Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter
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Part 52

5/16/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 52: The Power of Propaganda and Thanataphobia

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Why do followers of Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church (the "Moonies") cut ties with their families and adopt austere lives? Why did Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh's staunch believers wanted to prove their love and devotion with 365 different Rolls-Royces, so he would have one for every day of the year? Whether we are talking about the blind loyalty and devotion of the followers of the Church of Scientology, Jim Jones' People Temples, or the Hare Krishna Movement, the constant question is: Why?
 
The power of propaganda.    
 
Oxford Dictionary defines propaganda unflatteringly as "chiefly derogatory information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view." Historically, fascist and totalitarian regimes—from Hitler to Stalin, from Franco to Tojo, from Mao to Suharto, from Mugabe to Kim Jong-un—had embraced propaganda as an indispensable tool to consolidate and legitimize their political power. It's only natural that in the 21st-century we tend to think that propaganda is exclusively utilized within the domain of political science.
 
Nothing could be further from the truth, because the place of propaganda in religion is actually as central if not more so. As cited in Part 25 (What If Adam had not Eaten an Apple?) the word propaganda derived from an office created by the Catholic Church (Pope Gregory XV) in 1622 called the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (Congregation for Propagating the Faith) to suppress the reformation movement. The principles of propaganda, whether applied in the realms of politics or religion, remain the same.
 
As a matter of fact, it's interesting to observe the similarities between how propaganda flourishes both in politics and religion.
 
First, almost all propaganda is designed to create fear. As observed by English author and social commentator John Boynton Priestley (1894-1984), heads of governments know too well that fearful citizens are more obedient, easier to govern, will forfeit rights they would otherwise defend, and are less likely to demand a better life. Cult leaders have realized this phenomenon and strategically exploited the fear of their followers for blind loyalty, unquestionable devotion, and more Rolls Royces.
 
Understand the psychology of thanatophobia, add the inevitable death into the equation, promise believers with eternal salvation and paradise with nineteen virgins, then you'll get the picture. Since most organized religions have claimed different explanations about the afterlife, heaven and hell, it is only natural that most believers have developed a severe case of thanatophobia, which is defined by Webster dictionary as an abnormally great fear of death.
 
Second, propaganda draws strength and nourishment from a common enemy. In fact, without an enemy, propaganda loses its steam in next to no time. No enemies? No problem. Just create new enemies or scapegoats or boogeymen—real or perceived. While for Hitler it was the Jews, for Stalin it was the counter-revolutionaries. While for Mao it was the reactionaries, for Islamic fundamentalism it is Western lifestyle and education. While for Shiite theocratic rulers in Iran the enemy is the Sunnis, for Sunni theocratic rulers in Saudi Arabia the enemy is the Shiites. After all how would one explain the 1,400-year bloody sectarian violence between the two denominations that is still going on up to date?
 
Then if it seems as if the 1,400-year sectarian violence is an exercise in futility, it is. Social philosopher Eric Hoffer (1898-1983) explained this phenomenon in The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951): "propaganda ... serves more to justify ourselves than to convince others; and the more reason we have to feel guilty, the more fervent our propaganda." After 1,400 years of violence, how many Sunnis have ever been converted into Shiites (and vice versa) anyway?
 
Third, and this is the most amazing part in my humble opinion, propaganda miraculously converts suicidal inferiority complex into chauvinistic superiority complex. This is by far propaganda's biggest bang for the buck. To compensate for blind loyalty and irrational sacrifices offered unconditionally to a despot, cult leader or holy cause, obedient followers are made to believe in their own superiority and holier-than-thou piety.
 
As explained by English writer and philosopher Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) in Writers and Readers: The Olive Tree and Other Essays (1936): "Dictatorial propaganda demands obedience and even considerable financial and other sacrifices; but by way of compensation it assures the individual that, as a member of a chosen nation, race, or class, he is superior to all other individuals in the world; it dissipates his sense of personal inferiority by investing him with the vicarious glory of the community; it gives him reasons for thinking well of himself; it provides him with enemies whom he may blame for his own short-comings and upon whom he may vent his latent brutality and love of bullying."
 
Thanatophobia. Blind loyalty of the bullies, by the bullies, and for the bullies. Custom-made common enemies or scapegoats to consolidate power. Inferiority complex coupled with holier-than-thou piety. Those are the building blocks of the propaganda ecosystem that have been effectively used by despots, cult leaders, theocratic rulers, Boko Haram and Islamic State.
 
[To be continued.]

Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

Part 51

5/9/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 51: The Difference between a Physician and a Clergyman

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Born in England, Alan Watts (1915-1973) was an Anglican priest, writer, and speaker. He attended Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, where he received a master's degree in theology. After moving to the United States in 1938 his strong interest in Zen Buddhism and Taoism developed even further, and he became one of the most illuminating interpreters of Eastern philosophy in the West.
 
Watts became an Episcopal priest in 1945, but left the ministry in 1950 and moved to California, where he joined the faculty of the American Academy of Asian Studies. While working as a volunteer programmer at a radio station in Berkeley, California, he wrote more than 25 books and essays on the philosophy of Zen Buddhism and Taoism, including his bestselling book, The Way of Zen (1957). With this rich spiritual background, to say that Watts knew a thing or two about both Western and Eastern religions—inside out and outside in—would truly be an understatement.
 
A lucky owner of The Way of Liberation: Essays and Lectures on the Transformation of the Self (1983) which was published posthumously, I have always been drawn into one of his lectures titled The Relevance of Oriental Philosophy. In this particular lecture, Watts invited the audience (members of a Christian theological institution) to consider the difference between a physician and a clergyman.
 
"The physician wants to get rid of his patients, so he gives them medicine and hopes they will not get hooked on it," said Watts. "The clergyman, on the other hand, is usually forced to make his patients become addicts so that they will continue to pay their dues." Thus, in essence, while the physician's objective is to cure the patients, the clergyman's objective is to sustain the patients' addiction.
 
The only problem is that the clergyman's patients—a.k.a. the believers—love the addiction. As illustrated in Part 50 (A Self-perpetuating Pyramid Scheme Trickled Down Straight from Heaven), poor Nigerian workers delightfully donated their hard-earned money to a rich Bishop whose net worth of $150 million includes two mansions and four private jets. Indeed this strange phenomenon only exemplifies Karl Marx's observation that "religion is the opium of the people."
 
This religious Stockholm Syndrome happen all the time in various religions and denominations. A self-declared messiah of the Unification Church, for example, Rev. Sun Myung Moon (1920-2012) drew criticism and charges of brainwashing for demanding his followers (a.k.a. "Moonies") to cut ties with their families and adopt austere lives. At the same time, he built a multi-billion dollar business empire, including a major seafood distributor (True World Foods), a newspaper (The Washington Times), a gun factory (Kahr Arms), and a hotel in Manhattan (New Yorker Hotel).
 
At the time of his death in India, Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh a.k.a. Osho (1931-1990) owned more than 90 Rolls-Royce cars, which meant he had the largest single collection in the world. In fact, his staunch believers were not content to shower Rajneesh with 90 fancy cars to show their absolute devotion. They had even planned to expand his collection and were aiming to acquire 365 different Rolls-Royce cars, so that Rajneesh would have one for every day of the year!
 
But why are believers addicted to religion? Why are they addicted to blind worship and devotion in the first place after all? Why do they willingly become Stockholm Syndrome hostages?
 
[To be continued.]


 Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

Part 50

5/2/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 50: A Self-perpetuating Pyramid Scheme Trickled Down Straight from Heaven

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I have little confidence in any enterprise or business or investment that promises dividends only after the death of the stockholders.
-ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
 
In Part 49 (It Takes Two to Tango) we briefly touched on the subject of foolishness and waste, which are indeed incompatible with the core beliefs of most organized religions. Historically, all religions started as cults, evolved into sects, then subsequently evolved into religions. While cults come and go, those which survived and matured into religions must have relied on resourcefulness, if not extreme conservation of resources.
 
Hinduism teaches the notion of "conserve ecology or perish." The third chapter of Bhagavad Gita (dialog between Krishna and Arjuna), states that a life without contribution toward the preservation of ecology is "a life of sin and a life without specific purpose or use." Islam is explicitly against extravagance, particularly in the notions of israf (consuming more than what one needs) and tabzir (spending resources for unnecessary things).
 
Raised as a Catholic by strict parents who would raise hell if I had the audacity to skip even a single Sunday Mass, no one can blame me for still memorizing Jesus' aphorism of the camel passing through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19:24) which captivated me as a kid. Well, sorry Jesus, but just tell this parable to ultra rich pastors whose net worth are beyond your wildest imagination. According to a report released by the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance of January 2011 (Grassley Releases Review of Tax Issues Raised by Media-based Ministries), regarding tax-exempt status of churches and religious organizations, many pastors are so rich they can actually buy out the kingdom of God, change all divine conventions, and overrule Jesus.
 
As summarized in the aforementioned report, Kenneth Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries (KCM) in Texas has a net worth of at least $1,200,000,000. Owning two private jets—a Cessna 550 Citation Bravo and Cessna 750 Citation X—it was reported, that his private jet had made several layovers in Maui, Fiji, and Honolulu, which were all claimed to be "ministry trips" and therefore qualified the jet to remain tax exempt. Indeed Pastor Copeland claimed that no less than God Himself told him he needed to be a billionaire! Also tax exempt is his huge mansion, valued at just over $6 million and includes its own landing strip. His ministry alone has over $20 million in assets yet it takes huge loans from the Mr. and Mrs. Copeland, only to be paid back shortly after with high interest rates.
 
