, dalam kehidupan bisnis sehari-hari, Tuhan Yang Mahakuasa memberikan kita jalan dan petunjuk. Kadang bisa dari teman, bisa juga dari lawan. Kadang petunjuknya sangat jelas dan kadang-kadang sesekali mengejutkan datang dengan petunjuk samar-samar. Ibaratnya wanita cantik dalam film James Bond, menurut Mpu Peniti, keberuntungan itu ada di mana-mana. Tinggal kita sigap, tangkas, selalu siap sedia memanfaatkan setiap momentum dan peluang. Persis seperti James Bond. Selalu melakukan improvisasi.

Dan yang terakhir, James Bond hadir begitu populer di tengah-tengah kita sejak 1962, dengan episode pertamanya Dr. NO, semata-mata karena James Bond adalah jagoan kita yang tak terkalahkan untuk menghadapi segala macam krisis dan musuh. Salah satu dialog favorit saya adalah kalimat yang diucapkan tokoh Paris Carver (diperankan Teri Hatcher), dalam film James Bond berjudul Tomorrow Never Dies: "Tell me James, do you still sleep with a gun under your pillow?" Ini menunjukan, apa pun situasinya, James Bond selalu siap menghadapi segala tantangan. James Bond selalu punya persiapan.

Barangkali ramalan sang paranormal sangat berbeda dengan uraian Mpu Peniti di atas. Buat saya, wejangan Mpu Peniti terasa pas dengan segala tantangan yang mesti kita hadapi pada tahun 2007. Jadi, jangan takut dan waswas. Tahun baru 2007 pasti akan hadir dengan tantangan baru, masalah baru, dan krisis baru. Saya berniat menyongsong tantangan itu dan menikmatinya. Musuh James Bond dalam episode The World is not Enough, Elektra King yang diperankan aktris sensual Sophie Marceau, berkata dengan sangat bijak: "There's no point in living if you can't feel alive." Mari kita songsong 2007 dengan bersikap optimistis!

Kafi Kurnia
peka@indo.net.id
[Intrik, Gatra Nomor 6 Beredar Kamis, 21 Desember 2006]

Berani Tidak Kompromi

http://www.gatra.com/artikel.php?id=100631
PERSPEKTIF RADHAR PANCA DAHANA

Berlalunya tahun 2006, atau kira-kira tahun ketiga pemerintahan Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY), sebenarnya sudah cukup mengajarkan dan menegaskan pada kita akan beberapa hal. Pertama, jikapun ada yang kita sebut "kemajuan", ternyata kemajuan itu tidaklah cukup signifikan bagi perubahan keadaan masyarakat, secara sosial, ekonomis, psikologis, juga kultural. Angka-angka hebat pada tingkatan makro menyimpan paradoks atau seperti menentang hukum kapitalisme sendiri ketika ia tak bisa berbuat apa-apa pada sektor riil.

Berarti ada yang keliru pada angka itu, pada sistem (kapitalisme)-nya bahkan. Bukan angkanya, bisa jadi. Melainkan makna dan aplikasinya. Uang melimpah, katakanlah, tapi ia tak untuk memberdayakan diri. Melainkan menjadi penganggur di peti-peti harta luar negeri: jadi pengangguran sambil membiarkan diri beranak-pinak tanpa risiko. Tepatnya tanpa tanggung jawab sosial dan kebangsaan: mendayagunakannya di negeri tempat uang itu dikeruk habis-habisan.

Hal kedua, kondisi itu bukan saja menghambat bahkan melenyapkan hak-hak ekosob (ekonomi, sosial, budaya) yang kovenan PBB-nya sudah kita ratifikasi. Melainkan juga adanya semacam kebingungan --lebih mengkhawatirkan jika ia sebenarnya rasa frustrasi-- kalau para penanggung jawab negeri ini (di kabinet, parlemen, atau mahkamahnya) tidak kunjung memiliki gagasan terobosan untuk mengatasi situasi paradoksal di atas. Pendek kata, elite kita mengalami kemarau ide, satu hal yang hukumnya wajib kifayah di masa kini.

Persoalan tersebut disusul oleh kenyataan ketiga yang lebih ngegirisi: dengan bekal aturan-aturan baru yang merupakan reformasi konstitusional pun, ternyata perubahan signifikan tak terjadi lantaran begitu lemah implementasinya. Pemerintah di semua lini tidak cukup tough hanya untuk melaksanakan aturan tersebut, tanpa dalih atau retorika murahan. Pemimpin yang tidak kapabel dan tidak kompeten masih mengangkangi berbagai jabatan publik, mulai pemerintahan hingga parlemen, dari institusi negara sampai organisasi olahraga.

Tiga kenyataan di atas dalam analisis teknisnya sudah banyak disuarakan dalam pelbagai forum. Tapi, sekali lagi, kita harus mengakui, para elite penguasa itu seperti tuli dan buta. Atau saya kira lebih pada inkompetensi yang ada. Kemampuan yang ternyata pas-pasan, karena memang rasionalisasi di balik pemilihan "demokratis" yang sangat lemah membuat mereka sungguh tak berdaya. Memang tidak mampu mengemban tuntutan bahkan tugas-tugas dasarnya saja. Tapi nafsu berkuasa terlalu kuat. Maka, kegagalan tidak menjadi pelajaran, apalagi menjadi kejantanan untuk "angkat tangan". Berbagai bencana, mega-korupsi, kebengsrekan birokrasi, kegagalan di Asian Games, hingga perilaku amoral begitu permisifnya mereka bela secara kolektif.

Tampaknya, tidak ayal lagi, tahun-tahun mendatang, jika perubahan diharapkan harus terjadi, perubahan itu tidak lagi sekadar angka di atas kertas atau berupa bumbu retoris dari wacana para pejabat atau juru bicaranya. Ia harus dimulai dengan keras, bukan dengan orientasi angka/hasil akhir (betapapun itu penting), melainkan pada modus atau cara kita melaksanakan niat itu. Angka --seperti terbukti-- ternyata tak membuktikan apa-apa pada realitasnya. Ia bisa saja semu, bahkan sebuah tipu.

Tapi sebuah cara atau modus bekerja adalah nyawa dari sebuah kerja, di mana proses, waktu, dan jiwa ada di dalamnya. Seperti matematika dan pelajaran dasar lainnya, bukan hasil akhir yang penting, melainkan cara menghitung atau "jalan"-nya yang lebih utama. Karena di situlah sebuah akhir mendapat kualitas, mendapat makna dan fungsi. Karena di situlah keseluruhan pribadi (karakter/jati diri) teruji dan terbukti.

Pada titik inilah kecenderungan kita yang permisif, terlalu kompromistis, dan apologetik --sebagai wujud mentalitas dan kepribadian yang lemah-- mesti ditolak habis. Tak ada kompromi untuk kesalahan, kekurangan, wanprestasi, atau output yang asal-asalan. Sebuah elan vital dan etos kerja baru harus ditegakkan. Dan seluruh kalangan elite mesti menjalankannya. Tanpa kecuali. Tanpa kompromi. Atau aturan, hukum, bahkan kode etik segera menangani segala bias, deviasi, atau pelanggaran.

"Kebangkitan" Amerika Latin yang kini sudah membuat tujuh negara utamanya bersatu dalam tekad menentang kedegilan globalisme dan nafsu serakah Amerika Serikat cs dapat menjadi contoh. Elite utamanya, dari Lula da Silva di Brasil hingga Hugo Chaves di Venezuela, dari Evo Morales di Bolivia sampai Michele Bachelet di Cile, membuktikan betapa modus yang kuat (betapapun itu menentang logika global) dapat diterapkan. Dengan satu tujuan: kemajuan bangsa, semesta rakyat kita.

Maka, Chavez pun melempar semua kepentingan Amerika di muka presidennya. Morales menasionalisasi semua usaha ekstratifnya. Argentina dulu menentang dan menolak pembayaran utang. Mereka pun sukses. Apa pun kontroversi di dalamnya. Sebagaimana hal yang sama terjadi di Cina atau Rusia. Sebagian dunia membuktikan sudah: jangan kompromi pada kelemahan diri, sebelum kita tidak kompromi pada kekuatan eksternal (yang kasar dan imperialistik).

Radhar Panca Dahana
Pekerja seni
[Perspektif, Gatra Nomor 6 Beredar Kamis, 21 Desember 2006]

Budaya Kumuh

http://www.gatra.com/artikel.php?id=100438
PERSPEKTIF SYAFI'I MA'ARIF

Bila Anda mendengar seorang jaksa atau hakim yang mau pindah ke tempat yang lebih basah, pasti ada anak kalimat berupa pertanyaan yang mengiringinya: harus bayar berapa? Tidak hanya itu. Mau jadi polisi, tentara, jadi PNS, apalagi mau bekerja di BUMN, hampir pasti harus diberi minyak pelumas. Cerita tentang ini tidak pernah kering, bertali berkelindan, ruwet, ujungnya: duit. Apalagi jika Anda ingin jadi anggota DPR, pusat atau daerah, pasti harus punya modal untuk itu. Modal itu tidak cukup hanya kepintaran, integritas, komitmen, tetapi Anda punya dana berapa. Dengan dana yang cukup, nilai-nilai moral ini hanyalah menempati posisi ke sekian.

