Communities must come together to settle differences peacefully

M. Ali, Manchester, UK

It has often been claimed recently that the world is going through a "clash of cultures" and this is a time of "conflict between religions" -- meaning Muslims and Christians are to face each other in opposition. It seems to me that those who make claims such as this wish to confirm in their minds, and the minds of others, that this is really what is happening.

But I do not believe that we are necessarily experiencing these extreme polarities. I do not believe that we have to think in these simplistic terms of 'us versus them' or of our differences having to divide us. But the way the world has been allowed to go and sadly seems to continue to be going is creating a breeding ground for this kind of conflict-thinking.

Often the finger of blame for radical religiosity and extreme fanaticism is being pointed at Islam and this is something worthy of critical consideration. But it has to be understood that religious radicals and fanatics can and do emerge from practically all religions -- and this also has to be dealt with.

Last month I wrote two articles for The Jakarta Post. The purpose was to call for a greater understanding of Islam. Unfortunately some of the responses to those articles have been what could quite easily be described as radical and fanatical.

Some Muslim respondents have expressed their strong support for the contents of the articles. While, perhaps surprisingly, some Christians have attacked the writing in a way that could only be described as radical in its confrontational tone.

But what are the roots of such radical and fanatical and ultimately entrenched views of the opposition? Are the roots really deeply philosophical or are they consequences of the way in which societies and communities have been allowed to evolve?

Certainly there are philosophical differences between religions that need to be admitted but intellectual people may be more prepared to accommodate such differences and even go on to learn from them. But even intelligent people often seem to be stuck with attitudes and perceptions that do no really represent the realities of religions different to their own.

Why are otherwise intelligent people stuck in this way? From the perspective of Muslims in Western countries, it is often the consequence of isolation. Whether this isolation of Muslims in Europe is deliberate or not, the result is the same. People may be living in, for example, a European country but they may be isolated in effectively Muslim enclaves.

Either by their own choice or not, many Muslim communities have not been effectively integrated into their surrounding communities. Often apparent tolerance has allowed for the funding of religious schools in European countries that has unfortunately deepened this sense of isolation.

For example in Holland many Muslim immigrants from Turkey and Morocco have fallen into a sense of alienation from the mainstream of Dutch society that has left them in a condition of being treated, as a friend of mine described it, "as foreign guests in their own country". Second and third-generation descendants of immigrants are left feeling outside of the society yet inside the nation that their forebears chose to come to.

This, sadly, leaves them with feelings of deep discontent as they often live in dilapidated and generally disadvantaged inner- city areas that could be described as "ghettos". They become an "at-risk" group, more open to radical attitudes and fanatical ideals. Another European example illustrates this: With a friend I traveled to her hometown in the south of France. We drove through an area of this town that was an entirely high-rise housing that looked in very bad condition.

Without hesitation my friend, who I would not describe as racist or anti-Muslim, told me that this was the part of town where the Moroccans lived and to quote her, "you had better not come here at night". It was clearly a poor part of town and according to my friend a high-crime area.

People who believe our world is facing a conflict of religions would probably use places such as this as examples. Places where Muslims and Christians do not mix, in ghettos within European cities mean that even at street level people are being divided.

This is also something that we must beware of in Indonesia. Separate communities within the same city end up excluding one another. They may be neighbors but they may not be friends and even the slightest of problems, as we have too-often seen, can trigger distrust and hatred that can spark riots and chaos.

Violence breeds violence they say and the same is true of other terrible realities in life such as distrust breeding distrust and ignorance breeding ignorance. But we do not have to spiral down into this hellish hole of hatred, ignorance and violence. Through integration and interaction with others -- those others that are in some small way different to us -- we can learn, understand and even be enriched. We do not have to hide our differences. We can instead teach others of them and, in turn, be taught and so grow in our understanding.

The French government banned Muslim head scarves from its state schools; this has been often reported but it also banned any other religious symbols from being worn in schools (less well-reported). As my French friend put it "it is as if we are ashamed of being religious". This seems wrong and surely does not advance understanding or tolerance.

The moment that a person is targeted or required to set aside religious beliefs may be the same moment that person is pushed closer to a more radical mindset. Our shared mindset should be one of opening our minds and dedicating ourselves to tolerance and understanding. Closing our minds creates isolation and opens the way for alienation, exclusion and the likely conflict of peoples.

Conflict does not have to be the way ahead and it is certainly not a solution. To resolve our problems we must be resolved to work together and welcome and embrace change and difference.

The writer is a senior researcher at the Cunningham Research Center, Manchester, UK.