The teacher handed me the speech the students found on the Internet (side note: it’s a common Indonesian practice to use speeches found on the Internet for speech competitions). Anyway, I scan the speech for grammatical and language errors. Then I come across the words, “Western” and “destructive” in the same sentence. I pause. I read closely from the beginning.
As it turns out the whole speech is a warning to the Muslim youth to avoid the destructive Western way of living. The first thought: Why the hell did they ask me, a Westerner, to edit this?
I felt a bit betrayed. Did they think I wouldn’t get offended? I mean I understand that there are some aspects of Western culture that go against Islamic teachings. And I respect those differences. Different cultures are bound to clash, but to outright say the Western way of living is destructive is offensive. As I fumed, I decided I’d reword the speech. Western should not be synonymous with bad in this country, and students should not be taught such.
Furthermore, I also realized that the students probably didn’t understand the speech when they found it on the Internet. They probably just Googled, “Good Muslim Values,” and this could have been the first speech to pop up. Regardless, if this speech is out there that means other people have access to it. I wanted to at least stop my students from potentially believing its close-mindedness.
After finishing the speech, I went straight to the teacher that gave me the speech and told her I thought it was incredibly close-minded and impolite to use the speech without my modifications. I said if the students believe that the Western way of living is destructive, what would they think of me? Would they respect me as a teacher? Would they like me as a person?
I just wanted to express that even though I may make lifestyle choices that go against another person’s religious beliefs, it does not mean I’m a bad person. It doesn’t mean that either person is bad. It just means we’re different. Different is not bad. It’s just different. And that’s okay.
