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.