Young, Millennial and

Political Literate

Thirty-nine students from various regions and campuses who are studying in Yogyakarta took part in Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta training held at Wisma Pojok Indah, on February 15-17, 2019. They are interested and curious about Young, Millennial and Political Literate, one topic of Spirituality program: Church and Politics. Most participants are young people who are politically illiterate; even they can be said as ignorant and politically blind.

"This is a hot topic before April 17, 2019. The public has been enthusiastic to welcome hot atmosphere with political nuances, moreover the advancement of information technology makes it easier for public to receive both factual news and hoax instantly. Ironically, not many young millennials are interested in politics, even more of them are apathetic and priori. Political literacy is important because inevitably the private and public life of society are influenced by political decisions. Stube-HEMAT Yogyakarta as a mentoring institution for students from various regions in Indonesia who are studying in Yogyakarta realized the importance of correct political understanding among students because they will become agents of change," said Ariani Narwastujati, Stube-HEMAT Executive Director.

As the preparation to explore politics, participants learned first the history dynamics of the relationship between church (Christianity) and politics delivered by Rev. Paulus Sugeng Wijaya, MAPS., Ph.D from Duta Wacana Christian University. Initially the church was separated from government politics, the church was on the different side of the government and even suppressed. However, churches kept growing and hold strategic position in the community. Galerius, the emperor of that time finally accommodated the church in people's lives. Even Emperor Constantine established Christianity as state religion. Since then church had mingled with various political interests and power, unluckily church began to forget  its mission to fight for liberation, injustice and poverty alleviation.

During the discussion with William E. Apipidely, M.A, Executive Director of Satunama Foundation, the participants' assumptions regarding politics were revealed. Some considered politics as art, influence and power, but others considered politics to be dirty, full of corruption and even apathetic towards politics. Bad 'image' of politics was occured because of lots of negative reporting about politics and there has been a distortion of political history in Indonesia. So, participants needed to understand the true meaning of politics. Aristotle revealed that politics is intelligent and integrated, politics is an effort to distribute justice and bring justice. Political action is an act of presenting justice. This became an enlightenment for them.

Some political practitioners and legislative candidates shared their political experiences. They are Chang Wendryanto, a DIY DPD candidate, Budi Oetomo from PKB campaign team, San Akuan, Sleman Regency Legislative candidate from Indonesian Solidarity Party and M Fuad Burhan, a National Legislative candidate from Democratic Party. Participants learned about the reality of political world because this dialogue revealed constancy, intrigue, lobbying and strategy in politics.

Ahmad Shidqi, commissioner of General Election Commission (KPU) of Yogyakarta, encouraged participants to be proactive in participating the election because young voters, aged 17-30 years, are counted approximately more than 60 million. So young voters held strategic position in determining the direction of the nation in the future.

Desi, a Biology Education student at Sanata Dharma University from North Kalimantan said, "It is an interesting training and the facilitators have added my insight. I discovered something new about church history, baptism because of political influence and political meaning itself. At first, I assumed politics was dirty, corrupt, etc., but the training changed my mindset that politics is a communal effort to reach justice and prosperity."

The participants' commitment to take part in elections and to share with others about the training experience aroused optimism for the awareness growth of political literate, and maturity to bring justice and prosperity for Indonesians. (TRU)