With an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, Edir Macedo of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Brazil holds the second spot. Some accuse him of taking money from poor people and laughing all the way to the bank. The only problem with this statement is that Edir is so filthy rich that he actually owns his own bank (and probably the kingdom of God as well). In fact, in July 2013, Forbes reported that Macedo acquired 49% of Banco Renner and this acquisition had been confirmed by Brazil’s Central Bank.
 
Third on the list is Bishop David Oyedepo of Living Faith Church World Wide (Winners' Chapel) in Nigeria with a net worth of at least $150 million, according to Forbes. In addition to having a net worth higher than the country he lives in (Nigeria), he also has two mansions and four private jets. One may wonder how a pastor in one of the poorest countries on earth has a net worth of over $150 million. Hint: the poorest people are usually the least educated and the most vulnerable to be manipulated. They faithfully give their hard-earned money to him; in return he promises them riches and the kingdom of God. Subsequently the shrewd Bishop Oyedepo invested some of that money to publish tons of religious books through his own publishing company, Dominion Publishing House.
 
Let's get it straight. A poor Nigerian worker donated his hard-earned money to a rich Bishop whose net worth of $150 million includes two mansions and four private jets. Then with the donations from millions of other believers, the Bishop published and sold books like "Understanding Financial Prosperity", "Breaking Financial Hardship" and "The Unlimited Power of Faith" which surely makes the Bishop even richer and the workers even poorer. This miracle happens in a country with an annual per capita income of $2,970 (World Bank, 2014) or $8 per day, where 46% the population live below the national poverty lines (World Bank, 2009). I don't know what God is doing to end this inequality, but it is certainly a self-perpetuating pyramid scheme trickled down straight from heaven. Witness the religious Stockholm Syndrome in high definition.
 
The cruelest irony is that such phenomenon is universal and do not only happen in Texas, Brazil and Nigeria. In fact, the famous L. Ron Hubbard, Founder of the Church of Scientology, once confided: "You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion." This is straight from the horse's mouth; indeed one has to appreciate Ron Hubbard's brutal honesty.
 
And efficiency. Thanks to the tax-exempt status granted by the IRS in 1993, according to Jeffrey Augustine, of the blog The Scientology Money Project, the Church of Scientology is doing very well. It has a book value of $1.75 billion, about $1.5 billion of which is tied up in real estate, mostly at its headquarters in Clearwater, Florida, and Hollywood, California, in addition to other properties in Seattle, London, and New York.
 
[To be continued.]

 Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

Part 49

4/25/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 49: It Takes Two to Tango

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Why do we believe in what we believe? Perhaps because as believers—whether we believe in alien abduction, self-flagellation, the shroud of Turin, virgins in paradise, or Nigerian get-rich-quick schemes—we basically consume, then mercilessly get consumed by, a belief. If that's not bad enough, then we may have to defend our beliefs with our lives, for heaven's sake.
 
The problem is that as consumers we do not always act rationally. In fact, more than often, we act irrationally. Throughout our adult lives, each of us must have experienced some kinds of buyer's remorse, that familiar sense of regret after making a purchase (or voting for a politician). I certainly have more than my fair share of such regrets.
 
As stated in Part 3 (Interpersonal, Political and Financial Stockholm Syndrome), every year, thousands of Black Friday shoppers camp out over the Thanksgiving holiday, valiantly enduring the cold, rainy, and windy November darkness to secure a place in front of the line, merely to get the most desirable "doorbuster deals" which are actually sub-standard products, specifically manufactured with lower-quality specifications just for Black Friday.
 
This irrationality has been a fascinating subject among prominent scholars. In a paper published in the NBER (National Bureau Of Economic Research) Working Paper Series titled The New Science of Pleasure (2013), economics professor Daniel McFadden of University of California Berkeley admits the many ways economics fails to explain how consumers make decisions—and what economics can learn from psychology, anthropology, biology, and neurology. Now, how often does an economics professor admit that the science of economics fails to explain consumer behaviors? Well, he is not alone.
 
Dan Ariely, a professor of behavioral economics at Duke University, is another scholar who focused his attention to consumer behavior four years before McFadden. In The End of Rational Economics, published in the Harvard Business Review of July-August 2009, Ariely, begins by stating the widely-accepted standard assumption that "human beings are capable of making rational decisions and that markets and institutions, in the aggregate, are healthily self-regulating." However, the 2008 global economic crisis, argues Ariely, "has shattered these two articles of faith and forced us to confront our false assumptions about the way markets, companies, and people work." His conclusion is that the emerging discipline of behavioral economics can help businesses better defend against foolishness and waste.
 
