Chief Justice Anwar Usman giving his remarks at the Constitutional Court’s Christmas and New Year celebration, Friday (1/21/2022). Photo by Humas MK/Hendy.

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Friday, January 21, 2022 | 14:18 WIB

JAKARTA, Public Relations—The Christian staff members of the Constitutional Court (MK) celebrated the Christmas of 2021 and New Year of 2022 at a warm event on Friday afternoon, January 21, 2022 in the Delegation Room. Chief Justice Anwar Usman as well as Constitutional Justices Arief Hidayat, Manahan M. P. Sitompul, Daniel Yusmic P. Foekh, Wahiduddin Adams, and Secretary-General M. Guntur Hamzah also attended the celebration.

“On this occasion, allow me to wish my Christian brothers and sisters a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year 2022. May the 2021 Christmas celebration bring peace to all, not only Christians who celebrate it, but also to us, the Indonesian nation. Similarly, [hopefully] the year 2022, which we have just entered, will be better and successful than the previous years,” Justice Anwar said in his remarks.

He added that any religious teachings share a universal message of good and promote safe, harmonious, and peaceful life free from violence, hate, and slander, as well as virtue, morality, tolerance, and love for one other.

Justice Anwar said that loving for one another is a core teaching in every religion. “For my Christian brothers and sisters, of course you understand the words in the book of Matthew 22: 37-40, the book of Mark 12: 28-34, and the book of Luke 10: 25-28, which basically teach, ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself.’ This teaching is important to be interpreted and practiced in the life of the nation, so that it becomes a motivation in strengthening religious harmony and brotherhood,” he explained.

The chief justice said that religious sentiments are often used by certain individuals or groups for certain purposes. The same also applies to primordialism, which leads to enmity and division. As such, they must be anticipated and avoided, so as not to lead to friction, eventually to disintegration.

“As educated religious people, of course we cannot justify this kind of behavior. Therefore, it is important for us to remind one other how important it is to maintain tolerance, harmony, and unity among fellow children of the nation, in order to create a life that is peaceful, safe, and prosperous, and full of a sense of brotherhood,” he emphasized.

Writer        : Utami Argawati
Editor        : Lulu Anjarsari P.
Translator  : Yuniar Widiastuti (NL)

Translation uploaded on 01/21/2022 15:03 WIB

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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