Dalam kondisi budaya lagi kumuh ini, uang adalah raja yang berkuasa penuh. Persekongkolan pengusaha dengan dunia perbankan dan praktek jual-beli perkara adalah panorama lain yang semakin menyengsarakan rakyat kita. Tentu di sana-sini ada saja perkecualian, tetapi itu hanyalah riak-riak kecil yang pasti ditelan gelombang air yang kumuh itu.

Apakah tidak ada kekuatan pencerahan dan pencerdasan melalui berbagai media? Ada, tetapi belum berdaya. Dalam budaya yang serba kumuh ini, telah datang para penjaja obat pembersih dengan tawaran-tawaran yang memukau. Ada yang datang dengan resep spiritual, agama, ekonomi, dan politik, tetapi keadaan tetap tidak berubah. Pangsa pasar yang bernama Indonesia masih saja tidak bersih. Adalah penyair Pakistan, Mohammad Iqbal, yang pernah memberikan sindiran tajam tentang sebuah masyarakat dan budaya yang sedang sakit, sementara berbagai resep telah ditawarkan, tetapi tak satu pun yang mujarab:

Yang mengherankan
Bukanlah karena Anda
Punya mukjizat [penyembuh] seperti Al-Masih
Yang mengherankan
Adalah sakit pasien Anda
Bertambah parah

Barangkali Indonesia sedang berada dalam lingkaran sindiran itu. Belum satu pun masalah mendasar yang dapat diselesaikan secara tuntas: korupsi, politik uang, penegakan hukum, mental aparat yang tidak banyak berbeda dengan mental maling, otonomi daerah yang banyak persoalan, dan sederetan masalah yang berjibun.

Dulu orang menyalahkan sistem demokrasi yang tak langsung. Lalu MPR membuat undang-undang tentang demokrasi langsung, tapi situasi belum juga semakin membaik. Angka pengangguran tetap tinggi karena lapangan kerja yang amat sempit. Suasana desa lengang tanpa gairah, semuanya serba sulit dan mencekam. Lalu berduyun-duyun migrasi ke kota-kota untuk menjadi penganggur dengan membawa segudang masalah pula. Muncullah di mana-mana daerah gelap yang dihuni warga miskin tak berdaya, sementara anak bertambah juga.

Dalam pada itu, pendidikan sejak kita merdeka pun tidak memberdayakan anak didik. Yang lahir umumnya bukan manusia merdeka yang kreatif, melainkan warga yang serba bergantung pada negara. Maka tidak mengherankan antrean panjang untuk menjadi PNS, karena lorong yang lain tertutup rapat. Adapun yang lolos dari lingkaran pengap ini adalah mereka yang bermental raja wali, yang umumnya didapatkan di luar sistem pendidikan. Sekalipun manusia tipe ini jumlahnya masih minoritas, hari depan Indonesia banyak menaruh harapan kepadanya.

Dalam pertemuan saya bersama M.T. Zen dengan alumni ITB Jakarta baru-baru ini, saya menjumpai di sana anak-anak Indonesia yang bermental raja wali itu. Dibukanya usaha bisnis di luar negeri dan berhasil, karena iklim dalam negeri tidak kondusif untuk berusaha. Mereka berprinsip, jangan habiskan energi di dalam negeri karena pasti kacau dan sangat melelahkan.

Ibarat seorang pasien, Indonesia kini sedang menunggu anak-anak bangsa kreatif yang punya integritas untuk perbaikan masa depan bagi semua. Mereka ini bisa berasal dari perguruan tinggi, madrasah/pesantren, dan dari lembaga-lembaga nonformal. Kantong-kantong kreatif ini mulai bermunculan dari rahim berbagai subkultur bangsa. Mereka bekerja secara profesional, tidak untuk diri sendiri, tetapi untuk kepentingan yang lebih besar.

Umumnya mereka adalah warga yang beragama secara tulus, autentik, dan tidak main politik yang penuh intrik dan gesekan itu. Sekalipun budaya Indonesia pada umumnya masih kumuh, mereka ini telah dan sedang membangun kantong-kantong budaya bersih, karena idealisme mereka yang tahan banting, bukan idealisme instan. Semestinya pemimpin-pemimpin formal memberi fasilitas kepada warga tipe ini, sekiranya para pemimpin itu punya kepekaan dan kecerdasan dalam membaca peta masyarakat kita yang dililit berbagai masalah yang rumit ini.

Dalam lingkaran budaya yang sudah sehat dan bersih, para penjual obat dan resep dengan serba janji penyembuhan, barang dagangannya tidak pernah laku. Mereka benar-benar telah tercerahkan oleh pengalaman hidupnya yang pahit, berliku, tetapi kaya.

Contoh serupa juga saya jumpai pada sedikit perusahaan swasta yang berpedoman pada prinsip good governance (tata kelola pemerintahan yang baik), sekalipun mereka bergerak dalam dunia swasta. Dalam dunia usaha yang sehat inilah sakit si pasien menjadi sembuh karena lingkungan yang segar, manusiawi, dan menggairahkan. "Virus" dari kantong-kantong sehat inilah yang harus cepat ditularkan ke berbagai penjuru, agar Indonesia benar-benar bangkit secara sehat, berdaulat, dan percaya diri.

Ahmad Syafi'i Ma'arif
Cedekiawan muslim, guru besar sejarah
[Perspektif, Gatra Nomor 5 Beredar Kamis, 14 Desember 2006]

Sang Penyebar Kasih

http://www.kompas.co.id/kompas-cetak/0612/24/Natal/3196296.htm
Minggu, 24 Desember 2006

Dalam konteks historis, kehidupan Yesus Kristus (Isa al-Masih) hanyalah sesaat. Namun, jejak dan pengaruhnya sangat besar dalam membangun peradaban manusia. Pesan dan warisan yang paling fundamental dan senantiasa hidup adalah agar manusia senantiasa berbagi dan memelihara kasih (silaturahmi).

Nama yang populer dalam Al Quran adalah ’Isa berasal dari kata Yeshu’ dalam bahasa Suriah, dan dalam bahasa Yahudi disebut Yeshua, kependekan dari Yeshoshua, yang artinya penyelamatan dari Tuhan. Perubahan dari nama Yeshu’ menjadi Yesus, sebagaimana Musa menjadi Moses, merupakan pengaruh lisan Eropa, bukannya tradisi Semitik.

Dalam Al Quran sedikitnya sebanyak 25 kali nama Isa disebut, dan ada tiga surah (chapter) yang mengabadikan cerita seputar keluarga Isa, yaitu surah Ali Imran (Keluarga Imran), Al-Maidah (Jamuan Makan), dan Maryam (Maria). Ini menunjukkan betapa posisi Isa dalam Islam sangat dimuliakan sehingga siapa pun yang melecehkan sosok Isa, umat Islam juga akan tersinggung.

Bahkan, Al Quran sangat jelas dan tegas melakukan pembelaan tentang kesucian Maryam dan kemukjizatan Isa ketika Maryam dan Isa dihina dan didustakan oleh orang- orang Yahudi. Perbedaan yang sangat fundamental antara Islam dan Kristen terletak pada penafsiran seputar hubungan Allah dan Yesus dalam mengemban misi penyelamatan (salvation) bagi manusia.

Teologi Kristen mengajarkan bahwa Yesus adalah inkarnasi Allah. Yesus adalah Firman yang hidup, yang mendarah dan mendaging. Sedangkan dalam ajaran Islam, firman Allah tertuang dalam kitab suci Al Quran.

Meski ada perbedaan fundamental dalam memahami hakikat dan peran Yesus, namun dalam etika sosial banyak sekali titik temu yang dapat menjadi agenda bersama, yaitu ajaran Yesus agar manusia saling mengasihi dan mencintai.

Di tengah krisis kemanusiaan akibat merebaknya sengketa dan konflik di dunia saat ini, spirit Natal yang menyeru hati dan pikiran untuk menebar dan merajut tali kasih antarsesama, apa pun agama, bangsa, dan sukunya, menjadi relevan. Dari sekian banyak nama Allah, yang paling dianjurkan untuk disebut nama-Nya adalah Dia Yang Maha Pengasih dan Maha Penyayang. Ini mengandung ajaran agar setiap manusia menjadi instrumen Allah untuk menyebarkan sifat Kasih dan Sayang-Nya di mana pun dan kapan pun berada, baik melalui pikiran, omongan, penglihatan, dan tindakan. Inilah yang terkandung dalam ajaran silaturahmi, yaitu merajut tali kasih ilahi dalam kehidupan sosial.

Silaturahmi yang sejati akan terwujud hanya ketika seseorang berada dalam gelombang kesadaran spiritual yang melampaui batas-batas suku, bangsa, dan agama karena Allah menciptakan manusia dan meniupkan Ruh-Nya ke dalam setiap jiwa sebelum menciptakan suku dan agama. Kasih dan kebenaran ilahi akan semakin terang ketika kita mampu keluar dari kungkungan egoisme emosi, pikiran, dan hegemoni kelompok, lalu menapaki Jalan Lurus (shirat al- mustaqim) dan jalan damai (salam) untuk menggapai kasih-Nya.