Foolishness and waste! How do we defend ourselves against them is surely a worthy topic. If there is a lesson learned in behavioral economics, it can certainly be applied in the study of religion and ideology. No science is an island. The latest research and analysis in economics, psychology, biology, anthropology and neurology show that when it comes to making decisions, people are anything but rational. Foolishness and waste are everywhere.
 
We may think that Homo sapiens is the most intelligent species roaming the earth, but our irrationality is inherent within us. If we believe in something ridiculous—whether in economics, religion or any subject matter—we simply cannot only blame it to the false belief or the manipulative messenger or the dead prophet. We also have to blame … our own delusion. After all, it takes two to tango. "When one person suffers from a delusion, it is called insanity," wrote Robert M. Pirsig in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values (1974). "When many people suffer from a delusion, it is called a Religion."
 
[To be continued.]
​

 Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

Part 48

4/18/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 48: Silence is Not Golden

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The worst crime was dared by a few, willed by more, tolerated by all.
-CORNELIUS TACITUS (55-117)
 
After citing the brutal killing of Bangladeshi law student and blogger Nazimuddin Samad in Dhaka (Part 47: The High Price of Obedience and Hypocrisy), it is only appropriate to recognize a small sliver of good news about a courageous Saudi anchorwoman.
 
As reported last week in The Jerusalem Post and other news outlets, in a blistering 3-minute address which allegedly interrupted routine programming, anchorwoman Nadine Al-Budair of Rotana Khalijiya Television lashed out against Muslim apologists who claim that terrorists have no connection to Islam, thus washing their hands conveniently with impunity. On Sunday, April 10, 2016, she implored fellow Muslims to acknowledge that "we are the ones who gave birth" to the terrorists who committed recent attacks in Europe" as well as "to stop shedding their conscience and start feeling a collective shame." "Whenever terrorism massacres peaceful civilians, the smart alecks and the hypocrites vie with one another in saying that these people do not represent Islam or the Muslims," she begins, then adding: "Perhaps one of them could tell us who does represent Islam and the Muslims." (The English translation was provided by MEMRI, the Middle East Media Research Institute.)
 
Then the unavoidable crescendo: "It is we who blow ourselves up. It is we who blow others up," Nadine Al-Budair charged. "We must admit that they are everywhere, that their nationality is Arab, and that they adhere to the religion of Islam," she asserted.
 
Al-Budair's bravery certainly needs to be appreciated, considering that in patriarchal Saudi Arabia, a woman's place is traditionally pushed into the background, certainly not in the spotlight to openly criticize the perverted ideology of Wahhabism and Salafi Jihadism. Except for the occasionally lip service, the deafening silence of "moderate" Muslim leaders against the inexplicable hatred nurtured by the Wahhabists and Salafi Jihadists applies not only in Saudi Arabia, but in other Muslim countries as well. The demonstration in Dhaka to urge the Bangladeshi authorities to take the killing seriously one day after Nazimuddin Samad was hacked to death is one thing. Concrete criminal prosecution by the so-called secular Bangladeshi government to charge the killers (also those of previous secular bloggers) is another one.
 
And there lies the crux of the problem: so far no Muslim governments have been courageous enough to openly condemn the perverted ideology of Wahhabism and Salafi Jihadism, because it's considered "un-Islamic". To the outside world, many Muslim governments tend to project a moderate or secular image to secure political legitimacy and financial aids. Within their borders, to paraphrase Al-Budair, they shed their conscience, and let the extremists persecute the moderates.
 
"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people," Martin Luther King once said, "but the silence over that by the good people." This maxim was echoed by human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali: "There are times when silence becomes an accomplice to injustice." The late Singaporean leader Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015) went further into specifics by declaring that moderate Muslims should "own" the (radicalization) problem. According to Lee, the responsibility to solve this (radicalization) problem lies with the moderate Muslims. "Only the Muslims themselves, those with moderate, more modern approach to life—can fight the fundamentalists for control of the Muslim soul. Muslims must counter the terrorist ideology that is based on a perverted interpretation of Islam." He added that Muslims who refuse to take on this responsibility are "ducking issue and allowing the extremists to hijack not just Islam, but the whole of the Muslim community."
 
Thus kudos to anchorwoman Nadine Al-Budair for her incomparable bravery to speak out and refusal to be silenced. She exemplifies that which was emphasized by German anti-Nazi theologian, Lutheran pastor, and social activist Martin Niemöller (1892-1984):
 
"When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent; I was not a communist.
 
When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.
 
When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.
 
When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent; I wasn't a Jew.
 
When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out."
 
[To be continued.]
 Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

Part 47

4/11/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 47: The High Price of Obedience and Hypocrisy

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There are times when silence becomes an accomplice to injustice.
-AYAAN HIRSI ALI
 
I cannot continue this exploration in good conscience without acknowledging the ultimate sacrifice of Nazimuddin Samad, 28, a Bangladeshi law student and blogger. As reported in The Guardian (April 7, 2016), last week Samad was hacked to death by at least four assailants shouting Allahu Akbar (God is greatest) as they attacked him on a busy road near Jagannath University, where he studied. Samad is not the first blogger killed viciously by radical Islamists; sadly, he will not be the last. He had been on a hit list of 84 atheist bloggers that a group of radical Islamists drew up and sent to the Bangladesh interior ministry. His murder was only the latest in a series of killings of secular activists and bloggers in the country.
 
