Religious unity vital: Soeharto

Religious unity vital: Soeharto

JAKARTA(JP): The various religious communities in Indonesia
must now look beyond simply fostering mutual understanding; they
must forge cooperation to deal with the challenges ahead,
President Soeharto said yesterday.

"In the past two decades, we have made significant progress in
building mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence between
the various religious communities," Soeharto told a seminar on
Indonesian culture last night.

"Mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence, no matter how
important, aren't enough," he said. "Given that we are facing
common challenges, we need to forge closer cooperation between
everyone, irrespective of their ethnicity, religion, race or
social grouping," the President told the seminar's opening
ceremony, held at the newly-opened Science Center at the
Indonesia-in-Miniature Park.

The seminar is being held jointly by Indonesia's five
religious-based intellectuals' associations: ICMI (Moslems), ISKI
(Roman Catholics), PIKI (Christians), FCHI (Hindus) and KCBI
(Buddhists).

The event is widely seen as a gesture of unity between the
associations and an attempt to dispel concerns that the growing
influence of ICMI is serving to revive the sectarian politics of
the 1950s and 1960s.

The seminar, which was suggested by the PIKI, moves to the
Sunlake Hotel in North Jakarta today. It will close on Monday.

The organizers have enlisted a long list of impressive
speakers and panelists, including Armed Forces Chief, Gen. Feisal
Tanjung, top cabinet ministers, politicians and thinkers.

The seminar will look at the national culture from various
perspectives, including security and defense, technology,
traditional values, education and religion.

Soeharto said that, although Indonesia has succeeded in
forging peaceful coexistence between its various religions, there
are still problems "here and there that require our attention".

He added that religious differences should not impede citizens
from carrying out their duties and obligations to the state.

"Only this way can we muster the national strength that is
needed to meet the challenges and tap the opportunities before
us. We need to move forward," he said.

The head of state underlined that the presence of five of the
world's major religions in Indonesia has contributed
significantly to the development of the national culture.

"Religions, which have become an important part of the local
cultures, have turned out to be the factor that has bridged the
different cultures in this country," he said.

"In other words, religions have not only prevented the growth
of narrow regional sentiments. They have indirectly laid the
foundations of a national culture encompassing all of Indonesia,"
he said.

The President used the occasion yesterday to inaugurate the
Science Center, which he said is expected to help the nation
master science and technology and take Indonesia into the 21st
century.

In his speech he appealed to the intellectual community to
prepare the nation to deal with the rapid changes that are taking
place globally.

Changes in the culture will also involve changes in values,
institutions, attitudes and behavior, he said.

"Cultural changes could also lead to misunderstandings between
the various groups in society," he said.

Failure to address such misunderstandings, Soeharto warned,
could lead to conflicts between generations or between religious
communities or between regions. (emb/rms)