Komaruddin Hidayat Seorang Muslim, Pengamat Sosial Keagamaan

Dunia Konsumsi, Mau tapi Malu

http://www.kompas.co.id/kompas-cetak/0612/24/utama/3196920.htm
Minggu, 24 Desember 2006

BRE REDANA

Mengapa kami perlu membikin semacam catatan khusus mengenai kehidupan kota besar, urban life, yang beberapa sisinya dilihat orang sebagai semata-mata kehidupan konsumtif, dangkal, tidak heroik, tidak menantang seperti filsafat, tidak serius (dan angker) seperti agama dan LSM—pendeknya sesuatu yang "di-tidak-kan" tapi diam-diam "dirayakan" semua orang bahkan oleh para pengecamnya? Salah satunya tentu dikarenakan "kedekatan" (proximity), yang sebenarnya mengandung ironi: justru karena kedekatan ini, banyak hal telah dirongrongnya tanpa kita sadari.

Kota besar adalah schizophrenic, kata Suketu Mehta mengutip Victor Hugo dalam bukunya yang menjadi unggulan Pulitzer, Maximum City (2005). Keseluruhan buku itu tentang Bombay—atau Mumbai sekarang orang menyebut—yang barangkali bisa menjadi cermin bagi semua orang untuk menyadari hubungan antara sebuah individu dan suatu kota besar dalam pertumbuhannya yang maksimum dan setiap saat terancam meledak.

Kota besar menjadi seperti sosoknya sekarang antara lain dikarenakan kendaraan, mobil. Karena mobil orang bisa tinggal makin jauh dan makin jauh dari pusat kota. Kota mengembang karena mobil, dan kemudian juga sekarat karena mobil. Lahan-lahan untuk pertumbuhan anak-anak di luar rumah terancam dari waktu ke waktu. Dari kebun, dari lapangan, anak digusur ke taman, dari taman ke tempat parkir, ketika yang terakhir itu pun tak ada lagi bahkan sela-selanya, takluklah anak- anak: mereka duduk di ruang tamu nonton televisi.

Kenyataannya kemudian, kita telah hidup di dunia virtual, dunia cyber, dunia maya. Yang dipahami orang mengenai sesuatu yang "nyata", terus berevolusi. "Taste the real thing" seperti iklan minuman dulu sudah terlalu kuno. Sekarang di pinggir jalan di Jakarta orang menjumpai iklan peralatan elektronik yang semboyannya "imagined reality". Kenyataan, seperti konsep bangsa yang diintroduksikan oleh Benedict Anderson, adalah sesuatu yang "terbayangkan" belaka.

Itu semua, bukankah isyarat, bahwa kita seharusnya melihat apa yang disebut "kenyataan" itu secara berbeda? Citra, perwujudan semu, perwujudan gadungan, itulah arena pertarungan berbagai kepentingan masyarakat masa kini. Tidak hanya terbatas pada dunia konsumsi yang memang strategi bujuk-rayunya adalah pada penciptaan citra, tetapi juga pada pertarungan kepentingan politik entah itu oleh penguasa, organisasi massa, lembaga swadaya masyarakat, individu-individu yang memperjuangkan kepentingannya sendiri dengan berkedok memperjuangkan kemiskinan, hak-hak asasi manusia, hak buruh, saham perusahaan, dan lain-lain. Dalam dunia citra ini, Anda sungguh- sungguh bisa percaya kepada mereka atau dia? Hua-ha-ha….

Spiritualitas

Faktor-faktor paling kritis dalam membentuk sebuah kota, konon adalah kesakralan, kemampuan untuk menyediakan rasa aman bagi warga, dan kemampuan menghidupkan ekonomi atau bisnis. Dengan alasan itulah metropolitan pertama dalam peradaban manusia lahir, yaitu Mesopotamia di lembah antara Sungai Eufrat dan Tigris pada sekitar 3500 tahun SM. Kota berikut alasan penjadiannya adalah alasan keagamaan, di mana orang akan dengan aman bisa menghayati kehidupan spiritualitasnya dengan intens. Setelah itu, dalam rentang waktu ribuan tahun, kota-kota dibangun dengan alasan sama, dari Babylon, Roma, Alexandria, Paris dengan katedral Notre Dame-nya, dan seterusnya.

Kota menjadi arena untuk alasan ekonomi mulai berkembang setelah Revolusi Industri. Tahun 1800 London menjadi kota paling padat, dengan jumlah penduduk melampaui satu juta jiwa. Pada pertengahan tahun 1800-an itulah Charles Dickens menuliskan Hard Times, yang berisi semacam keresahan, ketika kota menjadi batu bata, dengan manusia-manusia yang tampak serupa belaka satu sama lain. Mereka meninggalkan rumah dan kembali ke rumah pada waktu yang sama, mengerjakan pekerjaan yang sama, setiap hari sama seperti hari kemarin, akan sama dengan hari esok—dan itu akan berlangsung terus sampai nanti kiamat.

Sekarang, setelah 200 tahun, di antara gegas kota besar, adakah yang masih menyimpan keresahan itu? Para pemikir yang pandai bicara, ahli tata ruang, arsitek yang hebat-hebat, para pengembang, memang kita dengar sering bicara akan perlunya ruang hijau perkotaan, penyelamatan lingkungan, preservasi historik, tapi, adakah yang bicara akan perlunya visi moral untuk mengembangkan sebuah kota?

Kita semua telah sama-sama ambil bagian dalam melucuti sakralitas sebuah ruang. Bukan saja dengan pembangunan yang tanpa rencana, ngawur seperti pembangunan jalan ala Jakarta, tetapi juga dengan kemunafikan kita, yang di zaman ini dimanjakan dan diakomodasi dengan sempurna oleh industri citra. Bukan hanya para pencoleng, kriminal terorganisir bergentayangan, tetapi juga figur-figur yang dikira orang pahlawan, tetapi sebetulnya hanyalah manipulator citra.

Kembali ke pertanyaan semula, mengapa harus dibikin catatan tentang kehidupan kota besar, urban life. Jawabnya kira-kira, karena alasan-alasan di atas, serta ikhtiar, bagaimana kita berusaha menemukan diri dan berwaspada dalam lingkungan yang telah berubah luar biasa berikut semua gejala yang tak terelakkan ini.

Atau setidaknya, agar kita tak terbiasa munafik: mau tapi malu.

China’s Decrepit Population

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/wu2
Friedrich Wu

China’s government finally appears to be acknowledging the urgent challenges presented by the country’s aging population. On December 12, it released a cabinet-level White Paper on the problem – the first of its kind ­– in an effort to grapple with the prospect of rising social-security and healthcare costs, a tightening labor market, and other potential obstacles to continue rapid economic growth.

Looking back, it is ironic that the Chinese government’s draconian “one-child” policy, imposed in 1979, was implemented at the same time as the “open door” policy, aimed at capturing labor-intensive foreign manufacturing investment. While both policies must be regarded as successes, over the years the family planning program has contributed to an aging population that may diminish China’s attractiveness as a low-cost, labor-intensive manufacturing hub.

During the nearly three decades since the “one-child” policy was introduced, live births have dropped from 22.5 million per year in the early 1980’s to around 16-17 million by the middle of this decade. Moreover, with the number of elderly growing as a result of rising life expectancy, this low birth rate has pushed the share of those aged 65 and above from 4.9% of the total population to 7.7%.

According to the United Nations Population Division’s (UNPD) “medium-variant” projections, without reform of the “one-child” policy, the share of China’s population aged 15 and below would decline from 24.8% in 2000 to 15.7% in 2050, while the share of those aged 65 and above would soar from 6.8% to 23.6%. With fewer children to replenish the workforce, the working-age cohort of those 15-64 years old would shrink from 68.4% to 60.7%. The elderly would thus account for a far greater share of China’s population than in other large emerging economies, such as Brazil, India, Indonesia, and Mexico.

China’s demographic trends hold several adverse implications for its economy. With a rapidly aging population and a shrinking workforce, tax revenue will contract, while expenditure on pensions and health care will expand, undermining the fiscal position. Various estimates by private-sector economists and World Bank officials suggest that the government’s accumulated “net implicit pension debt” could balloon to 75-110% of GDP.

Furthermore, the decline in the working-age cohort would squeeze labor supply, fueling wage growth and eroding the country’s economic competitiveness. Already, in the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas, where manufacturing activity is the densest, labor shortages have appeared. In 2004, for example, Guangdong Province had to raise the mandatory minimum wage by as much as 20% to attract workers from other regions. To hire and retain skilled workers, many foreign-invested enterprises routinely pay above the minimum wage.

But some foreign manufacturers, seeking to cap rising labor costs, are shifting production from China to cheaper destinations such as Vietnam, where average monthly wages for factory workers is $50-60 – half that of China. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Vietnam grew by 40% in 2005, led by investors from Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. China’s inward FDI fell 1.2% in the first seven months of 2006, after a 0.5% decline in 2005, while combined investment from Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan plummeted 31% in the first half of 2006, compared to the 6.5% decline in 2005.

These figures are only the early warnings of an emerging trend. In the long run, as labor shortages become acute, China will need to relinquish some low-end, labor-intensive manufacturing activities, which will translate into decelerating export performance and lower economic growth.

Aside from abandoning the “one-child” policy, China could avoid this outcome by climbing the value chain in manufacturing and services, as Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan have done. However, for China to succeed, higher investment in research and development, together with a fundamental overhaul of the educational system, is essential.

According to OECD estimates, China’s current expenditure on R&D amounts to only 1.3% of GDP, compared to 3.2% in Japan and an average of 2.5-2.6% in South Korea, Taiwan, and the United States. Although the government recently announced that it intends to increase R&D spending to 2% of GDP by 2010, this remains below the OECD average of 2.2%.