The day after, demonstrators in Dhaka urged the Bangladeshi authorities to take the killing seriously. They accuse the government of having fostered a culture of impunity in the past. In 2015, suspected militants hacked at least four atheist bloggers and a secular publisher to death in one of a series of targeted killings in the Muslim-majority country. The Guardian article reports that though the Police arrested members of a banned group suspected as the perpetrators, none has yet been prosecuted.
 
As stated in Part 44 (On Religious-Political Holy Alliances), collusion between political and religious leaders have been the norm instead of the exception. The Bangladeshi government simply imitates the Saudi monarch in Saudi Arabia, who has entered a "Holy Alliance" with the Wahhabist movement since the late 18th century. In a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" deal of Koranic proportions, the Wahhabists sought protection from the Saudi royal family. Tit for tat: The Saudi royal family would endorse the Wahhabist austere form of pure Islam and to return the favor, the Saudi royal family would get political legitimacy and regular tithes from Wahhabist followers.
 
The most critical instrument in Holy Alliances is the bogeyman (often spelled as boogeyman). Throughout history, authoritarian regimes all over the world have been nurturing, then incestuously colluding with bogeymen to advance their political legitimacy for the sake of political stability and unity. The Oxford Dictionary defines bogeyman as "an imaginary evil spirit, referred to typically to frighten children." Parenting may or may not include the utilization of a bogeyman to enforce children's perpetual fear and obedience. Thus, in a political science context, governments may or may not utilize bogeymen to unite citizens and enforce their blind obedience. And that is exactly the problem. As pointed out by American historian and social activist Howard Zinn (1922-2010): "Historically, the most terrible things—war, genocide, and slavery—have resulted not from disobedience, but from obedience."
 
For Adolf Hitler, the Jews were the bogeymen. For Catholics, the Protestants (and vice versa). For communists, the capitalists (and vice versa). For Shiites, the Sunnis (and vice versa). For royalists, the Republicans (and vice versa). For liberals, the Conservatives (and vice versa). During the Cold War, fascist military juntas in South and Central America employed the bogeyman strategy to persecute any opposition. Anyone who dared to speak out against a regime were labeled as "communists" (whether real or not) then summarily made to "disappear". Likewise, several Muslim countries still employ the bogeyman strategy to persecute non-Muslims and infidels. Mind you, authoritarian regimes do not necessarily apply the bogeyman strategy because they feel threatened by vocal critics (whether secular bloggers or other groups); instead, the ultimate objective is to unite and consolidate their political base.
 
As aptly described by David Tormsen in 10 Sordid Stories Of The Saudi Royal Family (June 23, 2015): "Absolute monarchies generate more crazy stories than democratic republics. While the common people of the Saudi state are subject to strict rules and tender mercies of the religious police, the royal family are subject to no such restrictions and live lives of luxury and adventure. Instead, the biggest threats to the Saudi princes and princesses are often themselves."
 
In one of the examples, Tormsen illustrates the preposterous level of mind-blowing hypocrisy: "Halloween is banned in the Saudi kingdom, as are most foreign holidays, for their "un-Islamic" nature. Every October, shopping malls are patrolled by religious police on the lookout for outlets selling costumes. But this prohibition doesn’t extend to the royal family. According to US diplomatic cables released through Wikileaks, there is a wild party scene in Jeddah under the protection of Saudi princes. In 2009, Prince Faisal al Thunayan held an underground Halloween party at his residence, inviting over 150 young Saudi men and women. Prince Faisal is a Cadet prince, meaning that he is not in line for the throne but still enjoys all the protection and perks of being a member of the royal family. The religious police were kept at bay by khawi, young Nigerian bodyguards of a similar age who grow up with their princes and serve for life and are considered utterly loyal.
 
Despite Saudi prohibitions on alcohol, Filipino bartenders served a cocktail punch made from sadiqi, a local moonshine. Top-shelf liquor bottles filled with sadiqi were on display. The event, co-sponsored by US energy drink company Kizz-me, featured dancing, costumes, and a DJ. The American consulate officials attending the event heard by word of mouth that many of the female guests were actually prostitutes hired for the event and also that cocaine and hashish use is common at these kind of parties."
 
