1.1. Description of Topic
Nusantara, a synonym for the Indonesian archipelago, is characterized by a wide range of religious, ethnic, lingual and cultural diversity, which inspired the adoption of the Sanskrit Bhineka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) as the nation-state motto.1 In this context, an ethnic group oftentimes is characterized by a particular religion. Minahasa in North Sulawesi2 is associated with Christianity, as is Toraja (South Sulawesi) and Batak Karo (North Sumatra), while, for example, Minangkabau (West Sumatra) is associated with Islam and Bali with Hindu-Bali.3 This mode of association is based on majority representation, for within each of these groups, whether ethnically or territorially speaking, there are those who adhere to different religions.4
Present-day Indonesia is comprised of 33 provinces with reportedly about 300 ethnic groups inhabiting about 6,000 of its roughly 13,000 islands;5 only 15 groups exceed the threshold of one million.6 In all, Indonesia is ranked fourth in world population after China, India, and the USA with 237,556,363 people in the 2010 census, 58% of which are concentrated in Java, where the capital city, Jakarta, lies.7
The Minahasa proper (4786 km2) is a region that today consists of three different municipalities and four regional administrations: Manado, Bitung, Tomohon, and Minahasa, South Minahasa, North Minahasa, and Southeast Minahasa respectively. According to the 2010 census, there are 785,067 people living in Minahasa proper.8 There are symbols to express the levels of ethnic unity in Minahasa. One of them is the manguni (owl), the sacred bird of the Minahasans. The emblems of the three municipalities and four regencies in Minahasa each included a Manguni, until the Manguni in the Southeastern Minahasa regency’s emblem was replaced with a dove shining down with light.9
Minahasa has lost many of its traditional customs and so frequently is perceived as “westernized.” In 1958, Hetty Nooy Palm, an anthropologist, wrote: “Nowhere in Indonesia has the old culture so fast and so completely disappeared as in the Minahasa.”10 This comment recently blazed across Minahasan blogs and social network conversations as a wake-up call; it also has been quoted in several publications by Minahasans.11 In this vein, there is a cultural revival among the Minahasans in the beginning of the Third Millennium. Indeed, culture is central to one’s ethnic identity, yet there is more to it than that. This recent phenomenon of cultural events and celebrations as well as preservation efforts shows that there are some sensibilities related to ethnic identity that are resistant to change.
Many Minahasan Christians, both within and outside Minahasa, are increasingly searching for their ethnic identity and promoting their cultural heritage while simultaneously bringing this search into conversation with their Christian faith. This conversation in particular brings in subsequent questions concerning what it means to be a Minahasan and Christian, especially in relation to relatively recent developments in the academic field known as post-colonialism (explained below), which in some cases seem to discredit and reduce Christianity into an integral part of the baggage of colonialism.
Going back to the tradition of Sola Scriptura, I choose to bring the apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and the context of Minahasa into dialogue. The primary reason for choosing this epistle is that Romans, among other reasons, was written to address ethnic group dynamics in Rome, especially given the Judeans'12 return to Rome after Emperor Claudius’ death (54 AD). Understanding the dynamic of ethnic identity in Romans and accordingly the approach taken by the apostle Paul in addressing the plausible situation at hand may illumine a way of constructing Minahasan local theology13 in connection with ethnicity and Christian identity. The apostle Paul’s approach itself I regard as euangelion eis ethne (good news to the nations).
I contend, based upon this euangelion, that Minahasans may embrace their Christian faith without having to become Judean or Dutch, as Minahasan traditions also enable us to adopt Christianity as ours. In return, Christianity adopts Minahasans into a greater story of the world and enhances the Minahasan highest ideal, expressed in the maxim “si tou timou tumou tou” (a person lives to give life to others). This work expounds a local theology that perceives the possibility for us, Minahasans, to confidently claim: We are Minahasan-Christians. For this reason I have titled this thesis: “The Romans Euangelion and Minahasan Identity: Building a Bridge from the Past into the Future Traditions.”
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1 Also “various yet one; diverse, but united” (Eka Darmaputera, Pancasila and the Search for Identity and Modernity in Indonesian Society: A Cultural and Ethical Analysis [Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1988], 19). The words are part of a fourteenth century poem written by Mpu Tantular of Majapahit Kingdom to nourish the tolerance between the adherents of Sanatana Dharma (Hindus) and Dharma religion (Buddhists). The last two sentences of Sutasoma canto 139, stanza 5: “Mangka ng Jinatwa kalawan Siwatatwa tunggal, Bhinneka tunggal ika tan hana dharma mangrwa (the truth of Jina (Buddha) and the truth of Shiva is one; they are indeed different, but they remain one, as there is no duality in Truth) (Soewito Santoso, Sutasoma, a Study of Old Javanese Wajrayana [New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1975], 578 as quoted in Anthony Reid, “Introduction: Muslims and power in a plural Asia,” in Islamic Legitimacy in a Plural Asia, ed. Michael Gilsenan and Anthony Reid [London [u.a.]: Routledge, 2007], 5).
