Twice in this century popular revolts against colonial rule have occured in the Banten district of West Java. These revolts, conducted largely under an Islamic leadership, also proclaimed themselves Communist. Islamic Communism is seemingly a paradox. This is especially the case when one considers that probably no religion has proved more resistant to Communist ideology than Islam. Michael W…
Masa pembuangan Bung Karno di Pulau Flores berlangsung dari 14 Januari 1934 sampai dengan 18 Oktober 1938. Bung Karno menggambarkan dirinya dalam pembuangan itu sebagai “elang yang telah dipotong sayap-sayapnya. Namun, ternyata Bung Karno mampu mengatasi dan mengolah situasi krisis ini secara kreatif sehingga menghasilkan hal-hal positif dalam pembentukan karakter dan kepribadian, sifat dan j…
\"Apakah Sjam mempunyai kemandirian, sehingga ia sendiri bisa merancang G-30S dan membiarkan Aidit tidak tahu detail rencana? Apakah Sjam bekerja untuk tentara ketimbang untuk Aidit? Ataukah ia bekerja untuk pihak ketiga?\" - Jhon Roosa- Siapa sebenarnya sosok Sjam Kamaruzzaman? Di manakah sebenarnya posisi Sjam Kamaruzzaman, cerpihak pada PKI, tentara, atau pihak ketiga? Benarkah ia menj…
The Gifts of the Jews reveals the critical change that made western civilization possible. Within the matrix of ancient religions and philosophies, life was seen as part of an endless cycle of birth and death; time was like a wheel, spinning ceaselessly. Yet somehow, the ancient Jews began to see time differently. For them, time had a beginning and an end; it was a narrative, whose triumphant c…
Every year millions of Americans celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they may not be aware of how great an influence St. Patrick was on the subsequent history of civilization. Not only did he bring Christianity to Ireland, he instilled a sense of literacy and learning that would create the conditions that allowed Ireland to become "the isle of saints and scholars"—and thus preserve Western cultu…
East Timor hit the world’s newspaper headlines in August 1999 after its bloody, brave vote for independence from Indonesia - one of the great expressions of a people’s democratic spirit. Exquisitely crafted and evocative, Luis Cardoso’s personal history of his homeland takes as its central image a crossing—from child to adult, Portuguese to Timorese, tolerance to repression, colonialism…