Archive for March 19th, 2010
U.S. Training of Kopassus
(Below is a letter from The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) that warned President Barack Obama against renewing any U.S. training for Indonesia’s notorious special forces and urged to sign a petition)
Contact: John M. Miller, East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN), +1-718-596-7668; 917-690-4391, etan@etan.org
U.S. Training of Kopassus: A Bad Idea Whose Time Has Not Come
The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) warned President Barack Obama against renewing any U.S. training for Indonesia’s notorious special forces. Read the rest of this entry »
Lahir dari Rahim; Wacana Perempuan Asia tentang Allah di Era Globalisasi
Diresensi oleh: Abda’iyah Alhadi
Judul : Lahir dari Rahim: Wacana Perempuan Asia tentang Allah di Era Globalisasi
Penulis : P. Mutiara Andalas, SJ
Kata Pengantar: Jennie S. Bevly dan Ulil Abshar Abdalla
Penerbit : Kanisius, Yogyakarta
Edisi : I, Juni 2009
Harga : Rp 55.000,00
Membahas permasalahan gender adalah menganalisis hubungan peran laki-laki dan perempuan dalam kehidupan sosialnya. Bukan permasalahan kodrat laki-laki yang memproduksi sperma dan perempuan melahirkan. Sebagai manusia keduanya memiliki hak dan kewajiban yang sama dalam menjalankan perannya sebagai makhluk sosial. Akan tetapi yang menjadi permasalahan adalah struktur soaial yang timpang, bias gender yang menyebar luas dan mempengaruhi pola pikir, tindakan dan bentuk kehidupan sosial di negeri ini. Read the rest of this entry »
Learning universal `Salaam’, a start to making peace on earth
Image source: tikkun.org
by Muhamad Ali
A basic understanding of humanness and human kindness (that everyone has equal dignity as human before being Christian, Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, atheist, straight, gay, and so forth). If people believe in God, but they use different terms for God, then they share that humility before God. If some believe and others do not believe in God, they still share that human kindness. The Koran uses the term “children of Adam”.
Peace can only last when there is such basic understanding of equality of every single being. German religion scholar Hans Kung, for instance, says, “no peace among the nations without peace among the religions, no peace among the religions without dialogue between the religions, and no dialogue between the religions without investigation of the foundation of the religions.” I would add that there is no sound investigation of the religions without the understanding that every human being has inherent dignity. Read the rest of this entry »
The missing nuts and bolts of defense reform
Image source: republika.co.id
by Evan A. Laksmana
By the end of January, the Defense Ministry’s 100-day program will expire, with key milestones seemingly drowned out by the domestic m*l*e over President Yudhoyono’s characteristic indecision.
More disconcerting, however, is that the ministry seems unable to move away from the existing trend over the past decade of sidelining the key nuts-and-bolts issue of defense reform. Read the rest of this entry »
Diskusi dan Makan Siang Bersama Dr. Beni Bevly
Beberapa saat yang lalu, salah satu analyst dari Overseas Think Tank for Indonesia, Dr. Beni Bevly mendapat kesempatan yang berharga untuk memenuhi undangan Drs. Eddie Lembong, Pendiri dan Ketua Yayasan MEL untuk Nation Building, dan berdiskusi dengan para raksasa, begitulah istilah yang dikenalkan oleh Drs. Eddie Lembong. Yang ia maksudkan adalah para cendikiawan yang sangat disegani dan dihormati yang hadir dalam pertemuan ini. Mereka adalah Myra Sidarta, Melly G. Tan, Ph.D, Dr. Asvi Warman Adam, Dr. Yudi Latif, dan Didi Kwartanada, Ph.D. Read the rest of this entry »
Avatarism and cyber law
by Jennie S. Bev
We all live as avatars. The term “avatar” refers to the projection of one’s personality, particularly over the Internet. While in Hinduism, an “avatar” is a reincarnation of Vishnu, in today’s society, it is nothing more than an image of ourselves that we wish to convey to the world. “Avatarism” is probably an appropriate term to refer to the practice of using a particular persona in a particular circumstance.
Most people wish to be recognized by at least one of their strong qualities, be they artistic, intellectual, musical or inspirational qualities. However, not all of them are fully aware of “packaging” their avatar.
Media personalities, for instance, are aware of their overall position and projection. We might see Paris Hilton as a “dumb, blonde, poor little rich girl,” but is that really the case? Read the rest of this entry »
