Fostering religious tolerance

Fostering religious tolerance

A Chaedar Alwasilah, Dean, Faculty of Language and Arts Education,
Indonesian University of Education (UPI), Bandung,
chaedar@bdg.centrin.net.id

Indonesia takes pride in being a multicultural, multilingual,
and multireligious country. The motto Bhineka Tunggal Ika (unity
in diversity) is preserved as an inseparable and fundamental part
of the state emblem of the Republic. In international forums,
politicians and political leaders used to overvalue the
diversity, tacitly promoting it as a good model for other nations
to emulate.

However, in the last four years that collective pride seems to
have waned. Admittedly, the prevailing conflicts in Aceh,
Kalimantan and Maluku have religious overtones. Some even
believe that religious fanaticism is indeed behind the conflicts
and has fueled the hostility and made the opposing parties almost
irreconcilable.

As a result, religion as a divine institution tends to be
erroneously interpreted as a set of teachings that propagate
excessive and blind bigotry, hatred, prejudice and intolerance.

The 1945 Constitution guarantees that all Indonesian citizens
shall exercise their religious freedom. There should not be any
fear, anxiety or suspicion to practice religious obligations at
home, in schools, offices or public places -- a phenomenon that
does not exist in the United States. Religious education in
American public schools is politically unacceptable; therefore,
it rarely surfaces in curriculum discussions.

This suggests that compared to the U.S., Indonesia recognizes
religious freedom individually and politically, as well as
collectively. Ironically though, religious tolerance in Indonesia
is not any better than that in the U.S. -- at least at present.
There have been misinterpretations and distortions of religious
teachings in Indonesia.

In multicultural, multireligious and multiethnic settings, the
following are a good reminder to bear in mind.

Choosing a particular religion is a personal right and
privilege, hence forcing others change their established faith is
a sheer violation of human rights. Even God the Almighty does not
expect all humans to believe in the same religion, otherwise all
would have been converted into the same religion as God has the
unlimited might to do so.

All religions teach their followers to respect other
religions, suggesting that forcing others to change their
religion is a transgression against religious wisdom. However, on
a critical analysis and comparative examination one may
voluntarily change his or her religion.

Religious faith is to be materialized in three domains, i.e.,
belief, utterances and actions. True believers strive to be
consistent in the three domains, while inconsistency is a sign of
hypocrisy. Any religious groups provoking hatred, enmity,
conflict, instability or disorder are not practicing religious
teachings, thus they are hypocrites.

The three principles above constitute the essence of religious
intelligence, namely ability to hold an unshakable belief in the
existence of the Almighty and consistently exercise His teachings
in belief, utterance and action.

Religious intelligence has two dimensions: vertical and
horizontal. The vertical dimension implies man's direct
responsibility to God as evidenced through worship, while the
horizontal dimension suggests man's social interaction with
others. The current social conflict -- when motivated by
religious conviction -- reflects man's inability to strike a
balance between the two dimensions. Instead, they create the
social conflict on behalf of religious teachings.

From the premise above, it is evident that the present
religious education in public schools needs to be reviewed and
redefined to meet the present challenges. Modern educational
practices are governed by the principle that learning should be
meaningful. The present religious education seems to be deficient
in meaning for the great majority of students.

To be meaningful, religious education should be redesigned
using the following guidelines.

Depending on how you see it, religion could be either abstract
or practical. The most fundamental ideas are usually high
abstractions that are not appropriate until students have reached
a certain level of understanding in a variety of other areas.

The less thorough religious teachings are, the more easily
they can be understood by beginning students. To be meaningful,
religious education should begin with the most practical aspects,
namely how religious teachings are applied in daily life such as
tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation -- regardless of
religion, ethnicity or social status.

The less fundamental religious teachings are, the more
universal they become. By providing students with universal
teachings such as tolerance, mutual respect, cleanliness, order
and cooperation, students are led to an understanding of
comparative religions, which is the surest way of establishing
religious tolerance.

Religious teachers should keep in mind that they are tasked
with developing students to practice religious teachings, not
necessarily training them to be expert theologians from day one.
Performing religious rituals have a social function, i.e., to
foster collective participation.

It is necessary to develop awareness of other existing
religions at as early a level of education as possible. Having
students observe and report upon others' religious rituals will
develop religious tolerance and understanding of other religions.

From the foregoing discussions, it can be hypothesized that to
foster religious intelligence among students, religious education
should focus first and foremost on exercising ethical codes,
namely behavior addressed toward other believers.

Gradually, the focus is on ritual practices and eventually on
belief patterns. Thus, the canon to be held by religion teachers
is the same as that to be held by other teachers, namely, one
goes from real to abstract, from worldly to spiritual and from
simple to complex.