Christmas and religious harmony

As a nation busily engaged in development efforts, we cannot close our eyes to the fact that certain groups exist which, unless properly supervised, could give rise to unwanted upheavals. This is a problem area in which we believe our government leaders and religious organizations could play a most important role. We should not allow the climate of religious harmony that we have so far managed to establish be disrupted.

We need, in this context, to underscore the conclusions arrived at during a discussion on religious harmony that was held last week in Jakarta by Putra Nahdatul Ulama (Sons of Nahdatul Ulama). It said religious harmony was more likely to be attained if the adherents of all religions could achieve the highest level of religious awareness, which is spiritual.

May this year's Christmas sow the awareness in all of us -- and among Christians in particular -- that placing the spiritual aspects before everything else is a good deal more helpful than stressing the disparate physical expressions of each faith, which often leads to conflicts. With this in mind, we are confident that the religious life that exists around us will provide a beautiful quality to our lives and become a blessing to the people in general. Merry Christmas.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta

In October, a tragedy occurred in Situbondo in which five people lost their lives and a number of churches and other places of worship were destroyed. The reason was a rumor that a Moslem who had denigrated Islam was hiding in a church. The fact that such serious disturbances could be triggered by such a "trivial" cause shows that there are still some serious problems concerning the matter of religious harmony in our country.

Generally speaking, ever since the Dutch colonial period, Indonesian history has favored Christians. It is therefore quite logical that they were in a better position to obtain strategic positions in our society. This, however, will lead to serious problems if that head start is used to sway the faith of Moslems.

Protestant and Catholic leaders are therefore needed who are willing to persuade their fellow believers to do some self- correction. For example, they could ask the prestigious Protestant and Catholic schools to refrain from persuading their students to switch religions. Statements such as one made by Frans Seda a while ago that he wasn't aware of there being any Christianization process naturally doesn't help to improve the situation.

Only by all the believers of the different faiths engaging in self-correction can we hope to establish religious harmony in the years ahead. In a spirit of brotherhood, tolerance and peace, we wish all Protestants and Catholics who celebrate the occasion a happy Christmas.

-- Republika, Jakarta