Alcohol, prostitutes, cocaine and hashish. The Saudi royal family can get away with all of that, never mind the "pure" Islam's strict theology of Wahhabism. What Wahhabism? Yet Nazimuddin Samad was hacked to death only because in his FaceBook profile he courageously declared that he has no religion. This explains why the Bangladeshi government have fostered a culture of impunity towards past perpetrators. Most likely there must be a tit for tat, Saudi-style, incestuous pact between the Bangladeshi government and the religious vigilantes. Ironically, the assassination proves the truth of Nazimuddin Samad's statement that "Religion and race are [an] invention of the savage and uncivil people." Unfortunately, he was cowardly murdered by the very same savage and uncivil people in the name of, what else, religion.
 
[To be continued.]
 Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

Part 46

4/4/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 46: The Art of Overcompensation

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All forms of dedication, devotion, loyalty and self surrender are in essence a desperate clinging to something which might give worth and meaning to our futile, spoiled lives.
-ERIC HOFFER
 
In the previous Part, I concluded by stating the law of unintended consequences in the religious industrial complex. Religion does not necessarily improve individual responsibility and accountability. In fact, history has shown us again and again that organized religions, to an alarming extent, somehow, accidentally, institutionalize irresponsibility and impunity. As observed by African-American social reformer, abolitionist, and author Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) in Part 43: "The most brutal slaveholders were always the most devout." Not surprisingly, the most corrupt politicians have always been the most devout. Idem ditto: The most religious societies tend to be more exposed to violent crime rates, high infant mortality rates, poverty rates and rampant corruption than the most secular ones. Somehow organized religions seem to provide a convenient bullet-proof shield against individual responsibility and accountability.
 
Part 7 (A Little Old Lady and an Atheist Man) cites two separate studies which confirmed that atheists are under-represented in the U.S. prison system population, while so-called believers are over-represented. The Corruption Perception Index (CPI)—annually published by Transparency International (Berlin) since 1995—ranks the least religious countries with high numbers of atheists-per-capita (Denmark, New Zealand, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Singapore) consistently on the top, while the most religious countries with high numbers of believers-per-capita (Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Yemen) consistently on the bottom.
 
Truly, are all these aforementioned anomalies merely mind-blowing coincidences, or do we fail to connect the dots?
 
To say that organized religions beget corruption and fanaticism, is to state the obvious. Yet our 21st-century society has been very good in perfecting denialism, which is defined as "irrational action that withholds the validation of an historical experience or event, by persons refusing to accept an empirically verifiable reality."
 
Indeed a less direct version of denialism is cognitive dissonance, coined by American social psychologist Leon Festinger (1919-1989). Festinger defined cognitive dissonance as "the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the time, performs an action that is contradictory to one or more beliefs, ideas or values, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values." Simply put, cognitive dissonance is the gap between one's sugarcoated beliefs and the bitter Truth.
 
Martinique-born psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Omar Fanon (1925-1961) who was influential in post-colonial studies and critical theory, highlighted this cognitive dissonance in his "Black Skin, White Masks" (Peau Noire, Masques Blancs, 1952). "Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong," Fanon wrote. "When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief."
 
Indeed no one put this universal aversion against the bitter Truth better than French mathematician, physicist, and philosopher Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) in his Pensees:
 
Man would fain be great and sees that he is little;
would fain be happy and sees that he is miserable;
would fain be perfect and sees that he is full of imperfections;
would fain be the object of the love and esteem of men,
and sees that his faults merit only their aversion and contempt.
The embarrassment wherein he finds himself
produces in him the most unjust and criminal passions imaginable,
for he conceives a mortal hatred against that truth
which blames him and convinces him of his faults.
 
Naturally denialism generates defense mechanisms which are psychological strategies utilized by our unconscious mind to deny, manipulate, or even distort reality as a defense against anxiety to maintain our self interests. Denialism, cognitive dissonance and their respective defense mechanisms are thus manifested in paradoxical behaviors. In this regard, American philosopher Eric Hoffer (1898-1983) provided an illuminating explanation in The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951). "Faith in a holy cause," Hoffer wrote, "is to a considerable extent a substitute for the lost faith in ourselves." Then further on: "The less justified a man is in claiming excellence for his own self, the more ready is he to claim all excellence for his nation, his religion, his race or his holy cause."
 
Welcome to the Art of Overcompensation.
 
Thus the brutal slaveholders, the corrupt politicians, the theocratic societies, the over-represented believers in prison population, the most corrupt countries as per CPI, the pedophilic priests, the barbaric jihadists—all dissected surgically by Hoffer in just two sentences.
 
[To be continued.]

 
Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter

Part 45

3/28/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 45: The Law of Unintended Consequences in the Religious Industrial Complex

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Those who do not move, do not notice their chains.
-ROSA LUXEMBURG (1871-1919)
 
The problem is that many do not mind to be chained at all. As stated in Part 12 (What is God's Religion?), the word "religion" derives from the word religare (Latin) which means 'to bind.' Thus if we only show people how oppressive religion can be, they may hopefully open their eyes and seek freedom. Nothing could be further than the truth.

