Pluralism : Easy to say, but hard to implement

Pluralism : Easy to say, but hard to implement

Yani Prasatya, Jakarta

"Yani, read this please," my grandmother once showed me a
piece of her writing that had been published in the Ahmadiyah
newsletter. I reluctantly read it for the sake of being polite.
It was titled Finally I found it. It was about her spiritual
journey that ended blissfully after she became a member of the
Ahmadiyah sect. The whole family disapproved of her converting
but she stubbornly persisted with her beliefs.

Behind her back, we jokingly twisted the title of her piece
into Finally I found my lost purse. To the disappointment of many
in the family, she passed away as a devout Ahmadiyah.

That was twenty-five years ago. Recently to my horror, I read
a report in The Jakarta Post saying that the government is
considering banning the Ahmadiyah organization on the grounds
that it had sparked public disorder.

I remember my grandma. Lucky that she did not have to go
through this ordeal as I cannot imagine how she would feel to be
treated as a criminal and locked in a filthy cell. Despite the
cold response she received from the family, at least she could
live in peace and not be attacked by a mob.

I, personally, have evolved. I really believe in pluralism
now. I truly believe that if we want to survive in this century
we have no other choice but to acknowledge diversity and
pluralism. "We" means us as people, humankind. Upholding
pluralism means being open-minded and tolerant toward others.
Serve others equally.

To do this, we have to change our beliefs. This does not mean
that we have to change our religion but rather we need to expand
it. We have to dare to challenge the religious exclusivism that
has been taught since our childhoods, i.e., that we are the true
believers, and others who are not will go to hell.

Most people claim that they are tolerant, but are they? They
do not say "Merry Christmas" to their neighbors (often they wait
until New Year when it is "safe" to say Happy New Year instead of
Merry Christmas). They mock Christians for believing that Isa
(Jesus Christ) was born on Dec. 25. They despise them for
believing that God has a son. They cannot help feeling disgusted
seeing their Christian neighbors eating pork. They are against
the building of church.

They are not radicals or fundamentalists who like to commit
violence. They claim to be moderate Muslims, and society
generally agrees with them. They are ordinary people walking down
the street, your colleagues, your next-door neighbors, and even
your brothers and sisters.

Instead of asking the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) to revoke
its edict, as hoped by many, the government is considering
banning the Ahmadiyah sect. If this happens, people will see that
violence does work. Others will be led to believe that all the
talk about pluralism is just lip service from the government. And
who will be next? If you do not like the Liberal Islam Network,
just gather ten thousand people and attack them! And the next day
it will be banned by the government.

Ah, I miss my grandmother. Now I feel so sorry for her; it
must have been so hard for her to stand up for her beliefs
against all the family. I should have understood her better. I
should have shown more empathy for her. God, please forgive me. I
was only a child back then. What I can do now is to educate my
children to become genuinely tolerant people.

I remember what Neale Donald Walsch said in his book: "You
teach your children to believe in an intolerant God, and thus
condone for them their own behaviors of intolerance. You teach
your children to believe in an angry God, and thus condone for
them their own behaviors of anger. You teach your children to
believe in a vengeful God, and thus condone for them their own
behaviors of vengeance."

The writer is an Independent Human Resources Consultant. She
can be reached at yanipras@yahoo.com.