As for China’s backward educational system, the large number of university graduates is offset by their overall sub-standard quality. According to a recent survey by McKinsey & Company, of the more than three million graduates churned out by China’s universities and colleges every year, less than 10% are suitable for employment with international companies, owing to their deficiencies in practical training and poor English.

In view of these systemic weaknesses, China’s ability to overcome its labor deficit by shifting to an innovation- and productivity-driven economy remains dubious.

Friedrich Wu is a Senior Research Associate at the National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2006.
www.project-syndicate.org

A New Era for Islamic Science?

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/goranson5

H. T. Goranson

For a few hundred years, when science and mathematics were enjoying a period of great invention, one region of the world stood out. Masters of these disciplines were revered there, medicine advanced quickly, and the average person was curious about how nature worked. Not surprisingly, this region was globally respected.

In the other half of the known planet, scientists were punished, even killed. Mathematics was outlawed as irreligious and alien, and was later made subservient to religion. The standard of living was low.

The prosperous region was the Islamic Middle East, while an ignorant Europe remained poor. Both regions were religiously governed (historians differ about the role and natures of the religions in this context), but science flourished only in one of them. Now, of course the roles of the Islamic Middle East and the West are reversed.

Since World War II, the United States has been the world’s undisputed leader in science. Throughout this period, the brightest students were drawn away from their native lands, attracted by superior research universities and opportunities. Until recently, more than half of all mathematics, science, and engineering graduate students in the US were foreign-born. Many of these talents stayed after graduation, and both industry and government took advantage of this.

Meanwhile, Islamic cultures entered a historical phase in which science was equated with Western influence and eschewed. Even in countries where oil revenues could fuel a significant amount of research, Arab rulers did not encourage such investment, with the result that their societies have not prospered as much as they might have.

Recently, a desire for greater political respect has spurred Islamic nations to invest in technology, which is most visible in Pakistani and Iranian nuclear ambitions. But while such weapons carry political weight, the science behind them is mundane and old.

More meaningful is the respect that comes from incubating insights, rather than the products of past discoveries. Imagine the influence that would be generated by a Pakistani institute that was the world leader in cancer research. Would the political rhetoric shift if researchers in Oman discovered a key to suppressing AIDS?

This is one unclaimed opportunity. But another exists, and not just for Islamic societies. The US has made profound missteps recently. “Matters of faith” have been substituted for science across government, from the president down. Top researchers have had their reports changed by political operatives when the facts contradicted official belief. Encouraged by a religiously influenced administration, school systems are shifting their focus from science to “values.”

Since the terrorist attacks of September 2001, entry visas are fewer and more difficult to obtain, stanching the flow of young talent into US universities. Major scientific organizations have protested, without result. At the same time, tax laws have been revised to make investors wealthier in the near term, discouraging long-term investment in research. Half a trillion dollars was committed to the war in Iraq, an amount roughly equal to the sponsorship of all basic research for the last thousand years. Even if the US avoids a fundamentalist dark age, it clearly risks losing its global research dominance.

Japan recognized the link between political clout and science in the 1980’s. Japan’s chief industrialist, Akio Morita, the chairman of Sony, and the right-wing politician Shintaro Ishihara gave a series of speeches that were collected and published in 1986 as a book called The Japan that Can Say No . They outlined a national strategy in which world influence was understood to flow from scientific leadership. The key idea was that military power could be made obsolete if the “food chain” of military technologies was controlled by other nations. The book’s title refers to Japan’s plan to “say no” to US military influence once Japan controlled key military technologies.

Building a knowledge-based economy using oil wealth is clearly possible. For example, Texas, like most southern US states, was once economically poor and declining. Although it had oil revenue, the flow of dollars into an economy, by itself, does not boost prosperity as much as one might think. So Texas decided to devote its oil money to an educational endowment.

Today, that endowment is roughly equal to that of Harvard University and spread over 15 universities. The effect has been staggering: aerospace manufacturing has almost disappeared from California, but is booming in Texas. Telecom research centers and consortia have flocked to Texas, even from the Canadian telecommunications giant Nortel. Although manufacturing in the US is in crisis, Texas has one of the strongest manufacturing economies in the world.

There is no reason that the same outcome could not be achieved in the Middle East. First, however, the Islamic world must rediscover and embrace its proud heritage.

H. T. Goranson is the Lead Scientist of Sirius-Beta Corp and was a Senior Scientist with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2006.
www.project-syndicate.org

Getting Practical in Controlling Malaria

http://www.project-syndicate.org/print_commentary/sachs118/English
Jeffrey D. Sachs

Many international assistance programs fail because they are badly designed and/or too complicated. The result is that the poor don’t get the help they need, and taxpayers in rich countries lose confidence in the use of their aid funds.

A case in point has been malaria control. If rich countries adopt simpler and more practical strategies to help Africa fight malaria, they can save millions of Africans while building enthusiastic support among their citizens.

Malaria is a killer disease transmitted by a specific species of mosquitoes. It depends on warm temperatures, and thus is largely a tropical malady. Africa turns out to be especially unlucky, because it has a combination of high temperatures and the mosquitos that are likely to transmit the disease. As a result, Africa accounts for 90% of all malaria deaths in the world – including roughly two million children per year.

Yet even in Africa, Malaria is largely preventable and completely treatable at low cost. Up until now, there has been far too little malaria control. Prevention is best accomplished by modern anti-malaria bed nets, which are treated with insecticide. These nets cover people while they sleep, and repel or kill the mosquitoes, which tend to bite during the night. The nets reduce the number of bites, and the amount of illness, but they do not eliminate them. If people get bitten despite the nets, they require treatment within a few hours of the onset of symptoms.

There are two major obstacles to solving the malaria problem. First, Africa’s poor cannot afford insecticide-treated bed nets and the correct medicines. Many end up taking cheap medicines that are not effective because the malaria parasite has developed resistance to them. Second, African villagers lack access to cars or trucks, so they have to walk several miles to reach a clinic. An infected child is often dead or comatose by the time a mother reaches a clinic.

If rich-country governments thought practically about malaria and recognized that it is a full-scale emergency, they could support simple and practical solutions: bed nets and timely access to medicine. Rich countries would buy bed nets from companies that produce them and work with African governments to distribute them free of charge to every African household. And they would work with African governments to ensure that the correct medicines are available for quick use within each village.

There are one billion people living in rich donor countries, and the total cost of comprehensive malaria control in Africa – giving bed nets at no cost to all Africans, and providing the right medicines within every village – is around $2.5 billion per year, or just $2.50 per citizen of the rich countries.

But the rich countries have instead adopted failed strategies. Rather than giving away bed nets, rich-country organizations like the United States Agency for International Development try to sell them to the extreme poor, albeit at heavily discounted prices. This policy reflects a shortsighted ambition to promote markets rather than the direct and over-riding goals of saving lives and removing bottlenecks to long-term economic development. The tragic result has been extremely low use of nets throughout most of Africa, since impoverished people lack the purchasing power to buy nets.

Second, donor governments have failed to promote simple ways to ensure the availability of medicines in villages across the continent. Rather than shipping medicines to each country on the basis of estimated needs, donor agencies have set up a complicated purchasing system that has led to years of delay in getting medicines to the villages.

The pharmaceutical industry, led by Novartis, has been way ahead of donor agencies. Novartis has agreed to make these medicines available at the cost of production. But, despite Novartis’s large production capacity, donor agencies have failed to order, buy, and ship the medicines in the required amounts.

Malaria control now faces a period of increasing urgency, as well as renewed hope. Malaria is spreading, and new scientific evidence indicates that people infected with HIV are more likely to transmit it to others when they are also infected with malaria. But there is also a growing realization that malaria is a disaster that must be addressed. US President George W. Bush has launched an important new initiative to help 15 African countries to control malaria, and hosted an unprecedented White House summit in December to rally private-sector support.

Similarly, the Chinese government, the World Bank, and the Islamic Development Bank have recently announced plans to scale up their contributions to the fight against malaria. A major new citizens’ initiative called Malaria No More is raising private funds to distribute anti-malaria nets.

People across Africa have shown that they are ready to mobilize their efforts if we offer practical means to help them. The world’s safety, including the safety of people living in rich countries, depends on the global community’s ability to prove that it will come to the aid of all who are in desperate need. Aid can work wonders if it is practical and directed to those in need. Malaria control can demonstrate this world-saving lesson once again.

Jeffrey Sachs is Professor of Economics and Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2006.
www.project-syndicate.org

Here is the text of Pope Benedict XVI's 'Urbi et Orbi'

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/25/europe/EU_REL_Vatican_Christmas_Text.php
The Associated Press
Published: December 25, 2006

The Vatican's official English-language translation of Pope Benedict XVI's "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas Day address, delivered in Italian from the balcony in St. Peter's Basilica.
____________________

"Our Saviour is born to the world!" During the night, in our Churches, we again heard this message that, notwithstanding the passage of the centuries, remains ever new. It is the heavenly message that tells us to fear not, for "a great joy" has come "to all the people" (Lk 1:10). It is a message of hope, for it tells us that, on that night over two thousand years ago, there "was born in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord" (Lk 2:11). The Angel of Christmas announced it then to the shepherds out on the hills of Bethlehem; today the Angel repeats it to us, to all who dwell in our world: "The Saviour is born; he is born for you! Come, come, let us adore him!".