More than 2,300 years had passed since Plato (428-348 BCE) warned us about mistaking shadows on the walls for real objects, in his famous
Allegory of the Cave. Yet the religious industrial complex is alive and well. Even stronger than ever. In a culture that claims to value freedom above anything else, many do not mind to be chained. They want to be chained.
 
It should not be surprising. In 1843, German philosopher and economist Karl Marx warned that religion is the opium of the people in his classic, A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right. Well, what is wrong with opium? According to www.opium.org, "(a)lthough the side effects of opium that are felt short-term such as euphoria or sedation may be comforting, as tolerance develops, even these side effects will diminish and the negative aspects of the opium use will quickly begin to set in." Marx is hardly alone. "One of the curses of ideologies and organized beliefs is the comfort, the deadly gratification they offer," wrote J. Krishnamurti in Commentaries on Living (1956). "They put us to sleep, and in the sleep we dream, and the dream becomes action. How easily we are distracted! And most of us want to be distracted … and distractions becomes a necessity, they become more important than what is."  
 
Bondage, shadows, opium, comfort, gratification, dreams, distractions; what could be better?  The smashing success of the religious industrial complex should not surprise us. Not only does religion comfort the masses. In fact, the opposite—i.e. freedom from religion and beliefs—can be painfully torturous for many. Take religion away, and you take away the security blanket, the opium, the training wheels, the crutches. Dealing with withdrawal symptoms is no picnic.
 
"Freedom aggravates at least as much as it alleviates frustration," wrote Eric Hoffer in The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951). "Freedom of choice places the whole blame of failure on the shoulders of the individual." Then, furthermore: "Unless a man has the talents to make something of himself, freedom is an irksome burden… We join a mass movement to escape individual responsibility, or, in the words of the ardent young Nazi, "to be free from freedom.""
 
Thus freedom from religion demands individual responsibility and accountability—a tall order for many. No more excuses. No more saviors of any kind. No more rewards and punishments. No more redemption. No more twenty-one virgins waiting in paradise. One is on his own—fully responsible and accountable for his deeds. That's why agnostics and atheists tend to take religion much more seriously than theists. Case in point: at the age of sixteen, British philosopher, logician and mathematician, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) flatly declared: "(m)y whole religion is this: do every duty, and expect no reward for it, either here or hereafter." Observed another British, physician Jonathan Miller (b. 1934): "In some awful, strange, paradoxical way, atheists tend to take religion more seriously than the practitioners."
 
Therefore the positive correlation between religion and morality is a myth, an illusion. Allow me to repeat the comparison of four past Southeast Asian rulers. Ferdinand Marcos, a practicing Catholic, ruled the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. Suharto, a practicing Muslim, ruled Indonesia from 1967 to 1998. Lee Kuan Yew, a self-proclaimed non-believer, ruled Singapore from 1959 to 1990. Thaksin Shinawatra, a practicing Buddhist, ruled Thailand from 2001 to 2006. Three among these four strongmen were forced to resign and eventually convicted of corruption, though they never served time. (Obviously, proceed from corruption come in handy to retain the best lawyers in the country or to live lavishly in exile.) One ruler is exceptionally known as "Mr. Clean" until his death in 2015 however. Everyone knows who was "Mr. Clean."
 
One may argue that even though religion has failed to curb corruption, it may make believers more tolerant and pacifist. We shall see. As stated in Part 36 (Being in the "Zone"), in an op-ed in The Los Angeles Times (October 30, 2015), Phil Zuckerman begs to differ. In Think Religion Makes Society Less Violent?, he outlines that the most secular societies (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Czech Republic, Estonia, Japan, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Germany, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, Hungary, China and Belgium) fare the best in terms of crime rates, prosperity, equality, freedom, democracy, women's rights, human rights, educational attainment and life expectancy. (With poor human rights records, Vietnam and China are exceptions.) On the other hand, the most religious societies (Nigeria, Uganda, the Philippines, Pakistan, Morocco, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Colombia, Senegal, Malawi, Indonesia, Brazil, Peru, Jordan, Algeria, Ghana, Venezuela, Mexico and Sierra Leone) tend to be the most problem-ridden in terms of high violent crime rates, high infant mortality rates, high poverty rates and high rates of corruption.
 
Thus the law of unintended consequences in the religious industrial complex: religion does not necessarily improve individual responsibility and accountability.
 
[To be continued.]
 Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

Part 44.5

3/21/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 44.5: Intermission

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Delay is preferable to error.
-THOMAS JEFFERSON
​
It's one of those weeks again, in which I under-estimated the complexity of a translation assignment and over-estimated my ability to juggle a myriad of various commitments. Regretfully, Part 45 will only be published next Monday, March 28, 2016. Thank you for your patience and sorry for any inconvenience.
 
Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

March 14th, 2016

3/14/2016

 

Between Stockholm Syndrome and Lima Syndrome
Part 44: On Religious-Political Holy Alliances

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The need for religion will end when man becomes sensible enough to govern himself.
-FRANCISCO FERRER (1849-1909)
 
There is one problem however: it seems that man will never become sensible enough to govern himself … due to his unquenchable thirst and insatiable appetite to worship. The sun, the moon, a rock, a tree, a river, a god, several gods, a totalitarian leader, a holy book, an icon, a symbol, a celebrity, an athlete, a sports team—anything. Whether in sports, religion, or political ideology, the overwhelming drive to worship among Homo sapiens is hard to miss, whether it manifests itself in tribalism, provincialism, holier-than-thou sectarianism, nationalism, totalitarianism, fanaticism, radicalism, or chauvinism. "The hammer and sickle and the swastika are in a class with the cross," wrote Eric Hoffer in The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951). Even in the seemingly casual world of sports, the need to worship is astounding.
 
As stated in Part 26 (Mob Mentality and Groupthink), Daniel Wann, a leading sport psychologist at Murray State University pointed out that the similarities between sport fandom and organized religion are striking. "Consider the vocabulary associated with both: faith, devotion, worship, ritual, dedication, sacrifice, commitment, spirit, prayer, suffering, festival, and celebration." An American city without a sports team is like an Indian chief without a feather on his cap. A country without an Olympic team is considered a pariah among nations. Once I invited a die-hard Roger Federer's fan to watch a Wimbledon quarterfinal match at home. You could actually feel his anguish and physical pain every time Federer lost a point or made an unforced error or double-fault serve. When I teased him by saying that Federer is only human, he disagreed and in all seriousness argued that Federer is actually a god.
 
Lest I be accused of being anti-religion, let me repeat the benefits of religion as stated in Part 6 ("You are Confined Only by the Walls You Build Yourself"). Religion may provide explanations about the Meaning of Life and why we have to suffer; it gives us a sense of purpose and direction. Religion also comforts us to deal with failures, hardships, tragedies, sickness and deaths; it defuses anxiety. Religion provides us with guidelines for everyday life; for example the code of conduct based on karma and dharma (Hinduism); the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path (Buddhism); the Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith (Judaism); the Ten Commandments (Christianity); and the Five Pillars of Islam. Indeed religion instills values about what is right and wrong. Throughout millennia, religion has provided societies with various tools to create social solidarity as well as establish social order and control.
 
So far so good, but social order and control for the benefits of whom? Indeed religion and state authorities have been strange bedfellows for millennia. Collusion between political and religious leaders have been the norm—rather than the exception—and there lies the wisdom and genius of Thomas Jefferson who introduced the notion of "a wall of separation between church and state."
 
We have been told about the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth by the Romans, at the behest of the Jews, who repeatedly shouted "Crucify him!” to the fifth prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, Pontius Pilate. Nevertheless, the Church gradually became a defining institution of the Roman Empire. In 313 Emperor Constantine issued the "Edict of Milan" proclaiming tolerance for the Christian religion, and subsequently in 325 convoked the First Council of Nicaea. The Nicene Creed included belief in "one holy catholic and apostolic Church". Then with the "Edict of Thessalonica" of 380 Emperor Theodosius I made Nicene Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire. The rest, as they say, is history: the bloody and brutal history of the Crusades, Reformation Wars, Inquisitions, genocide of Native Americans, and the Holocaust.
 
And who could forget the imposing 33 feet by 20 feet Napoleon's coronation painting at the Louvre by Jacques-Louis David? Napoleon simply (and nakedly) wanted to establish his legitimacy as the Emperor of the French by masterminding a new coronation ceremony conferred by none other than Pope Pius VII. Indeed the fact that Napoleon absurdly sought political legitimacy from a Pope spoke volumes. (Hint: he once uttered, "Religion is excellent stuff for keeping common people quiet. Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.")
 
Moving to the Middle East, there has been another "Holy Alliance" since Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, the founder of "Wahhabism," an austere form of Islam, arrived in the central Arabian state of Najd in 1744 to preach the return to "pure" Islam (whatever that means). In a "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" deal of Koranic proportions, he sought protection from the local emir and head of the Al Saud tribal family, Muhammad ibn Saud. The Al Saud would endorse al-Wahhab's austere form of pure Islam and to return the favor, the Al Saud would get political legitimacy and regular tithes from al-Wahhab's followers. In spite of the fact that in 1818, the Ottoman Empire managed to sack the capital of Riyadh and executed many of the religious and political leaders, the religious-political alliance that al-Wahhab and Saud forged in 1744 endures to this day in Saudi Arabia. The Wahhabism brand has become the other commodity (besides petroleum) currently exported to other countries.
 
[To be continued.]
 Johannes Tan, Indonesian Translator & Conference Interpreter 

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