Maintaining Tolerance and Nurturing Diversity Through Community Collaboration
The Archbishop of Jakarta, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo, has invited society to reflect on the state of a world still marked by war, the arms race and competing global interests. Cardinal Suharyo explained that the greatest threat to humanity comes not only from sophisticated technology or weaponry, but from the loss of the moral dimension in their use.
To illustrate this, he recounted a symbolic tale of four brothers who used their knowledge to bring a tiger back to life. Rather than bringing benefit, that ability ended in disaster when the tiger devoured them. According to Cardinal Suharyo, the story serves as a reminder that knowledge without wisdom can turn against and destroy humanity.
“The world still needs the voice of conscience,” he said at the recent Bonum Commune Forum x Harmony in Diversity pre-event titled Community Action: Grassroots Movements as Architects of Peace.
For this reason, he believes small communities working among the public play a vital role as guardians of the public conscience. Amid vast global challenges, grassroots movements may appear modest, yet they form the foundation that keeps hope for peace alive.
Meanwhile, the Executive Director of the Maarif Institute, Andar Nubowo, said that diversity is the nation’s wealth and must be continuously nurtured through spaces of encounter and cross-community collaboration. He noted that amid global challenges and rapid social change, building social cohesion is the shared responsibility of all elements of society. Digital media, he added, should also be used as a space to spread messages of peace and broaden the narrative about the importance of living together in diversity.
“We, as people of faith, must use social media to sow goodness,” he said.
He added that collaboration among civil society organisations, interfaith communities, educational institutions and the younger generation is increasingly important to strengthen a culture of mutual respect within society. Through such cooperation, diversity is seen not merely as differing identities, but as social capital for building a more harmonious life.
Meanwhile, Sayidatul Insiyah, a legal and constitutional researcher at SETARA Institute, reminded the audience that challenges to building tolerance are still evident in national life. Based on the institute’s monitoring and research, violations of freedom of religion and belief, discrimination against minority groups, and obstacles to establishing places of worship are still found in various regions.