But does a "Saviour" still have any value and meaning for the men and women of the third millennium? Is a "Saviour" still needed by a humanity which has reached the moon and Mars and is prepared to conquer the universe; for a humanity which knows no limits in its pursuit of natures secrets and which has succeeded even in deciphering the marvelous codes of the human genome? Is a Saviour needed by a humanity which has invented interactive communication, which navigates in the virtual ocean of the Internet and, thanks to the most advanced modern communications technologies, has now made the Earth, our great common home, a global village? This humanity of the 21st century appears as a sure and self-sufficient master of its own destiny, the avid proponent of uncontested triumphs.

So it would seem, yet this is not the case. People continue to die of hunger and thirst, disease and poverty, in this age of plenty and of unbridled consumerism. Some people remain enslaved, exploited and stripped of their dignity; others are victims of racial and religious hatred, hampered by intolerance and discrimination, and by political interference and physical or moral coercion with regard to the free profession of their faith. Others see their own bodies and those of their dear ones, particularly their children, maimed by weaponry, by terrorism and by all sorts of violence, at a time when everyone invokes and acclaims progress, solidarity and peace for all. And what of those who, bereft of hope, are forced to leave their homes and countries in order to find humane living conditions elsewhere? How can we help those who are misled by facile prophets of happiness, those who struggle with relationships and are incapable of accepting responsibility for their present and future, those who are trapped in the tunnel of loneliness and who often end up enslaved to alcohol or drugs? What are we to think of those who choose death in the belief that they are celebrating life?

How can we not hear, from the very depths of this humanity, at once joyful and anguished, a heart-rending cry for help? It is Christmas: today "the true light that enlightens every man" (Jn 1:9) came into the world. "The word became flesh and dwelt among us" (Jn 1:14), proclaims the Evangelist John. Today, this very day, Christ comes once more "unto his own", and to those who receive him he gives "the power to become children of God"; in a word, he offers them the opportunity to see Gods glory and to share the joy of that Love which became incarnate for us in Bethlehem. Today "our Saviour is born to the world", for he knows that even today we need him. Despite humanity's many advances, man has always been the same: a freedom poised between good and evil, between life and death. It is there, in the very depths of his being, in what the Bible calls his "heart", that man always needs to be "saved". And, in this post-modern age, perhaps he needs a Saviour all the more, since the society in which he lives has become more complex and the threats to his personal and moral integrity have become more insidious. Who can defend him, if not the One who loves him to the point of sacrificing on the Cross his only-begotten Son as the Saviour of the world?

"Salvator noster": Christ is also the Saviour of men and women today. Who will make this message of hope resound, in a credible way, in every corner of the earth? Who will work to ensure the recognition, protection and promotion of the integral good of the human person as the condition for peace, respecting each man and every woman and their proper dignity? Who will help us to realize that with good will, reasonableness and moderation it is possible to avoid aggravating conflicts and instead to find fair solutions? With deep apprehension I think, on this festive day, of the Middle East, marked by so many grave crises and conflicts, and I express my hope that the way will be opened to a just and lasting peace, with respect for the inalienable rights of the peoples living there. I place in the hands of the divine Child of Bethlehem the indications of a resumption of dialogue between the Israelis and Palestinians, which we have witnessed in recent days, and the hope of further encouraging developments. I am confident that, after so many victims, destruction and uncertainty, a democratic Lebanon, open to others and in dialogue with different cultures and religions, will survive and progress. I appeal to all those who hold in their hands the fate of Iraq, that there will be an end to the brutal violence that has brought so much bloodshed to the country, and that every one of its inhabitants will be safe to lead a normal life. I pray to God that in Sri Lanka the parties in conflict will heed the desire of the people for a future of brotherhood and solidarity; that in Darfur and throughout Africa there will be an end to fratricidal conflicts, that the open wounds in that continent will quickly heal and that the steps being made towards reconciliation, democracy and development will be consolidated. May the Divine Child, the Prince of Peace, grant an end to the outbreaks of tension that make uncertain the future of other parts of the world, in Europe and in Latin America.

"Salvator noster": this is our hope; this is the message that the Church proclaims once again this Christmas Day. With the Incarnation, as the Second Vatican Council stated, the Son of God has in some way united himself with each man and women (cf. Gaudium et Spes, 22). The birth of the Head is also the birth of the body, as Pope Saint Leo the Great noted. In Bethlehem the Christian people was born, Christ's mystical body, in which each member is closely joined to the others in total solidarity. Our Saviour is born for all. We must proclaim this not only in words, but by our entire life, giving the world a witness of united, open communities where fraternity and forgiveness reign, along with acceptance and mutual service, truth, justice and love.

A community saved by Christ. This is the true nature of the Church, which draws her nourishment from his Word and his Eucharistic Body. Only by rediscovering the gift she has received can the Church bear witness to Christ the Saviour before all people. She does this with passionate enthusiasm, with full respect for all cultural and religious traditions; she does so joyfully, knowing that the One she proclaims takes away nothing that is authentically human, but instead brings it to fulfillment. In truth, Christ comes to destroy only evil, only sin; everything else, all the rest, he elevates and perfects. Christ does not save us from our humanity, but through it; he does not save us from the world, but came into the world, so that through him the world might be saved (cf. Jn 3:17).

Dear brothers and sisters, wherever you may be, may this message of joy and hope reach your ears: God became man in Jesus Christ, he was born of the Virgin Mary and today he is reborn in the Church. He brings to all the love of the Father in heaven. He is the Saviour of the world! Do not be afraid, open your hearts to him and receive him, so that his Kingdom of love and peace may become the common legacy of each man and woman. Happy Christmas!
___

Copyright Vatican Publishing House

Darfur: No sanctuary

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/25/opinion/eddarfur.php
Published: December 25, 2006

Here is the latest twist on Darfur's never-ending horrors: Refugees from the neighboring Central African Republic have fled to Darfur recently as the killings and atrocities have spilled across Sudan's borders. If Darfur's grim tally — several hundred thousand dead, two million driven from their homes — can't persuade the world to act, then perhaps the threat of a regional conflagration will.

There is no lack of hand wringing. This month, President George W. Bush's special envoy, Andrew Natsios, gave Sudan until Jan. 1 to allow a somewhat more robust peacekeeping force into Darfur. But Natsios did not say what price Sudan would pay if it continued to refuse, only that the Bush administration would move on to a classified "Plan B."

While Natsios' demands drew the usual sneers from Khartoum, Sudanese officials appeared genuinely spooked by news that the International Criminal Court's prosecutor would soon be ready to present war-crimes charges against those responsible for the atrocities. One Sudanese legislator suggested that his government might drop its objections to United Nations peacekeepers in exchange for a promise of immunity from the court. That's a no-go. But it is also a sign that Khartoum is vulnerable to outside pressure if it is real. Even before the court moves, the United States should rally Western governments to freeze the assets of all Sudanese officials implicated in the genocide.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has called for imposing a ban on Sudanese military planes and helicopters flying over Darfur. That would at least stop them from bombing and strafing villages. Western planes could also attack janjaweed militias once they crossed into the Central African Republic and Chad. Bush and Blair should immediately press the Security Council to authorize the no-flight zone. If China balks they should make it a NATO mission. And if NATO balks, the two should enlist the support of France — which has an air base in Chad — and impose the ban themselves.

Natsios is a good diplomat. But the crisis needs someone with more clout. Bush and Blair should jointly appoint a high-level envoy — former President Bill Clinton or Richard Holbrooke, the Bosnia negotiator, come to mind — to warn Sudan's protectors that the West is finally ready to act, with their backing or without it. The envoy would deliver the same message to Khartoum, along with an offer to negotiate a peace settlement. That's a good start on a Plan B, and years overdue.

A new agenda for US Evangelicals

from the December 18, 2006 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1218/p09s02-coop.html
Evangelicals are weaving the ethic of 'neighbor love' into the fabric of sin and salvation.

By Mark Totten

WASHINGTON

On World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, Evangelical superstar Rick Warren - author of the runaway bestseller "The Purpose Driven Life" - hosted an AIDS summit at his California megachurch. The keynoter? Sen. Barack Obama (D) of Illinois.

It's difficult to decide which is more astounding: a prominent evangelical pastor leading the fight against AIDS - a disease some Christian conservatives still tag as God's punishment for homosexuals - or a celebrated Democrat and possible 2008 presidential contender taking center stage at Mr. Warren's church. The Warren-Obama event reflects striking and welcome changes under way among America's 50 million Evangelicals, with potentially dynamic political consequences.

In recent decades, the political profile of white Evangelicals has been fairly predictable: strong allegiance to Republicans and focus on a few social concerns. James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson form the familiar trinity of the Christian Right.

Although embryonic, a remarkable trend is emerging among Evangelicals today: the embrace of a social agenda that includes not only abortion and marriage, but poverty, AIDS, the environment, and human rights.

In February, a group of megachurch pastors and other leaders launched the "Evangelical Climate Initiative," calling for federal legislation to curb greenhouse gases. Earlier this fall, "Evangelicals for Darfur" - a group backed by Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention and the 30-million strong National Association of Evangelicals - pressured President Bush to take the lead in sending a multinational peacekeeping force to Sudan.

The most telling change is perhaps taking place in the pulpit. For most of the past century, Evangelicals have reacted against the Social Gospel movement of the progressive era, which many felt replaced the Gospel message with one of mere worldly social action. Today, however, a new generation of evangelical pastors is weaving an ethic of "neighbor love" into the fabric of sin and salvation.

Take the Rev. Tim Keller. In 1989, he founded Manhattan's Redeemer Presbyterian Church, now home to some 6,000 churchgoers. Dr. Keller's sermons often move seamlessly from a message of personal redemption to one of caring for the urban poor. Redeemer's "Hope for New York" program provides grants to social-service organizations and puts volunteers on the streets. Christians, Keller quips, should form a "counterculture for the common good."

To be sure, leaders such as Warren and Keller do not yet represent a majority within evangelicalism. Old-guard Christian conservative Phyllis Schlafly of the influential Eagle Forum urged Warren to rescind his offer to Obama, expressing "indignation" that he had invited a senator who supports the legal right to an abortion.

Last month, Orlando pastor Joel Hunter resigned his post as president-elect of the Christian Coalition after its leaders opposed his plans to put "creation care" and "helping society's marginalized" on the agenda. The real scoop, however, is that these tensions even exist.

With Evangelicals representing nearly one-fourth of the electorate, this trend should raise more than one political eyebrow. While the new agenda may resonate with some Democratic priorities, however, it does not herald a march from right to left. Rather, it signals a move from the right to a point outside well-worn political lines.

The pulpit Obama graced was moments before in the hands of Sen. Sam Brownback (R) of Kansas - a social conservative and likely 2008 rival, should Obama run. Warren wasn't soliciting political bids; he was calling for collaboration on a tragic issue. Rather than party loyalists for either side, Evangelicals might turn out to be perennial swing voters.

To win their support, Democrats will have to make decisive moves. Evangelicals remain wary of big government and will often favor solutions that preserve local control and support private efforts. Bristling at all things faith-based is unwise.

Furthermore, while the environment and poverty are on the table, abortion has not gone away. Democrats will need to welcome a bigger tent. As Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) of New York suggested in her 2005 Albany speech, even Democrats who want to preserve the legal right to an abortion can recognize its tragedy and make limiting its occurrence central to their message. No doubt the GOP will adapt, as well. The 2008 Republican presidential candidate may well decide that taking the same position on global warming that Bush does today is a political risk.

The conversion of America's Evangelicals to a broader sense of mission is nascent but firmly under way. For a nation needing a greater sense of the common good - and Evangelicals tempted to place politics above it - this trend is good news.

• Mark Totten is a fellow at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and practices law in Washington.

Merry Christmas

Courtesy of O

May this Christmas will be a blessed one
Merry Christmas to you all
Jesus Loves you

What's driving Obama-mania?

from the December 12, 2006 edition - http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1212/p01s01-uspo.html
Voters are keen on a less caustic brand of politics and the Illinois senator's own compelling personal narrative.

By Gail Russell Chaddock | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

MANCHESTER, N.H.

With standing room crowds chanting for the star to show, Sunday's Democratic fundraiser could have been a rock concert. But it was only Sen. Barack Obama's first visit to the nation's first primary state.

If Senator Obama should jump into the Democratic presidential primary, where he is now ranked just behind Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in recent polls, Democrats in the land of retail politics wonder if there's a living room big enough to hold the throngs who'd come to hear him.

"Right now, he's a rock star. Getting 1,500 people out on a Sunday afternoon ... says something different is going on here," says Jim Craig, former Democratic leader in the New Hampshire House.

So what's driving Obama-mania?

It isn't a single set of issues such as the war or the economy. Rather, the attraction seems to be a mix of Obama's own compelling personal narrative and many voters' desire for a less caustic brand of politics.

"It's the sense that you're in the presence of someone who is touched with the gift of grace," says Ross Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. Obama, Illinois' junior senator, exemplifies the hope that there's some way to triumph over the intense polarization of American politics, he adds.

A barely known state lawmaker and community organizer in Chicago, Obama shot to superstar status after an electrifying speech at the 2004 Democratic national convention in Boston. With a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas, he embodies two racial cultures deeply at odds in American history.

The buzz about Obama has only continued to grow. He was the most requested speaker on the 2006 campaign trail, appearing with candidates in more than 30 states. He has also sold more than 350,000 copies of his second bestseller, "The Audacity of Hope."

But the senator himself is suspicious of the hype. "I don't want to be driven into these decisions simply because of the opportunity," he said in a briefing with reporters before Sunday's event.

According to Obama, his popularity stems from an embrace of a new style of national politics: Rejecting attack ads and a politics of who's up and who's down.

"There's a certain tone I've taken in my career that seems to be resonating," he said at the briefing. "People are looking for something new, and I'm a stand-in for that desire on the part of voters. They want a common sense, nonideological, practical approach to the problems they face."

With Obama as the headliner, tickets for the New Hampshire Democrats election celebration sold out in the first three days.

State party activists had a lot to celebrate: They took back the House and Senate, reelected their governor with a record 74 percent of the vote, and sent two Democrats to Congress. "The last time Democrats took complete control in Concord was 1874," says former state party chair George Bruno.

Activists here say they are looking for a candidate who can carry the momentum of that victory through to the White House in 2008. New Hampshire is already well trampled ground for Democratic presidential hopefuls. Former ticket-mates John Kerry and John Edwards have been in the state nine times apiece since their 2004 run. A dozen other hopefuls have logged in some 40 visits. Senator Clinton has been sounding out leading activists in the state in recent days, but has yet to make an appearance.

"I like Hillary, but I think she's too polarizing, and I don't think the country needs more polarizing. We need someone who can bring this country as close together as it possibly can be," says Anne Stowe, a high school teacher in Nashua. For her, Obama represents a capacity to "accept each other's diverse ideas and not hate each other in the process."

For Catherine Hackett, vice-chair of the Manchester Black Caucus, Obama's appeal is the hope of reconciliation across racial lines, especially after Katrina. She loves the fact that he draws diverse audiences in a state not known for them. "He isn't running on his race. I feel like he's bringing Americans together," she says.

"All politicians claim to be deciders, but we need an effective communicator," says Mark Fernald, a former Democratic gubernatorial candidate here in 2004. "Barack and Hillary will soak up all the oxygen in this state," he predicts. "People can't really keep track of more than two candidates."

His teenage daughter, Katie, also in the audience to hear Obama on Sunday, says she was taken with Obama when she watched his speech on television at the 2004 Democratic Convention. "It seemed like he was really smart and knew what he was doing," she says.

Should Obama opt for a presidential run, he'd still have to master the art of living-room politics, say longtime poll watchers here. "The real test for him in New Hampshire is whether he has the stamina to do the door-to-door, living-room-to-living room campaign that New Hampshire voters have come to expect," says Robin Marra, a political science professor at Franklin Pierce College in Rindge, N.H.

Obama says he's still vetting whether to take up a presidential run. "This is an office you can't run for just on the basis of ambition. You have to feel deep in your gut that you have a vision for the country that is sufficiently important that it needs to be out there," he says, adding that the needs of his family is a top concern.

In a speech in Manchester, he spoke about American history, mentioning the 13 "ragtag colonies who overthrew the greatest empire in the world," agitators for the vote for women, and immigrants who took the risk to come to America.

He also touched on climate change, energy independence, the war in Iraq, and the need for universal healthcare.

"This is our time, and I'm grateful to be a part of that," Obama told a rapt throng, as he exited the stage.

Christmas and poverty

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20061223.E01&irec=0

December 23, 2006

Editorial

A newly elected mayor, poring over the statistics for his city, saw that 7,000 of the 118,000 residents were living below the poverty line. But when he went out into the city to see for himself, he discovered the actual number of residents living in poverty was 19,000, or more than double the official figure.

This story was related by Sofyan Hasdam, the mayor of Bontang, East Kalimantan, during a discussion organized by the Habibie Center in Jakarta earlier this week.

Sofyan, who was elected earlier this year, has quickly turned Bontang into one of the best-managed cities in the country.

If other leaders followed his example, perhaps the country would not need outside help in determining the truth about conditions here. The country was shocked earlier this month when the World Bank released a report showing almost half of Indonesia's population of 220 million was living in poverty. That is roughly equal to the number of poor in all of the rest of East Asia, excluding China. The bank defines those earning less than US$2 per day as living in poverty.

The report, released just three weeks before Christmas, makes clear Indonesian Christians will be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ amid a sea of poverty. Perhaps this fact will help people here better appreciate the spiritual aspects of the holiday.

Commercialism has turned Christmas into little more than merrymaking. Every year, hotels are fully booked and airline tickets are sold out. Christmas is a time for shopping and partying. For businesses, it is time for making profits.

There is a wide gap between the actual message of Christmas and the general party mood that surrounds the holiday. The World Bank's findings serve to remind us that things are not as rosy as we have been made to believe. There is deep poverty on one hand, and a hedonistic tendency on the other.

The country should take to heart a statement from its religious leaders, which reflects their acute awareness of the current situation.

At a year-end gathering Tuesday night, they called on the President to be more responsive in addressing the problem of poverty, as well as poor health and education services.

Their statement was terse but carried a lot of weight.

"Find aides who can truly implement pro-people programs, not those who just seek to retain their positions and provide glossy reports to please you," Raja Juli Antoni of the Maarif Institute was quoted by Antara as saying.

