Interfaith dialog: Time to come down from the hill<\/p>\n
Endy M. Bayuni, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua Beach, Bali<\/p>\n
A prelude to this week's interfaith dialog of the Asia-Europe
\nMeeting (ASEM) was aptly called \"Talks on the Hills\", which
\nbrought together leaders of different faiths from different
\ncountries in the two regions. The dialog, which was held at
\nBali's renowned Ubud hill resort between July 17 and July 19 was
\npart of the \"Talks on the Hills\" series organized by the
\nSingapore-based Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF).<\/p>\n
Whether it was the intention of the organizers or not, the
\ntitle of the Ubud meeting captured the essence of the problem of
\npast interfaith dialogs, and this is certainly true for the ones
\nheld in Indonesia. Such dialogs have been limited largely to the
\nleaders of the major faiths, but they have hardly resonated among
\ntheir respective flocks or communities.<\/p>\n
Such talks in the past amounted to nothing more than feel-good
\ngatherings that tended to avoid asking and answering the tough
\nquestions that divide communities, nations and the world along
\nreligious lines. They put on a semblance of cordiality and come
\nout with joint statements about the need to forge peaceful and
\nharmonious coexistence among peoples of different religions. And
\nthen they go home till their next dialog.<\/p>\n
The reality on the ground is often far from cordial and
\nharmonious. In some places in Indonesia, for example, there are
\ntensions between the different religious communities, some
\nlurking just under the surface, while others, as in Maluku and
\nthe Central Sulawesi district of Poso, have blown up into full-
\nscale communal conflicts.<\/p>\n
It is at the grassroots level that interfaith relations are
\nlived and experienced, with all of their challenges and
\ncomplexities. The challenge for the leaders engaged in interfaith
\ndialogs is to come down from the hill and convince their
\ncommunities to follow their lead. Interfaith dialogs should not
\nbe confined to the top leaders of the different religions; people
\nat the grassroots level should also be encouraged to engage in
\nsimilar interaction.<\/p>\n
Recent events at the national and global levels have made
\ninterfaith dialogs more important than ever -- locally,
\nnationally, regionally and globally. This week's ASEM forum,
\nwhich will be kicked off here on Thursday by President Susilo
\nBambang Yudhoyono, is one such contribution at the regional
\nlevel.<\/p>\n
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and on the Pentagon
\nin 2001, the series of bomb attacks in Indonesia, including the
\nmost devastating one in Bali in 2002, the Spanish train bombings,
\nand more recently the London bombings, have made relations
\nbetween followers of Islam and other faiths around the world
\nuneasy. The perpetrators of all these attacks have claimed to be
\nacting in the name of Islam, and in the process have driven a
\nwedge between Muslims and Christians in the West.<\/p>\n
It is heartening to see that in response to this month's
\nbombings in London, just about every Muslim leader and
\norganization in the world has denounced the attacks and thus
\nimmediately distanced themselves from the radical groups that try
\nto hijack their religion.<\/p>\n
Still, this and past tragic events have created tensions among
\npeople of different faiths, most notably between Islam and
\nChristianity. The terrorists seem to have got their way, at least
\npartially. There have already been some backlashes in Europe
\nagainst Muslim minorities. Turkey's bid to join the European
\nUnion has also been jeopardized because of strong opposition, not
\nso much from the governments as from the peoples of Europe.<\/p>\n
Similar tensions are also being felt in Indonesia, the nation
\nwith the largest Muslim population in the world. The terror
\nattacks at home and abroad have obviously had some impact on
\ninterfaith relations, but tensions between people of different
\nreligions have also been increasing independently of the global
\ntrend. The conflicts in Maluku and Poso had nothing to do with
\nthe spate of terrorist attacks that began on Sept. 11.<\/p>\n
For a nation as diverse as Indonesia, in which all the major
\nworld religions are represented, interfaith dialog is a must.
\nReligious tensions have played a part in this nation's life, but
\nsomehow Indonesia has managed to ease most of them. Without
\ndialog, however, many of the tensions could easily come to the
\nsurface again and then explode into conflict.<\/p>\n
But while Indonesia can pride itself for having a long
\ntradition of dialog among its religious leaders, the conflicts in
\nMaluku and Poso, as well as the tensions affecting interfaith
\nrelations in some other parts of the country, suggest that
\nreligious leaders still have their work cut out for them.<\/p>\n
Indonesia needs to have more interfaith dialogs at both the
\nlocal and national levels, and now with the growing tension
\nbetween Islam and the West, also at the regional and
\ninternational levels. But we need to have more intensive as well
\nas extensive dialogs, expanding the range of participants down to
\nthe grassroots level. And most of all, we need to have dialogs
\nthat are effective in addressing the questions that divide us
\nalong religious lines.<\/p>\n
High profile dialogs, including the one held in Bali, are
\nbound to be loaded with technical, theological language, which,
\nwhile relevant, often has no bearing on the lives of ordinary
\npeople. What these leaders have to do once they return home is to
\nrecreate at the community level the spirit and the atmosphere of
\ncordial and mutual respect that characterize these dialogs, for
\nit is at the community level that true interfaith relations are
\nlived and experienced.<\/p>\n
The writer is chief editor of The Jakarta Post.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/interfaith-dialog-time-to-come-down-from-the-hill-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }