Religious tolerance and the need for understanding

Religious tolerance and the need for understanding

Benny Susetyo, Jakarta

Indonesia has been independent for 59 years but the religious
life of the country has been going for a much longer period.
Despite some ups and downs, the nation's religious coexistence
has been generally stable.

Nonetheless, this coexistence amid religious diversity has not
been without some serious disturbances. There is a fear in some
circles that the tolerance we have maintained is only
superficial, and is in fact a time bomb that could explode at any
moment.

Continued tolerance depends on our attitude toward other
religions. In other words, how we perform our religious duties
and behave toward other believers is very crucial to the
preservation of harmony. The only way to safeguard religious
tolerance is to accept religious, ethnic and racial pluralism as
a reality.

In this way, understanding pluralism means viewing religions
as mediums to guide mankind to achieve common good. This is not
the "good" claimed by one group that is detrimental to others.

Viewing religions in their symbolical and formal frameworks
tends to make them a means of mutual combat. This only leads to
seeing other groups as separate from the rest of the community in
the common nation-building effort.

The ebb and tide of the nation's religious coexistence is
inseparable from the way we conduct religious worship and view
other religions.

In the context of pluralism, what we need to protect is the
freedom of worship according to the belief embraced. The public
requires the freedom to exercise their most fundamental right --
performing religious duties as guaranteed by the Constitution.
Sadly, this seems easier said than done. Something seems to have
gone wrong, as religions are only ritually understood, which
entails the single interpretation that religious truth merely
belongs to a certain creed.

This attitude makes the presence of other religions appear
"hostile". Consequently, the potential for conflict increases.
Things further worsen when political and economic factors spur
this potential. Not surprisingly, such issues as
"Christianization" and "Islamization" have been utilized more to
serve certain political interests than to indicate some
accountable truth.

In fact, "Christianization" and "Islamization" involve how to
combine attempts to disseminate common good and enhance
tolerance. In the view of Father Magnis-Suseno SJ, tolerance is
misunderstood if regarded as creating uniformity, let alone
demanding that people consider their beliefs relative. However,
it is the capability to respect something different and beyond
one's conviction that signifies tolerance.

The fear of Christianization, for instance, is in my view the
root of many of the issues facing us. This is because religions
are only perceived as political communities or formal
organizations, rather than seen in terms of their comprehension.

Religious orientation so far has concerned quantitative claims
instead of the quality of faith: Whichever group is the largest
will be in control. Such a claim becomes a bargaining tool for
the diverse interests of national and local political elites.

In the future, the paradigm of religious life should be based
on mutual trust. This trust will grow if believers share the
conviction that religions are affairs involving their followers
and their God. The fundamental factor is religiosity, which is
one's profound faith, rather than mere formal religious rites.

Realizing this, we need to find the reason, for instance, why
Christianity has been "feared". It should be understood that the
Christian religion has various groups and faces that were born
out of different causes and backgrounds. Some denominations are
radical, but they have no significant influence.

Reports that Christianization is being spread everywhere
through the distribution of basic necessities and under the guise
of humanitarian activities are based solely on rumors developed
and used to trigger an emotional reaction.

A new paradigm should be introduced that one's faith cannot be
exchanged for food. Any attempt to spread a religion under the
guise of material donations is an insult to autonomous people.

This is what has become the core of the Universal Church, as
indicated by Pope John Paul II in Nostra Aetate No. 4: "With
Muslims, many things concerning faith and morality have unified
us. For decades, in thousands of cities and villages, our
congregations have lived peacefully together up to the present.
The Vatican Council II emphasizes that the Church regards Muslims
in high esteem. Enmity and dispute of the past should be
forgotten and let us strive for mutual understanding. Let us join
hands in the struggle to guarantee and cultivate social values
and justice."

The orientation of the Catholic Church is obviously to invite
its followers to open themselves to true friendship. This was
also stressed by the late Soegiopranoto SJ, a national hero, who
said that baptism was the Holy Spirit's affair.

The basic problem, in my opinion, is the potential for
disharmony created by the bureaucracy through discriminatory
regulations. It is this practice that disturbs religious
relationships, because the state is intervening too far in
religious affairs. In the context of a democracy, the government
should facilitate ties between believers, acting only as a
communicator.

I can recall how Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid described
pluralism to Muslim clerics following riots in Situbondo on Oct.
10, 1996. At the time, the clerics were confused over violence
that destroyed 24 churches, as well as a courthouse, schools and
orphanages. In his humorous style, Gus Dur likened churches to
movie theaters, where people must have tickets to enter, while
mosques were compared to markets, requiring no tickets. Here Gus
Dur pointed to the many faces of religion, all of which have
their own ways of worship.

As a final appeal, let us prevent unfounded fears from taking
root and arousing mass fury.

The writer is executive secretary of the Indonesian Bishops
Conference.