Two days ago(21/4) Indonesia commemorated one important milestone in the history of equality and emancipation of women. We called it "Kartini's Day", taken from the name of national hero: Kartini who fought for gender equality mainly in education. Kartini's dream was that every girl will have the same right to pursue education as their counterparts: boys.
Also at the same day, Kompas published one news: "Hamil? Jangan Ikut Ujian Nasional". The news tells the story of a girl who gets pregnant and because of her pregnancy, she isn't entitled to sit on national level of final examination. Her parents even accompanied her to pledge to the school so she can sit in the examination. However, the school rejected the plea and considered that girl was no longer enlisted as student in that school.
Why should this be happened? The equation to this trouble is: pregnancy outside marriage + Indonesia's "pathetic" religious value.
Pregnancy
We (in Indonesia) celebrate pregnancy. We hailed it as a miracle from God Himself. We condemn every act to put an artificial end to pregnancy (abortion). We debate all the evolutionary teachings by saying even mankind can't create a single living cell, but God can create a perfect human.
What is the difference between pregnancy outside a marriage and pregnancy inside a marriage? Will it produce a human with wrong genes? Will the baby be born with more sins? Or perhaps the baby from pregnancy inside a marriage will be more handsome or prettier? I believe the answers are no.
Even the God, who we believe to create everything, do not put a difference between these two type of pregnancies, why we must? Why we must condemn the girl by getting pregnant? This of course always ends up in one sided judgment since the boy who made the girl pregnant is never being pregnant.
Pregnancy vs School Rules
It is common in Indonesia to have school implement rules that forbid any type of sexual activity which is included pregnancy as the result. Usually the sex part goes unnoticed but when the pregnancy part arrived, suddenly it can't be hidden anymore. As the tummy is getting bigger, at one point the school will trash the victim, saying that she will bring shame to the school's good reputation.
But please see the gender discrimination part. The victim of this rule will surely be the girl.
Pregnancy Outside Marriage is a Bad Example
This is the most common babbling of people who pro with the "no pregnancy at school rule". We should break this problem down very carefully.
Our main enemy is free sex which is absolute "no no" in school environment. Ok, this is acceptable. But pregnancy is the side effect of breaking this rules. So why we battle the side effect instead of battling the root problem?
Because it is easier to spot pregnancy instead of spotting free sex activity?
Why we must choose the easiest path instead of choosing the most correct one?
Please bear in mind that a future of a child is at stake here. Her future years perhaps as a scientist, rocket engineer, president, or a very smart mother.
What makes the courage to admit your mistake, and to embrace the consequences become shameful? There are a lot of choices which are more shameful, one of them is to abort the pregnancy.
What make a pregnant girl is not worthy to get her lesson? That she suddenly can't solve a quadratic equation because she is pregnant?
And the main question is: WHAT IS THE BAD EXAMPLE OF PREGNANCY?
"Pathetic" Religious Values
What is the purpose of religious values? So we can feel more righteous than other people?
The basic of religion is: acceptance. Basically a religion has an universal membership. Moreover it offers transformation, so a person life should not be the same after he/she embrace that religion. Religion symbolize the grace of God which is given to all mankind.
However, nowadays people like to use religion as a condemnation tools. Saying that other people who is sinful as trash of orderly religious society INSTEAD OF trying to embrace them.
The most common examples: prostitutes, gay and lesbian.
Where is the heart of God in religious people? How can we experience God if all that we care about is how many times we pray in a day, do we conduct our pray properly, or have we visit our holy place this week?
I pray to God, that one day we can all see each other as equals.
[He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.] -Luke 10:27
