Hope remains for tolerance

Iqbal Widastomo, London

It was really worrying to read two articles that appeared in The Jakarta Post last month. First was a news report about the findings of a survey (it has to be said based on a relatively small sample) on the attitudes of Indonesian Muslims, conducted jointly by the Freedom Institute, the Liberal Islam Network and the Center for Islamic and Community Studies of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University.

According to the survey, which was based on interviews with 1,200 respondents, a large percentage of Indonesians are not tolerant toward people of different faith. However, it is very important that we all use a high degree of critical analysis on such a survey.

For one thing, we have to consider the motives of those conducting the survey and analyze both the methods and manner in which the survey was administered. Anyone with even the slightest experience in survey design and execution knows that it is very easy to design surveys that effectively "tell you what you want to hear".

In other words, very often surveys are conducted with a very deliberate outcome in mind. A hypothesis has been made ahead of the survey and the survey is in essence conducted in an attempt to confirm the hypothesis. Objectivity is vital here and it is vital that anyone reading the results of a survey be able to remain critical and objective, rather than jumping to conclusions.

Another article was written by M. Ali, an Indonesian living and working in England.

In the first of two articles (Right way to deal with insults to Islam, Nov. 9) the author related his difficulties as a Muslim in a mostly non-Muslim country. Then in a second article (Stereotyping, intolerance insults to all believers, Nov. 22) the author wrote further about some of the reactions that he had received to the article of November 9.

It is the author's reaction to the unfortunate circumstances he has to face as a minority. I think it is very often the case in life that there is a silent majority that does not share the views of a noisy minority that is often ill-informed and incapable of understanding.

I, like M. Ali, am an Indonesian and a Muslim living and working in England. At this point it is important to point out that England does have a significant and growing Muslim community, and this fact alone is indicative of considerable tolerance and understanding within this country.

The experience of living in a country that is mostly non- Muslim but still has a sizable Muslim community has been, for me, one in which I have benefited and learned from a society that has been tolerant and understanding of our differences. Certainly, I have not been blind to the kind of bigotry and intolerance that has been directed toward the Muslim community here, but I would prefer to step back from this and view it from a rather broader perspective.

For example, I have seen with my own eyes the kind of insulting and abusive graffiti that has been painted on mosque walls and widows, and it shows that there are people that have within their heads deeply disturbing and nasty thoughts. But again the broader perspective is very important here to allow us to ask some very important questions and get a true picture of what is happening.

The simplest of questions is to ask "who is it that would resort to painting foul-mouthed insults on mosques in the middle of the night"? Naturally we cannot think of them as intelligent members of society. Such people are in fact far more likely to be among the uneducated and disadvantaged of our world.

And here I really do mean "our" world. The people that maintain hatred and suffer from the curse of intolerance are the people that have not had the advantages of a good education in, of or about our world. Also, they often are people from low- income families or families that are plighted by unemployment. As they say, "the devil makes work for idle hands".

But the world (our world) is not solely made up of such people. In fact there are many more people that are not so ignorant of the world. Consistently educated people have an awareness of our differences but do not let that stand in the way of getting along with people that are different. It has been my consistent experience that people are genuinely interested and curious to find out about me, Indonesia and Islam.

Also, I think that it is very important to note that I have encountered people here that have shown great empathy and sympathy when the news from Indonesia has not been good.

At the time of the bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, a courier to my office actually made a point to come up to me and offer his sympathies. Now this person would not be described as "highly educated" but still there was goodness and caring in his attitude.

This should guide us through these difficult times globally. Educated or uneducated, the majority of people have an innate goodness, which means hope remains for tolerance and understanding in our world. Perhaps, though, this majority should not be such a "silent majority".

It would be better if the ignorant and intolerant minority was not so noisy and perhaps the majority was not so quiet. But if you listen carefully you can still hear that hope remains.

The writer is a researcher in the Southeast Asian Division of Global Link Business Consultancy in London.