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)