Moslems and Christians urged to intensify dialogs

Moslems and Christians urged to intensify dialogs

JAKARTA (JP): An international conference on Moslem-Christian
relations ended here Saturday with a call for followers of both
faiths to intensify discussions on creating peace between the two
communities.

Antara reported that local Moslem scholar Alwi Shihab read out
the conclusion of the three-day talk which was attended by
theologians of 18 countries and closed by noted Indonesian Moslem
intellectual Emil Salim.

The conference agreed that Moslems and Christians were to
continue discussions based on truth, sincerity and deep mutual
understanding.

"Such a dialog demands a redefinition of the Christian mission
and Islamic da'wah (propagation). Only through dialog and such
redefinition will social and religious tensions be resolved," he
read.

The conference was opened Thursday by Minister of Religious
Affairs Tarmizi Taher. It also urged Western universities to
include in their curricula studies of Indonesia's religious
pluralism and state ideology Pancasila.

It was recommended that Indonesian universities also include
this in their curricula and that grass-roots relationships be
developed between Western and Indonesian intellectuals and
students.

Alwi said the conference agreed strong cooperation was needed
between Indonesia's religious affairs ministry and American
higher learning institutions to promote religious understanding
and harmony.

Earlier in the day, Minister Tarmizi Taher said that
discussions and cooperation were needed between the U.S. and
Indonesia to cushion the countries' entrance into the next
century.

He said the next century was likely to be beset with even
greater human problems.

Moral problems due to the impact of information technology in
the 21st century should be solved by Moslems and Christians
because they were the largest populations in the world, he said.

Former environment minister Emil Salim said harmonious
relations between the two communities would help bring about "a
brighter world towards the third millennium".

The conference, the first of its kind hosted by Indonesia, was
co-sponsored by the state-run institute of Islamic studies
(Yogyakarta-Indonesia), Temple University and Hartford Seminary
in the U.S.

Discussions were held on theological bases for mutual
understanding between Islam and Christianity; religious, social
and political dimensions of medieval Moslem-Christian encounters,
and human rights issues from both perspectives.

John Esposito of Georgetown University, Mahmoud Ayoub of
Temple University, Rev. Thomas Michel, SJ from the Vatican,
Richard Valentasis of Hartford Seminary and representatives from
Malaysia, Lebanon, Egypt, Congo, Canada and Austria attended the
conference. (swe)