I love the way Yuwal Noah Harari puts human beings in their ego-centered place.

In his first international bestselling book Sapiens (2014), he says that due to their belief in self-created myths and fictions, “everybody obeys the same laws, the same rules and the same norms” and are even willing tosuffer and even die for a common belief, whether religious, ideological or political.

As he says, you could never tell a chimpanzee that “after you die, you’ll go to chimpanzee heaven and there you will receive lots and lots of bananas for your good deeds here on Earth. So now, do what I tell you to do”.

If you said that, the chimpanzee would give you a weird look and say, “Are you nuts? Heaven? What is that anyway? I want my bananas here and now!”

Is Harari saying humans are more gullible than chimpanzees? The way that adherents are willing to sacrifice their lives here on Earth for the sake of heaven in the afterlife certainly gives that impression, doesn’t it?

All religions promise some form of heaven; that abstract cosmological place where gods, angels, spirits, saints and souls originate and eventually come home to — at least the good ones.

Is this belief in an afterlifethe motivation behind the rise of religious conservatism and hardline Islam in Indonesia since the advent of the Reform Era in 1998?

But there is also a more down-to-earth reason for their religious fervor. The politicization of religion has existed since before independence in 1945 to have a bigger piece of the power pie, even to make Indonesia a caliphate. But some analysts have speculated another, more mundane reason for the rise of religious conservatism.

According to Adriana Elizabeth, recently retired head of the center for political studies of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), one of the factors for the rise of political radicalism is disillusionment with democracy. Corruption, the bad ethics of the political elite, their animosity toward each other and inability to work together for the sake of the greater good have pushed them to radicalism as an alternative.

Terrorism has to a large extent been kept at bay through the successful efforts of counterterrorism bodies such as the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) and on the ground, the elite counterterrorism squad Densus 88 — so much so that Indonesia’s counterterrorism force has become a model for the region.

What about nonterrorist activities? Here are some examples. First, the politicization of religion: The most notorious example is of the public flogging of Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, former governor of Jakarta. Despite his stunning success as governor and immense support for Muslims, he was charged, indicted and imprisoned for blasphemy.

Heavy-metal loving, moderate Muslim incumbent Joko “Jokowi” Widodo opted to have Ma’ruf Amin, head of conservative Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), as his running mate in the recent election to appease political Islam groups and to deflect accusations of his being a communist, despite the fact that at the time of the alleged communist coup, he was only three years old.

Prabowo Subianto relied on the support of radical Islamic groups despite the fact that his personal inclination is more toward militarism, secularism and nationalism.

Second, the radicalization of university campuses. On May 31, I attended a presentation for extensive, in-depth research conducted by the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace on radicalization in 10 universities throughout Indonesia. Halili, the research director of Setara, pointed out that Islamism is a practical political movement that uses religious doctrine to gain power. Imagine, students who are supposed to think critically, have their critical faculties obliterated. Instead of getting their references from several sources, they only use religious ones.

“The narrative that nationalism and religion are not in line is a core part of the indoctrination,” Halili says.

Third, conservatism in daily life: One manifestation of religious conservatism is women’s attire. Among my former classmates at university, maybe more than half wear the jilbab (Indonesian-style hijab). But even among them, they detest the increased tendency now of women wearing the black niqab, which covers everything except the eyes.

Women are in fact more vulnerable to being enticed into radicalism because they are not autonomous. So, critical feminism is needed. In fact, feminism is a necessary critique and antidote to Islamic conservatism and radicalism.

Then, there’s the halalization of everything; not just food but even tourism. This has been so successful, that Indonesia was named the world’s best halal tourism destination for 2019. It’s more about the commoditization of religion than anything else. Whatever brings in the dollars right? Now how do we make the United States dollar halal, I wonder?

Is the rise of conservatism and radicalism really unpreventable? Is Indonesia headed toward, say, Turkey, or even Arabization?

Don’t despair. For every action, there is a reaction. Progressive Islam has always existed in Indonesia and is on the rise, as well. On June 23, I attended the 60th birthday celebration of Nasaruddin Umar, grand imam of Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, at the Grand Hyatt hotel. It was attended by many dignitaries, including Jusuf Kalla, the outgoing vice president (who gave a speech), Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim and Jimly Asshidiqque, former head of the Constitutional Court and since 2010, a member of the Presidential Advisory Council.

The event doubled as the launch of 20 of Nasaruddin’s books. What? 20? All at once? Yes, and several on the importance of gender equality. He’s mind-bogglingly productive as a writer and also often gives public lecturesabout the tolerant and peace-loving nature of Islam. He is one of the many progressive Muslims in Indonesia who believe in pluralism.

I asked Neng Dara Affiah, an old friend, former commissioner at the National Commission on Violence against Women, “Who is winning? The radicals or the progressives?”

She said: “No one is winning or losing. It’s all part of the contestation in the democratic sphere. It’s just that the radicals are more blown up by the media, because they [the journalists] don’t have to think or reflect.”

Hah! Typical!

The belief in myth, fiction and fantasy is unique to sapiens and is precisely what gives humans the ability to cooperate in large numbers. We can cooperate on conservatism and radicalism, which is reactive and does not require much thought. Or we can cooperate for pluralism and democracy, which is harder work, forces us to reflect, but in the end, is inclusive and benefits us all.

__________________________

The writer is the author of Julia’s Jihad.

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