Continuing the struggle against intolerance

Muhamad Ali, Lecturer, State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, muhamad@hawaii.edu

A professor from Germany, Klaus Pahler, said last year, "Most Indonesians, whatever religion they adhere to, are friendly, good-humored, and tolerant people." But the weekend bombings in Bali and Manado, after a slew of bombings in Jakarta in 2000 and 2001, have clearly indicated that there is still the threat of intolerance -- whatever the real motive of the terrorist acts.

Some argue that intolerance is human, so that it is impossible to eliminate it, while tolerance is an acquired character. Yet, many would argue that intolerant people are more likely to suffer from fanaticism.

Factors that contribute to fanaticism are bigotry, selfishness, sectarian pride and mutual exclusiveness. Claims of having a monopoly on the ultimate truth frequently lead to the ultimate sacrifice of "others."

We may disagree over whether people are intolerant by nature. Mostly, we find that it is people who are tired, anxious and desperate that display intolerance. Intolerance and hatred are more easily manifest at times of crisis than prosperity. In fact, they express frustration, anxiety of identity and rejection of the world in which they live.

Intolerance and violence can also take place when one has a sense of being threatened that can reach a level of confidence that violence solves all problems -- especially when nonviolent alternatives are absent or not available. Violence is regarded as a legitimate tool for self-defense.

Intolerance also comes from ignorance, narrow-mindedness, and lack of insight. "You are the enemy of what you do not know", goes one Arabic proverb.

Intolerance may also be brought about by some sort of extremism. Prejudice and rigidity of thinking are among the immediate causes of fanaticism and intolerance, which lead people to impose their will on others, through various forms of terrorism, either psychological or physical.

Intolerance may also be caused by elites manipulating communal symbols for their own interests, ostensibly on behalf of group interests. It is easy for the elite to encourage or provoke their groups to do harm, fostering in-group solidarity by out-group enmity.

The struggle against intolerance must take into account the following. Although intolerance exists in all societies, people can learn to fight against intolerance. A spirit of moderation in all aspects of life must be taught, for excessiveness is among the causal factors of intolerance. It is thus vital to internalize moderate values such as justice, fairness and balance, through the institutionalization of nonviolence by formal, nonformal and informal modes.

We find that our education has partly contributed to intolerance. Children are taught to hate others from early on. They are taught one system of truth only. Worse still, they are not educated to respect other claims of truth. Therefore, to minimize intolerance, a paradigm shift is indispensable in our philosophy of education.

However, it is a dangerous gamble to overstate the importance of too many guidelines, whether moral or otherwise. If almost every rule is of greatest importance -- like every vaguely confidential document being classified as "top secret" -- the most likely outcome is that the evaluative guidelines will eventually be ignored. In this regard, the role of teachers in explaining one truth among diverse truths is thus very important.

That is so because to be tolerant we need to respect pluralism. Exclusivism, which says that there is only one system of truth and all others are wrong and heretical, has a tendency to lead to fanaticism and intolerance. This does not mean that pluralism justifies all, including intolerance. The passive acceptance of all differences brings about indifference and encourages intolerance. The truth is that the inclusive and the pluralist are more easily coexistent with others, because personal and social relations are based more upon rational judgment, than on an emotional and primitive one.

In our educational system, the principles of nonviolence must be integrated into policies, programs, curriculum and the surrounding environment. Three directions are necessary -- intolerance prevention, which emphasizes peacekeeping strategies to make schools safe; conflict resolution programs, which use peacemaking techniques to manage conflicts; and courses on tolerance that build a consciousness that desires tolerance.

In the family, members must be educated to respect each other. In public offices, discrimination on grounds of race, religion, political party and so forth must be minimized. Additionally, the mass media must support the culture of tolerance and avoid anything that may lead to intolerance.

In our society, leadership plays a very important role. Very often that intolerance is first committed by leaders. Violent leaders can produce violent masses. Leaders' comments that serve to cool down situations have proved to helped settle conflicts. Moral appeal for tolerance and self-restraint is very effective due to our paternalistic community. Nonviolent conflict resolution must be prioritized. Communalism must be anticipated, because communal identity is often an easy tool to legitimize one's intolerance.

The struggle against intolerance also necessitates a definition of the intolerable through law making as well as law enforcement. For example, acts of terrorism, anarchy and vandalism can be categorized as intolerable.

All parties must learn that the opposite of intolerance is respect of others. Tolerance and nonviolence come from high self- esteem. The key is how to train all parties to perceive themselves and others as loving, instead of hating. To be in harmony with others, we must be at peace with ourselves. Do I see myself and members of my group respecting and loving each other? If so, we tend to be tolerant.

The fight against intolerance has certainly still a long way to go; the results are never completely achieved. However, all parties must do something about it, otherwise we will never emerge from this crisis, let alone live together in peace.

The writer is a PhD history student and an East-West Center Fellow in Hawaii, U.S.