The Most Effective Capitalism - Religion

Awicaks

The Ahmadiyah sect is lame prey to many dominant mainstream Moslem 'predators' in Indonesia. The sect is even called as fallaciously Islam by the Government, which tends to pretend they are representing somewhat of God. As a lame prey followers of the Ahmadiyah sect are basically predestinationist, act passively when were attacked, often in a violent way, by their predators. But they've never have any intention to change their belief, following what the majority dominant stream pushes to do. Enough for the background.

The sect has built tremendous infrastructures, not in clandestine but even with strong determination. They build well-ordered and well-designed boarding school with systematic structure of the educational curriculum, aimed at pushing good pace of regeneration. They also build self-contained settlements, with very good environmental management, according to their belief.

In the end of 2006 crowd of people wore white shirts and pants as well as white turban brutally attacked one of the Ahmadiyah settlement about a kilometer from where I live. Although a police station resides nextdoor all the policemen were only watching brutall actions done by the crowd. Some of the Ahmadiyah were arrested by the crowds, been humiliated then later handed over to the policemen. Others fled, run for their life, leaving behind all structures and infrastructures built for years. The children cried loud hugged by their panic parents. A dramatic but cruel scene particularly when leader of the crowd moved forward and made a speech shot by many journalists' camera. "In the name of the Almighty God, we have to enforce the truth; we have to enforce the only true Islam!"

 I passed through the complex about a week ago. To my surprise when I saw a brand new signboard in the front of the ex-Ahmadiyah complex. I could read clearly an Islamic boarding school name. And it recalled me to the leader who made speech after the seize of the fallaciously sect of Islam months ago. It doesn't need a rocket science to analyze using a very simple and idiotic economics of the take over. I don't have any intention to be judgemental on this case. Journalists need to investigate the trend. But if it is so, I can only ponder and think the perfect form of market competition.  

Parallel to the aforementioned account, a friend of mine wrote a book, "The Carbon Netutral Myth: Offset Indulgences for Your Climate Sins," in which he put a great introduction by referring the Middle Ages' Western Europe, when the Catholic Churches were as powerful as the monarches. He wrote,

"The Catholic doctrine maintains that to avoid time in Purgatory after you die, you need to expiate your sins via some sort of punishment or task that is an external manifestation of your repentance. The idea was that the clergy were doing more of such actions than their meager sins demanded, so they effectively had a surplus of good deeds.

Under the logic of the emerging market, these could be sold as indulgences to sinners who had money, but not necessarily the time or inclination to repent for themselves. Chaucer's The Pardoner's Tale immortalised the sale of such indulgences by pardoners, which was essentially how the church took a market-based approach to sinning as a means of income generation.

The Brazillian theologian Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus pointed out in 2001 that indulgences are "not about grace and gratefullness but about exchanging goods, about buying and selling, about capitalism." (Smith, Kevin et al, 2007).

So do one disturbing thought defiled my brain with regards to the business empire behind the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. That is the most effective business ever exist on the planet. No need of marketing. No need of complaint handling. No need of sophisticated infrastructures to build. The pilgrims stay in tent on the desert. In religion and spirituality, a pilgrimage is a long journey or search of great moral significance. The pilgrims should believe that any unpleasant situation during the journey are part of their search of great moral significance.

Every year, more than 200,000 Indonesian Muslims join the pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's most holy site. This mass movement of people, the biggest annual airlift in the world, is a sacred once-in-a-lifetime duty of all Moslems who are physically and financially able (International Herald Tribune, 31 May 2006). It is also a $575 million-a-year business for the Indonesian government. And it perhaps is quadruple income to the Saudi Arabia's government. The Encyclopaedia Brittanica describes, "The hospitality industry has traditionally been strong only in and around the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, with the annual influx of pilgrims."

The hajj to Mecca has long brought hundreds of thousands of people annually from various ethnic groups to the country. About half of all pilgrims travel from Arab countries and half from African and Asian countries. A small number of such visitors have settled in and around the holy cities throughout the years out of religious devotion. Although we can vividly estimate earning the Saudi Arabian government gained from the hajj, there have, however, never been any official statement putting pilgrimage of the hajj as one of the biggest source of revenue for the Saudi Arabia monarch. LIke the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages' Western Europe, thre great thing of this, is the Saudi Arabian government has no competitor.

20 December 2007

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