Society and tolerance

Society and tolerance

Several articles in The Jakarta Post have referred to the need
to refute proponents of terrorism such as Imam Samudra.

One proposal is to ban Imam Samudra's book. This is
impractical since people will inevitably encounter similar ideas
"underground" and the sense of persecution to which they refer
will be more justified.

Another proposal is education by clerics about the true nature
of jihad. This can certainly be helpful, but it is largely a
discussion about nuances of interpretation. People who are
convinced that massacre is justified are unlikely to be easily
dissuaded by Koranic hermeneutics.

Therefore, in the long run it will be useful to consider what
characteristics make people susceptible to terrorist propaganda.
Statements by terrorist sympathizers reveal the following traits.
First, a narrow perspective on world history and international
affairs. Second, rejection of reason or impaired reasoning
ability. Third, a system of values in which people are made to
fit laws rather than laws being made to fit people. Fourth, a
lack of empathy with other people.

One would expect the government to aim to discourage such
traits among the population. But in fact many policies tend to
promote them as widely as possible.

For example, officials want to prevent people from receiving
foreign news broadcasts, thus fostering ignorance of
international perspectives.

They maintain a long-standing ban on proselytizing to people
of different religions. While preachers, like any salesmen, can
occasionally be annoying, they are surely not so annoying that
they need to be outlawed. This ban only prevents people from
learning to compare, contrast and rationally evaluate religious
ideas. Instead, they learn from childhood that outside religious
ideas need to be shut out, in case they lead to contamination or
betrayal. This defensive religious identity is the soul of
extremism.

Of course government leaders have as much interest as anyone
in combating terrorism, which threatens both their person and
their power. But they inevitably favor "big splash" measures,
such as stricter identity checks, whose waves disturb lots of
people, but can easily be ridden out by terrorists.

In the long term it is essential to reduce the number of
people susceptible to terrorist propaganda. This cannot be
achieved through security controls, or a campaign of
counterpropaganda, but only by nurturing a society in which
tolerance can flourish.

JOHN HARGREAVES, Jakarta