The leaders pointed to a string of woes afflicting the nation, including sharp increases in poverty, unemployment, school dropouts, suicides, deforestation, drug use, HIV/AIDS, violence and crime.

A former chairman of Islamic organization Muhammadiyah, Ahmad Syafii Maarif, said the problems facing the nation were not easy to resolve but the government had been too slow in responding to them. In his opinion, our leaders have become trapped by their own rhetoric.

"What we need are leaders who are ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of the people. We do not need their rhetoric," he said.

It was a well-timed reminder for the government to wake up and begin seriously dealing with this country's problems.

For Christians, the life of Jesus Christ encapsulates the true meaning of sacrifice. He went so far as to sacrifice his life for the lives of others.

Sacrifice is a familiar part of all religions. For Christian leaders who refuse to sacrifice themselves, the question can be asked whether they are true Christians.

Christmas is a good time to reflect on this.

There is nothing wrong with celebrating Christmas with a party or a holiday. But also remember the millions of people who are living in poverty.

And be aware of the lure of commercialism and refuse to be carried away by this aspect of the holiday.

We wish all those celebrating Christmas a peaceful and merry holiday.

Reborn at Christmas

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detaileditorial.asp?fileid=20061223.E02&irec=1
December 23, 2006

Benny Susetyo, Jakarta

Christmas is the beginning of man's rebirth from a situation plagued by treachery, greed and oppression. Celebrating Christmas amounts to seizing the momentum of a clean heart and soul. Every time we mark Christmas, peace and holiness will prevail in man's clean inner-self.

Those whose behavior in life is full of deception and foul play will find it hard to celebrate. This is because their conscience has become dull and their soul grubby.

Christmas constitutes a time to give some meaning to this life. Observing Christmas implies welcoming a new dawn that brings light to the world, illuminating the darkness caused by man's bad conduct.

The adversity besetting parts of the population is a result of the elite group's arrogance, self-interest and indifference. Poverty and destitution are being politicized to serve various interests other than those of the general public.

Indonesia is at the crossroads: between reality and illusion. Our social, political and economic reality is filled with moral degradation, as well as open and disguised crimes. This reflects the disruption of the principles of a decent life. The nation is entering obscurity at different levels of existence. No wonder many of us feel as if we were living without any future in this country.

Amid the difficulties, the political elite are merely pursuing money and power. It's their wealth and power that makes the nation dumb and helpless in facing this dying sense of humanity.

As elections draw near, they will appear to be supporting the public, close to farmers and fishermen, offering various improvement schemes and other "charity" programs. The issues they raise will be presented in populist packages in order to build a pro-people image. But what next?

The plight engulfing the country is due more to the crumbling values of morality and humanity. These values are no longer capable of forming sound, rational and people-oriented political behavior. Politics is practiced by "kings" to deceive their "people".

The value system and morality have been so tragically turned upside down. This fact entails gloomy economic, cultural, religious and educational conditions. The gloom is reflected in the dull behavior of politicians. Every working day the political elite are inseparable from intrigues to manipulate data, violate laws and control funds.

Politics has lost its lofty aims. It's ironic that politics is understood to be simply a means of production to turn out money. For the sake of money, the political elite will betray the people, evict the masses and neglect them as if they were not human.

Victims of the gas well mudflow, the high rice and fuel price policy, landslides and other disasters indicate the state's failure to protect the population.

Politics is based on profit and the prestige of cityscape beauty, regardless of the necessity to drive people from their birth places.

It seems difficult for the elite to understand that politics should be based on the noble mission of creating a more humane civilization, upholding justice, promoting solidarity and uplifting the dignity of ordinary people. In reality, politics has lost the call of its conscience. It has vanished owing to the dehumanization of development programs.

The absence of morality has also deprived business competition of fairness. The market has lost its natural rules of the game because of politics, which should control and defend the interests of the poor majority. Instead of protecting small-scale enterprises, politics often favors big capitalists to strengthen the power of the elite.

We have to face this gloomy future together, especially if we hope to build a civilized society. The signs of the nation's future must immediately be reversed. It requires a new orientation to create a public space that is democratic and civilized.

A new public space should be there to provide protection for the poor and destitute. This Christmas we are called upon to have no more fear to face the world with its inhospitable features: a miserable world deprived of certainties in all areas of life.

Such circumstances were once confronted by Mary when injustice, hypocrisy, treachery, oppression, manipulation and authoritarianism were dominant. But God brought a piece of new of joy. It was not conveyed to the prime minister, king, leader or conglomerate head, but rather through a simple virgin named Mary.

In the dark and very deep abyss we are crying, complaining and questioning. Are people only able to blame? Why have all the mishaps happened? Why do the elite never side with the people? Why does development never favor the destitute?

Some people even wish to return to former times. It is like the biblical situation in the desert. "Why do you only give us manna, while everything was available and fulfilled when we were in Egypt. Now we are starving and deficient. Ought we to return to Egypt?"

Natal di Tengah Pasar Kebebasan

http://www.kompas.co.id/kompas-cetak/0612/23/opini/3191815.htm
Sabtu, 23 Desember 2006
Martin Lukito Sinaga

Akhir-akhir ini tampaknya kian sulit untuk meyakini bahasa atau kebenaran agama.

Dulu, saat modernitas menyingsing dan menuntut syarat-syarat keberterimaan logis pada kebenaran agama, kita bertemu dengan Schleiermacher yang memperkenalkan agama sebagai ruang perasaan dan momen eksistensial. Baginya agama memiliki logikanya sendiri dan tak perlu memenuhi syarat logis nalar modern. Atau ketika Kant mengusir iman dari wilayah rasio, hati manusia menjadi ruang yang tersisa bagi kebenaran ilahi.

Juga saat Marx memaksa agama siuman dari ilusinya, dan menjungkirbalikkan arah agama dari surga ke bumi, justru iman bertambah dewasa. Melalui kritik Marx, Teologi Pembebasan menyingsing, agama diuji dalam praksis nyata di bumi. Akibatnya, ribuan orang yang saleh menyingsingkan lengan baju untuk kerja sosial yang transformatif. Dari Uskup Cardenal hingga ibu Teressa, membuktikan iman yang bekerja dalam dan demi sejarah.

"Freedom" yang mencemaskan

Kini, orang membicarakan freedom, tetapi dengan aksen yang mendatangkan cemas. Menurut Bellamy (Liberalism and Modern Society, 1992), dulu kebebasan menjadi bahasa yang dijunjung tinggi karena terkait hal etis dan hak asasi manusia, tetapi kini kebebasan dibicarakan sebagai ihwal ekonomis. Dalam pada itu yang menyingsing adalah pasar bebas dengan kompetisi sebagai suasananya. Pasar bebas pun direntang secara global dan bahasa universalnya ialah kebebasan membeli hanya bagi yang berdaya beli.

Hal ini melahirkan sosok manusia baru, Homo Oeconomicus (Priyono, dalam Sesudah Filsafat, 2006). Manusia diseret dalam sebuah ihwal tunggal, yaitu transaksi ekonomi; lalu menemukan identitasnya selaku makhluk yang seluruh kinerjanya harus bernilai jual. Di sini, sang individu terpusat pada kepentingan diri (self-interest), di mana setiap saat ia mengalkulasi pertambahan (akumulasi) miliknya, selaku wujud hasrat tunggalnya.

Akibatnya, proyek yang pernah menggetarkan negeri ini—reformasi dan demokrasi—tampak kian meragukan. Sebab, semua urusan dan alasan dipaksa berujung pada logika untung rugi. Agensi sosial untuk perubahan dihitung dari biaya, bahkan ikhtiar demi mencerdaskan bangsa (baca: pendidikan) menjadi sebentuk usaha jual-beli. Demokrasi yang kini diberi gelar liberal sering berarti bahwa pasar bebas adalah syarat utamanya dan orang- orang yang tidak liberal berarti mereka yang secara percuma sibuk dengan urusan tak berguna, misalnya identitas (etnik, agama, dan moral). Thomas Friedman secara metaforis menunjukkan jalan Homo oeconomicus itu: membangun jalan bebas hambatan demi mobil Lexus dan meninggalkan di belakangnya omelan orang-orang yang memelihara pohon tradisi, pohon Olive!

Sayang, sejumlah penganut agama yang mendeteksi masalah ini keliru menjawab. Agama tadi mengajak orang surut ke masa lalu—di sana konon Kerajaan Ilahi sempurna dan jaya—dan demi itu semua penganut fundamentalisnya secara agresif menghancurkan tanda-tanda kebebasan.

Agama menawarkan sebentuk totalitarianisme di sini, yang merupakan refleksi dari musuhnya, yaitu fundamentalisme pasar. Menabrakkan pesawat demi Tuhan ke menara kembar di New York adalah simbol nyata permusuhan itu.

Atau agama mengambil sebentuk McReligion, agama fast food yang dilengkapi pesan-pesan nikmat dan sukses. Agama berubah menjadi training dan momen pesona rohani diubah menjadi momen bertambah kaya. Agama telah menjadi kultus health and wealth.

Atas kenyataan itu, bahasa dan kebenaran agama menjadi sulit diyakini. Jelas, fundamentalisme agama atau kompromi agama (McReligion) atas pasar ekonomi tidak meyakinkan sama sekali. Sebab, yang dihadapi ialah rasa puas diri secara ekonomis dari Homo oeconomicus yang sibuk mengejar hasratnya yang dangkal dan kedap. Di sini kebenaran agama (baca: Natal) mudah menjadi kosong, diisi kekuasaan pasar yang hanya menjadikannya sebagai pesta belanja dan hadiah-hadiah.

