In Search of religious harmony in Indonesia<\/p>\n
By Harkiman Racheman<\/p>\n
MEDAN (JP): Though the all-accommodating Abdurrahman Wahid was
\ndemocratically elected as the fourth president of Indonesia, it
\nhas not seemed to help end riots with religious overtones.<\/p>\n
Sporadic interreligious riots reflect "social banditry"
\ntraceable to religious feelings, which has shattered the image of
\nfriendly, tolerant Indonesians.<\/p>\n
Though considered ordinary crimes triggered by the
\nsocioeconomic gap, those outbursts cannot be divorced from
\ncomplex perceptions about each other's religion.<\/p>\n
The expression that "all religions teach people to be good"
\nhas now become a statement with multiple interpretations.<\/p>\n
A deliberate reinterpretation of collective religious
\nconsciousness, especially that which denies the nation's ethnic,
\nsocial, economic, political and cultural diversity, has led to
\nvarious upheavals here.<\/p>\n
Religious diversity must be reaffirmed and, subsequently,
\ndefective interreligious relations must be readdressed.<\/p>\n
Public figures should reeducate the populace to accept
\ninterreligious harmony as the only solution.<\/p>\n
Harmonious relationships among followers of diverse creeds
\nseem to operate merely at a normative level. Interreligious
\ntolerance is still taken shallowly to mean noninterference,
\nmutual indifference and a serious lack of reciprocal solidarity.<\/p>\n
Such "harmony" will only lead to people withdrawing from
\nhonest, tolerant and productive interaction.<\/p>\n
Interreligious harmony, in this restricted sense, is sheer
\npoliticking; it is pretension based on mutual suspicion and fear.
\nSuch skin-deep relations will never generate a real spiritually
\nenriching experience.<\/p>\n
Strangely enough, it is this very paradigm which has been
\npassed on in a top-down manner to citizens to prevent
\ninterreligious conflict. The policy in Maluku to reconcile the
\nwarring factions, which includes banishing the two parties into
\nimpenetrable seclusion, is a self-explanatory example.<\/p>\n
No wonder that tragedies in various parts of Indonesia, often
\nworsened by interreligious hatred, continue to triumph.<\/p>\n
These incidents should teach us the importance of improving
\ninterreligious relationships into ones that are more relevant to
\na pluralistic society.<\/p>\n
However, it first has to be understood that, unlike in private
\ncircles of respective religious groups, a blasphemous
\ninterpretation of others' faiths cannot be tolerated. Any attempt
\nto trespass upon others' religiousness would immediately lead to
\nmultireligious disintegration, because different beliefs would
\nnaturally have a vested interest.<\/p>\n
However, much can be learned to prevent such disintegration.
\nThe masses, among them the ignorant, can now learn how to respect
\nand value each other's presence by referring to nationalism.<\/p>\n
While fanatical religious teachings preach the priority of the
\nafterlife, nationalism as an expression of self-sacrificial love
\ncan motivate people to develop the country regardless of
\ndifferences.<\/p>\n
Nationalism is embodied in the 1945 Constitution and Pancasila
\nideology. Harmonious interreligious coexistence must be the
\nresponsibility of a democratically elected powerholder who has
\nsecured the mandate to maintain "unity in diversity".<\/p>\n
Authorities have to guarantee that every citizen, of whatever
\nreligious background, shall not be discriminated against for any
\nreason.<\/p>\n
Religious harmony should thus reflect a government-sanctioned
\nsymbiosis between groups of broad-minded nationalistic believers
\nof different religious values, based on a real sense of
\ncamaraderie.<\/p>\n
Religious harmony should reflect everyone's sense of spiritual
\nmaturity, rather than shallow tolerance. Every believer should
\nrealize that the raison d'etre of all religions is to help
\nheighten spiritual consciousness, bringing one closer to a
\nprivate communion with the Ultimate Reality. This understanding
\nshould end attempts to make relations among different believers a
\nsource of animosity, riots and wars.<\/p>\n
It is thus essential for the government to impose a code of
\nethics for our multireligious society. Such a formalized
\nagreement would regulate and define acceptable cross-religious
\nbehavior.<\/p>\n
A law which stipulates all the do's and don'ts may help people
\nin the streets demonstrate their obligation toward each other's
\nreligious rights and, more importantly, to warn them against
\nabusing these rights.<\/p>\n
Believers should be able to translate the very essence of
\ntheir faith into an all-inclusive social context. This is
\nessential to help maintain objective law and social order,
\nallowing the country to function.<\/p>\n
The emergence of the world's religions at different times
\nshows the coexistence between institutionalized religions is
\nnatural. Former minister of religious affairs Tarmizi Taher was
\nbeing sensible when he suggested it was a dream to expect a
\nhomogeneous religious society in this century.<\/p>\n
The writer graduated from Victoria University in Wellington,
\nNew Zealand. Based in Medan, he currently is a freelance writer
\nand university lecturer.<\/p>",
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