What is our “cultural identity”? It is according to many social studies, in short, our traditions, our values, our principles, our social habits, our religious concepts and perceptions, etc. and thus the basis on which our lives are built upon in a certain culture. Culture is not limited with borders or color of the skin. Our Identity is mainly “who we are”, our characteristics, what we are described with. So, our “Cultural Identity” will be defined as: “the group of traditions, values, principles, social habits, religious concepts and perceptions on which our lives are built upon and with which we are characterized & described”.

For example, a “Muslim” is part of an “Islamic Culture”. “Muslim” is his/her “Cultural Identity”. This means that he/she follows certain traditions, values, principles, habits, etc. If you see someone praying in a mosque you will say he is “Muslim”, this is his/her “cultural identity”.

So, what does “wiping out cultural identity” mean? It’s actually a type of brain washing. Those behind this type of mass brain washing use many channels of communication to target their victims. They concentrate more on long-term influence of the process so they mostly target the youth of that society. Sometimes the process may start from as early as childhood (age around 4-6 years old) when cognitive skills start shaping. The process will target changing the main values, principles, believes, traditions, and other cultural aspects creating a larger generational gap. This resulting gap along with the changes causing it are both objectives of this type of brain washing process eventually resulting in the total & root change of the culture thus “wiping out” the original cultural identity of the targeted society.

How? Many means of transformation may be used, such as “cultural injection” or can also be known as “cultural occupation”. In this particular means the transformation may not be felt or at least the main objectives and those behind the process will not be immediately noticed, giving the illusion that it’s all part of a natural evolution/change (ex: injection of new American culture, new Chinese culture, different religious believes, etc.).

Public Media is another means of transformation (News content; even the news is between depressing, frustrating, incomplete, or mostly misleading; excessive entertainment, changing sexual trends such as acceptance of gay & she-males, nudity, etc.). They do that by gaining our interest in what they are offering us “psychologically” as human beings – they brain wash us! So, they address our most primitive instincts; sex, the search for happiness, our fears, our triggers, our feelings, etc. The contents of media today, especially TV as the #1 media tool, is mostly focused on pure waste of time entertainment, sexual implications, celebrities’ lives, football/soccer players, singing, dancing, and consuming products.

So, what I am trying to say is that someone is trying to wipe out our “Islamic Cultural Identity” to make it disappear. They want us to be empty or full of nothing useful to ourselves or our nations. They want the majority of our future generations to think & dream only of becoming a celebrity, for their minds to be busy with sex and money, to have no principles in life, to achieve nothing, and make us “Muslims” weak & divided.

Eventually, even on the national side, all our future generations will be celebrities and we will not have enough scientists, engineers, doctors, academics, innovators, inventors, etc. to survive independently and develop and grow. What will happen next is that we will start importing those needs from the West (USA, Europe, etc.), Australia, etc. which will be at the top of our society. This situation will just be a different type of occupation than what existed before but it will not be different in consequences.

They are even turning “Islamic” programs into entertainment ONLY purpose, no educational benefit can be found in them. Even those programs that seem to be focused more on learning religion are not always presenting correct information and are also not setting a good example of how a Muslim should be. What do they mean by gathering a group of women in a mosque with a guy that claims to be knowledgeable in “Islam” without any known record of “Islamic Education” from a reputable, well established, trust worthy educational entity? Another example, the competition shows for child “Islamic Presenters/Preachers”, unfortunately, religion must be a joke to those who made these programs. They are teaching our future generations that “even religion is just a source of entertainment”. You will not find this type of programs about any other religion, why?!

As another example, in almost no other country in the world can you find daily early morning live musical concerts. Even the type of musical concerts are far from gentle, spirit lifting, soul cleansing, mind inspiring as music should be. Moreover, the programs following celebrities eating habits, how will that enrich our youth and make them more productive, creative, innovative, etc. And moreover, the talk show programs with nearly naked girls (which they call “celebrities” for unknown reasons as they are not talented or special in any way shape or form, other than that they are willing to show off their bodies as much as possible). How is this useful? Is this what you think the word “modern” means? We have so many examples of programs that are much more ethical, moral, full of principles and values, and as modern as it gets, from many Arab Islamic countries, even from USA which is not even an Islamic country at all; such as “Oprah”, “Dr. Phil”, “The Doctors”, etc.

Another observation would also be the lack of broadcast of any Arabic or Islamic satellite channels from the Middle-East, not even one, not even in paid cable TV, and this is obviously to keep all of us Muslims in Asia disconnected from the roots of our religion & from learning the truth about it. They made us believe that all Arabic songs are Islamic, which is totally untrue!

