Insights, not incitement, needed

Insights, not incitement, needed

Rachel Davies, Sydney, Australia

Sadly it seems that the issue of religion and schools in
Indonesia continues to be a thorny one. One that is filled with
the kinds of prejudices, claims and counter-claims and ultimately
quite often wild gossip that does nothing to advance the cause of
either people generally, children specifically or the religions
involved.

The debacle at the Catholic school, Sang Timur, in Tangerang
exemplifies this. Heated discussions ("discussions" would, as
they say, be the polite word to use here) and even violent
confrontation have arisen, it seems as is so often the case,
quite needlessly. Various mediators have been roped in to try to
resolve the matter including Abdurrahman Wahid ("Gus Dur") who
has, once again, offered wise words to try to calm things down.

But all of this seems terribly, terribly sad. The sight of
organized and uniformed groups literally in conflict on the
doorstep of a school where children are going for their education
has to make your stomach churn and a deep sense of discomfort be
felt.

There should be a deep sense of shame. I am reminded of the
terrible scenes of black children going to school in southern
American States in the 1960s. But people cannot allow themselves
to wallow in a sense of despair or disgust; we have to have a
response. We have to, effectively, have an opinion but it has to
be hoped that that opinion is not going to further fan the flames
of conflict.

Among the most vital and important things for a civil society
has to be the opinion, the viewpoint, even the statement that the
true judge and assessment of any civil society is how well it
looks after its minorities and those most in need. Here the case
of a school, any school -- leaving aside Sang Timur for now, has
to be carefully thought of.

Children are surely amongst the most in need of our society.
Children need our protection, our good services and our good
grace to give them (if not indeed ourselves) a future. There is
no doubt that Indonesia is a majority Muslim country and so it
could be stated that Indonesia's majority Muslims need to protect
the rights of minority groups such as, (even if this may seem
painful and even contrary to those that would claim that
Christians try to convert Muslims), Christians within their
nation. The nation's constitution in the form of Pancasila does,
after all, seek to protect the rights of various religious
groups.

Those that are building walls, whether literally in front of
schools or more metaphorically in the way that they incite
hatreds and divisions that are forming obstacles to progress and
resolution, should think carefully about their actions. What real
value is there in incitement to oppose and conflict with others?
Does not far greater value lie in helping to bring insight and
understanding to, of and about others?

It often seems that those that react with the greatest
vehemence and even violence are those that suffer from the
greatest fears and uncertainties of their own position. But those
very same people that may be seen to incite when they should be
insightful are surely people that would recognize that the rights
of children to an education should not be denied. Likewise, they
would be outraged if they felt that their religious freedoms were
being impinged upon, so how can they in good conscience incite so
as to impinge upon the religious freedoms of others? It is
illogical but prejudice often scrambles logic.

Diversity is one of the greatest assets and joys of Indonesia
and it should be respected, nurtured and learnt of in schools.

Diversity, or as it is often referred to now -- pluralism, is
part of the grand design of our world and Indonesia is one of the
greatest examples of this grand design. What a terribly dull
world we would live in if all human beings spoke the same
language, belonged to the same tribe and followed the same
religion. Such a world would not be a world, certainly not as we
know it.

That is not our world. We live in a vastly diverse world and,
like it or not, we live in pluralistic societies in which people
will inevitably have differing views, opinions, traditions,
cultures and ways of thinking; thank God for that!

There may, too, be different paths (religions) to that God.
Perhaps ironically Muslims and Christians believe in the same God
but yet we have conflicts along our paths to God. Those that
would incite and disturb people's paths to God should not be
allowed to prevail. Those that bring light to the path, even if
it is a different one to yours, should be respected. The truth at
the end of the paths may be the same.

So let us not incite, build walls and divide. Let us talk
civilly and try to understand. And of course, let this happen
most of all in and around schools!

The writer is Education Consultant.