Malam Natal, "a night of survival"

Natal kali ini memang tidak mudah. Meski sebenarnya Natal Perdana pun dilalui dengan sulit, bahkan dalam paradoks. Saat itu empire ekonomi dan politik secara monopolistik dikuasai Kaisar Agustus dari Roma. Teriakan yang saat itu meluncur di gerbang-gerbang pasar kota ialah Pax Augustae, "Damai hanya mungkin dalam sistem ekonomi politik empire ini"! Negeri satelitnya di Palestina—daerah kelahiran Yesus—terpaksa ikut menyerap ideologi empire itu dan didesak percaya pada tatanan moneter di mana mata uang berlogo wajah kaisar menjadi sandaran transaksi ekonomi. Sensus demi kontrol jiwa pun dipaksakan oleh sistem kekuasaan terpusat itu; kita ingat malam Natal ialah malam perjalanan Maria mendaftar diri demi kepentingan statistik empire.

Namun, paradoks malam Natal menjadi alternatif di kampung pinggiran bernama Betlehem diserukan "kesukaan besar untuk seluruh bangsa: Hari ini telah lahir bagimu Juruselamat...." (Lukas 2:10-11). Dan, kelompok masyarakat yang mengambil lokasi di luar orbit tatanan empire, yaitu para gembala, memilih jalan lain: "dan damai sejahtera di bumi di antara manusia yang berkenan kepada-Nya" (Injil Lukas 2:13).

Apa yang dibayangkan dalam pertemuan dengan bayi Yesus di malam Natal? Tentu sebentuk ikhtiar yang baru, yang hendak menjalani sebentuk kehidupan bersahaja meski kesukaannya dibayangkan akan menyebar ke bangsa-bangsa. Seruannya ialah mengenai damai yang lain, bukan di bawah Kekaisaran Roma.

Demi damai yang lain itu, para gembala akan mencoba bekerja dalam kerangka oikos (rumah tangga) dan membentuk nomos (tatanan) yang adil. Oikos-nomos (asal kata ekonomi) begitu berarti adanya pengorganisasian kesejahteraan demi masing-masing anggota masyarakat, bukan demi akumulasi kekayaan bagi yang kuat. Tampaknya penetrasi tatanan moneter empire pun hendak dibatasi agar komunitas menjadi mandiri dan sebisanya hidup dari sumber-sumber setempat.

Dan kita yang merayakan Natal ditantang untuk menempuh night of survival sedemikian. Kebangkitan spiritual sedemikian, menurut David Korten (The Post-Corporate World, Life After Capitalism, 2000:281) jauh lebih bermasa depan dibandingkan pertarungan politik global. Natal kali ini memang lebih sulit, namun kebenaran berita Natal perlahan dapat kita yakini kembali.

Martin Lukito Sinaga Pengajar STT Jakarta; Pendeta Gereja Kristen Protestan Simalungun

Natal, Damai, dan Kelaparan

http://www.kompas.co.id/kompas-cetak/0612/23/utama/3191798.htm
Sabtu, 23 Desember 2006

Mgr Sutrisnaatmaka MSF

Ketika Yusuf bersama Maria mengetuk pintu penginapan, pemilik menjawab, "Tidak ada tempat". Yang diharapkan dari penginapan, tentu bukan hanya tempat, tetapi juga makanan.

Penolakan itu membuat Maria yang sudah saatnya melahirkan harus mencari tempat lain seadanya. Maka, bayi Yesus dilahirkan di palungan dan dibungkus kain lampin. Itulah kisah Natal yang setiap kali mengingatkan kita pada penderitaan manusia. Tak ada penginapan berarti tak tersedia papan, pangan, dan kebutuhan hidup lainnya.

Kelaparan kronis

Situasi di Indonesia kini mencerminkan keprihatinan sekitar Natal dan menyisakan pertanyaan, adakah tempat untuk yang lapar? Kita bisa menyimak kisah "Petani yang Menyerah pada Harga Beras" (Kompas, 19/12). Petani di Ogan Ilir tak lagi bisa memenuhi keperluan makan sampai panen berikut. Kekeringan di daerah itu menyebabkan hasil panen tak lagi cukup.

Situasi petani sungguh memprihatinkan karena belum sejahtera. Kekeringan maupun banjir bisa menjadi penyebabnya. Banyak petani kurang mampu membeli beras karena harganya melonjak. Rupanya masalah kelaparan, kekurangan pangan, dan gizi buruk merupakan ulangan situasi kronis dari tahun ke tahun. Kelaparan itu muncul di Yahukimo, Papua, tahun silam, di Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT), dan sedang mengancam tiga kecamatan di Flores bila sampai akhir Desember belum hujan. Tentu masih banyak tempat lain yang juga mengalami kelaparan karena berada di pengungsian. Korban lumpur Sidoarjo, pengungsi gempa di Mandailing Natal, dan korban bencana sebelumnya merupakan penderita kelaparan yang belum terselesaikan.

Tak mengherankan jika hal seperti itu merupakan berita berkesinambungan dari hari ke hari. Meski banyak usaha telah dilakukan guna mengatasi kurang pangan dan gizi buruk, hasilnya masih jauh dari harapan.

Kerinduan akan kedamaian

Kesyahduan lagu-lagu Natal yang merindukan kedamaian menggema sepanjang bulan Desember. Pesan Natal Bersama Persatuan Gereja-gereja di Indonesia (PGI) dan Konferensi Waligereja Indonesia (KWI) menyentuh tema: "Membangun Budaya Damai". Cukupkah kedamaian saja? Memang kedamaian dan keamanan merupakan situasi yang memungkinkan orang dengan tenang bekerja dan mencukupi kebutuhan sehari-hari. Kata Ibrani, syalom, merangkum dua dimensi kehidupan, yaitu menciptakan damai yang dilanjutkan mengusahakan kesejahteraan dalam kasih karunia Tuhan.

Apa artinya damai, tanpa konflik dan perang, jika perut lapar, keperluan hidup tak tercukupi, dan manusia hidup di bawah garis kemiskinan absolut? Martabat dan masa depan manusia dipertaruhkan. Peristiwa Natal mengamanatkan "damai sejahtera di bumi di antara manusia yang berkenan kepada-Nya" (Lukas 2:14). Damai sejahtera inilah yang memunculkan kesukaan besar bagi seluruh bangsa.

Damai sejahtera tentu perlu diperjuangkan bersama agar serentak keduanya bisa dinikmati. Keduanya merupakan prasyarat untuk hidup layak dan mengembangkan kemanusiaan menurut martabatnya.

Berbagi secara adil

Sementara banyak rakyat menderita kelaparan, gizi buruk, dan berbagai penderitaan karena kemiskinan, ada segelintir orang yang mendapat keuntungan dari tunjangan uang rakyat. Para wakil rakyat (DPR/DPRD) mendapat tambahan tunjangan Rp 90,8 juta (Banten), Rp 152,1 juta (Semarang), bahkan untuk Ketua DPRD mencapai Rp 453,6 juta. Itu belum termasuk gaji pokok dan tunjangan lain. Meski belum diputuskan apakah akan diterima semua (Kompas, 19/12), tambahan tunjangan itu sungguh menggerogoti uang rakyat. Semoga asas kepatutan masih diingat demi kemiskinan dan kelaparan rakyat.

Ada juga titik terang: pemerintah telah mengalokasikan anggaran kemiskinan Rp 51 triliun. Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono pada Hari Nusantara Ke-7 di Padang, mengingatkan perlunya keseriusan aparat pemerintah mengurangi kemiskinan dan pengangguran. Tujuan akhirnya tentu kesejahteraan. Selain itu, juga terus diusahakan adanya operasi pasar agar harga beras bisa dibeli rakyat miskin. Usaha ini sudah sekian kali dicoba dan rupanya kemiskinan serta kelaparan belum juga menjauh dari rakyat kecil.

Selain pemerintah, kiranya masyarakat, utamanya yang berkecukupan, perlu kian peduli pada kesejahteraan sesama.

Usaha yang lebih komprehensif, strategis, dan berkesinambungan perlu dipikirkan secara mendalam guna membantu mereka. Dalam Nota Pastoral (Bahan Pembelajaran) KWI 2006 dicetuskan tema: "Habitus Baru: Ekonomi yang berkeadilan, Keadilan bagi semua: Pendekatan Sosio-ekonomi". Di dalamnya dikupas perlunya melihat situasi kemiskinan yang menyebabkan kelaparan dan menanggulanginya dalam terang iman.

Natal sebagai perwujudan nyata kasih dan solidaritas Allah kepada manusia guna mengatasi kelemahannya, selayaknya mendorong kita untuk membarui komitmen menegakkan prinsip perekonomian yang adil, menyejahterakan semua orang.

Pemberdayaan ekonomi kaum miskin perlu mendapat perhatian lebih besar. Usaha itu juga harus didukung tatakelola ekonomi yang memihak kaum miskin. Berbagi untuk mengatasi kelaparan dan kemiskinan merupakan wujud nyata pelaksanaan warta Natal kita.

Mgr AM Sutrisnaatmaka Uskup Palangkaraya