Also, another means for the “cultural wipe-out brain-washing” would be enhancement & increase of corruption in the targeted country (Moral, Financial, Social, Political, etc.) turning it into an acceptable part of our daily life. Another typical method would be usage of messages containing large amounts of fear (fear of each other, of the future, etc.). In addition to all that, a very common & widely used weapon of brain washing for cultural occupation is unemployment. This is a type of “fear” that effects youth in a very sensitive period of the human life cycle, the most productive period of their life, making them more vulnerable to other brain washing methods (such as corruption & other immoral behavior).

Weak Education is also a catalyst & supporter of such a method, making youth unable to compete in work markets, especially in specialized areas, and reduces the future ability of the society to grow, nourish, and develop without foreign expertise.

An observation that would support this point of view would be the lack of Arabic language as a main language in public schools of an Islamic country. While in some islands in this great nation with majority Muslim population they teach Korean language in schools because they found it spoken in some parts of that island. So, they have enough time for that in school curriculum but not the language of the religion of the majority?! And this is to disconnect Muslims from the origin of their religion, the Holy Quran.

Ruling of Minorities can be consider a lethal weapon of brain washing as it puts the futures of the weakened majority in the hands of a much stronger, well educated, foreign supported minority, which in turn has more loyalty towards those foreign supporters (which most probably are of religious background), making it even easier to control & handle; economically, politically, and socially. Moving hand-in-hand with this method would be working on lack of or weakening of religious background of the targeted majority, growth of ethnic & tribal conflict, division of opinion, and confused loyalty/patriotism.

All this resulting in a wide psycho-social intense pressure, eventually causing many psychological & social diseases, which would further support the achievement of the objectives of this brain washing process (depression, anxiety, hypertension, etc.) through its highly contradictive effects between what we originally value & what we are being forced to accept as new values & additions to our original culture.

Why? To have stronger control over the people of the society involved for many reasons including control of natural resources, political strength, control over strategic locations, etc.). As mentioned above, it’s actually a type of occupation (cultural & economic occupation) through the partial & total change of the culture.

Who? They are those “Insiders” & “Outsiders” with interests to have stronger control over the people of the country involved and all the other related aspects mentioned above. They are also those who have loyalty to other than the country involved. Whether this loyalty is based on religious, economic, political, or ethnic grounds, most probably caused & driven by the process of “wiping out” cultural identity.

What to do? As we can notice & see together, the tools used are mostly tools from within the society itself. So, if we were to strengthen our original “Islamic” religious backgrounds (while still respecting & accommodating other religious believes), our traditions, principles, ideals, values, etc. it would be almost impossible for the process of brain washing & cultural changing to succeed. For example, teach our kids & youth religion & traditions more effectively & to not adopt behavior that contradicts with these teachings, control our media in a more growth enhancing manner & reduce the amount of meaningless and un-useful entertainment, not allowing our new generations to blindly imitate other cultures, filter/limit what we insert to our culture to be limited only to knowledge & technology, prevent using religion as an entertainment tool which undermines it & deeply gives the impression it is not of any importance, etc. Do the right things!

If we are able to strongly preserve “who we are” & spread our culture instead of demolishing it, we will continue to exist & succeed in growing to become a world super power. Or, as I heard, as Shakespeare once stated “To be or not to be, that is the question”.

Someone is trying to wipe out our “cultural identity” as a “Muslim” nation with the largest Islamic population in the world. Someone is even trying to wipe out your identity as “Indonesian” as we once knew it before; with strong ethical traditions & moral values. Where is the respect for the elderly, the love & care that the elderly show towards the younger, where is the close family ties, where is the kindness on the streets, where is the positive attitude towards rejection of non-Islamic behavior, why do I see girls with boyfriends, why do I see drinking beer on street corners?, etc.

This is meant to be a wake-up call to all “Muslim Nations”. I’m not asking you to be extreme, not asking you to, for example, force girls to wear hijab (although it would be the ideal situation if it happened through the families). Just go back to your moral traditions, pay “Zakat” to eliminate poverty, be shy of making moral mistakes (showing your bodies, making sexual implications and actions part of your daily open public communication, corruption, etc.), express your religion in your life and in the way you deal with others, stay away from “Kabaer” (the big sins; adultery, drinking alcohol, etc.). Even freedom is limited one way or the other in every religion in the world, there is no such thing as unlimited freedom, make your limits be the limits of your religion & your original traditions. Don’t accept money from “haram” origin (bribes, stealing using your positions or power, taking from others what you don’t really deserve, fraud, etc.)

KEEP YOUR RELIGION & TRADITIONS!! RESIST WIPING OUT YOUR CULTURAL IDENTITY!!

Allahum Belaght Allahum Fash-hed.

Artikel Lainnya:

1. Marty Natalegawa Hadiri Japan National Press Club
2. Iran Joins Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union Meeting in Abu Dhabi
3. National Geographic and Arts dan Exhibitions International Selenggarakan New Cleopatra Exhibition
4. Exhibition of the Great Seal of the United States opens at Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia

2 Responses to “Wiping-Out Our National Islamic Cultural Identity”