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Name Student ID Course Subject

: Fajar Supriono : 0608216 : On Local and Popular Culture

What Lies Beneath Life Since the childhood, we do not realize the power/force that works in our action, attitude, and so on and so forth. Even when dealing with the space and place we face with everyday. We accept everything for granted. The placing of our room in the house or probably, the position of congregations towards the priest in the church, or even the position of the judge in the courtroom. Everything is now (as long as I concern) have something beneath it as Martin (2003) stated, the spaces of everyday life are produced by everyday culture and power relations and it is also actively producing our everyday cultural experience. Even in the religious place such as church where people go there to recharge their spiritual life. When I was child, I took everything for granted; that every seat, the altar, the rectory and so on and so forth are just that. But after several meeting in this course subject, something pop-up in my mind. Church lay-out complex as well as the interior of the church are also less free from power relations and culture in our daily lives. The position of the altar where the priest leads a service and church council seat in front of the congregations implies that such a position of religious leaders should be in front of the laymen. Those who have more power and less memilkiki their separate position when starting the service. This leading position is not only in the sense of religious activity only, but also in everyday life, where they should be nurturing, guiding, and responsible in maintaining the faith of the congregations. In the presbyterian church, the highest autorithy lies in the hands of church council (bahasa Indonesia: presbyter/presbiter/penatua; from Greek idiom: presbuteros) consist of the priest and the deacons. Together, they are in charge of taking care of the congregation (physically and spiritually) and also to carry out the mission of the church. Authority they have in the term of maintaining the faith community is a little different than usual people have. For example, the priest and the deacons of the church are able to decide whether the couple (that want to go into a marriage) are able to get a marriage blessing in that church or not. Or maybe the vicar (priest will be) is appropriate or not.

In most church building layout, the location of rectory (where the priest and his family live) are relatively in the middle of the church complex. On the other hand, the sacristan home are located relatively in front of the church complex. While the main church building located in the most back part of the complex. It imply that a sacristan as those who have less power have to protect those who have more power (the priest), and the priest position is between them. It wake me up, that even in the religious activity, human are not free from the power relation, even in the most Christian doctrine, human are equal. On the other hand, this kind of power relation are related to the responsible which those participants have. The priest and the deacon as those who have mandate to keep the faith of the people in line have more responsible, and therefore have more power to decide about the doctrine. The sacristan and other laymen congreration do not have those kind responsibilities, and therefore, do not have such power to decide in a term of church rules and regulation. As Bourdeau states that taste is not just about personal aesthetic, but also to class affiliation , several church use some some item to show their class affiliation. Such on the GKJ (Gereja Kristen Jawa) where the interior of the building commonly using more simple seat and accessories, and also using the symbol of Javanese puppet mountain (gugunungan) as their affiliation to the more ethnic relation to the Javanese culture. Javanese people who known for their simplicity, and root in the culture of familiarity between the member. The church try to showing that their did not forgetting where are they come from. All the layout, space and place of the church, rectory, sacristan home, show the power relation between those who have more power and those who have less power. The culture that shape certain ethnic group are also become element that shape how certain church act and decide about their activity.

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