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others: a Thou shalt not save money in a conventional bank bank interest is haram; b thou shalt not participate in Christmas celebrations; and c thou
shalt not participate in inter-religious vigil led by non-Muslims.
One of the most common arguments against these new rules is that these biblically based rules can eliminate local norms, traditions, and culture.
That is why, although these rules have been viewed as an attempt to create order by preventing people from committing sin, they can eliminate local
culture and tradition as well as constitute an effort to indentify an increasing number of new sinners. This is true, because the rules are not only to be
followed, but also bound to be broken and violated, creating an additional pressure for feeling sinful and guilty.
b. Sin and Guilt
Sin and guilt is a big part of Indonesian discourse, not only because Indonesia is a religious country whereby people tend to express religious
views in their communication, but also because the they tend to attribute their suffering to their sins. The religious discourses are the ones constantly
preaching the continuous, rampant violation of the order or rules, but this creation of sin and guilt as part of the wrong and ills is also commonly
depicted in various political and social discourses in Indonesia, especially when it comes to issues related to poverty, backwardness, insecurity,
immorality and various uncertainties.
When it comes to societal ills, there are more than enough reasons for Indonesian people to complain about. The majority of the Indonesian people
have been suffering for generations. According to World Bank, more than 52 percent of 245 million Indonesians live on less than US2 per day and around
35 million poor people live on less than US0.65 per day.
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Unemployment is very high; crime and various injustices occur in daily life of the majority of ordinary people. In addition, Indonesia has experienced
some of the worse natural disasters in the history of mankind, including tsunami that killed more than 150, 000 people in Aceh, Earthquake that killed
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Based on a report by World Bank, as shown ,for example, in: http:news.bbc.co.uk 1hibusinessthe_economy124839.stm or http:www.wfp.org countriesindonesia
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over 5000 people near Yogyakarta, and hundreds of thousands of people displaced by mud flood in East Java.
Not surprisingly, religious speeches focus on these ills and wrongs of the Indonesian society in order to encourage the hopeless Indonesian people to
turn to religion which will provide them hope. Despite the hopes that religions can offer, thepeople find many reasons to be disappointed and angry
at whatever causes their suffering because of the overwelming narratives of sins and suffrings in the Indonesian media and society.
c. Redemption