2 Previously Sulawesi was known as Celebes.
3 See Jan Aritonang, “Faith and Ethnic Conflicts in Indonesia: A brief historical Survey and theological Reflection” in Faith and Ethnicity Vol 1, ed. Eddy A. J. G. Van der Borght, Dirk van Keulen, Martien E. Brinkman (Zoetermeer: Meinema, 2002), 124-137. In this thesis, I attempt to use the term familiar to the locality or an in-group description for religions in order to avoid using the suffix “-ism,” which may stem from a religio-ethnocentrism in Europe. For aside from Christianity, there are Judaism, Buddhism, and Confucianism, including Mohammedanism, which according to Edward Said, is an insulting European designation toward the Muslims (Orientalism [New York: Pantheon Books, 1978], 60). Though many have embraced the religio-ism as a popular term, there is a growing trend among religious adherents to define themselves in ways appropriate to themselves. Take for an example R. S. Nathan's book, Hinduism That Is Sanatana Dharma (Bombay: Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, 1989). I use the noun-form “-ism” for concepts, ideas, and the like.
4 There are six legally recognized religions in Indonesia: Islam, Protestant Christianity, Roman Catholic Church, Sanatana Darma (Hindu Religion), Buddha/Dharma Religion, and the Confucian Tradition. In addition, Kepercayaan Kepada Tuhan Yang Maha Esa (Belief in One Ultimate God), which comprises different ethnic religions, is also legally recognized.
5 David Levinson, Ethnic Groups Worldwide: A Ready Reference Handbook (Phoenix, Ariz: Oryx Press, 1998), 226. The exact number of ethnic and sub-ethnic groups in Indonesia is still not clear. According to Leo Suryadinata, Evi N. Arifin, and Aris Ananta, Statistic Indonesia has provided “the codes for 1072 ethnic and sub-ethnic groups” (Indonesia's Population: Ethnicity and Religion in a Changing Political Landscape [Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2003], 9-10). Apparently the boundaries between ethnic and sub-ethnic groups are not specified; hence there are possibilities for the two to overlap. At the same time, the number of Indonesian islands also has been variously stated, but as reported by Aditia Maruli (AntaraNews.com, August 17, 2010), the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries of Republic of Indonesia verified that the more accurate number is about 13,000.
6 Suryadinata, Arifin, and Ananta, Indonesia's Population, 6.
7 Statistics Indonesia, “Hasil Sensus Penduduk 2010: Data Agregat per Provinsi, 2010,” BPS, http://dds.bps.go.id/eng/download_file/SP2010_agregat_data_perProvinsi.pdf (accessed April 16, 2012). For English translations of the title of books and articles in other languages see the bibliography.
8 Calculated from the population data of each region as published in Statistics Indonesia, “Population by Region in North Sulawesi,” http://sp2010.bps.go.id/index.php/site/tabel?tid=337&wid=7100000000 (accessed April 16, 2012).
9 This is one example of the unnecessary tension between locality and Christianity. Manguni (owl) is also used as the emblem of the Christian Evangelical Church in Minahasa (see appendix), locally known as Gereja Masehi Injili di Minahasa (GMIM), the largest Protestant denomination in the North Sulawesi Province. Minahasan tradition regards different species of birds, especially the owl, as intermediaries of the opo' or empung (God or ancestors) to give signs of warning or direction. This concept has been adopted to refer to the church as the sign of good news from the Opo' Wa'ilan Wangko' (The Great and Abundant God). Manguni has gotten a negative connotation because its equivalent in Bahasa is “burung hantu” (lit. ghost bird).
10 Hetty Nooy Palm, “Ancient Art of the Minahasa,” Majalah untuk Ilmu Bahasa, Ilmu Bumi dan Kebudajaan Indonesia, Djilid 86, (1958): 3.
11 See, for example, Jessy Wenas, preface to Sejarah dan Kebudayaan Minahasa ([Manado]: Institut Seni Budaya Sulawesi Utara, 2007), [v]; Bert Supit, Minahasa: Dari Amanat Watu Pinawetengan sampai Gelora Minawanua (Jakarta: Penerbit Sinar Harapan, 1986), 14.
12 As J. Daniel Hays indicates, there have been many discussions regarding the use of the Greek word Ioudaioi (“Paul and the Multi-Ethnic First-Century World: Ethnicity and Christian Identity” in Paul As Missionary: Identity, Activity, Theology, and Practice, ed. Trevor J. Burke and Brian S. Rosner [London: T & T Clark, 2011], 77). This term may represent an ethnic category, or it may also be translated in a certain context as religio-cultural practices, often implied in the word “Jews.” For further discussion on this topic see, for example, Shaye J. D. Cohen, The Beginning of Jewishness [Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999]). In this thesis, I use the word “Judeans” to signify an ethnic category, while to represent religio-cultural identity, instead of “Jews,” I utilize the word “Yehudi,” which is closer to the Hebrew root word.
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