Yogya, safe haven for religious diversity

Intan Darmawati, Contributor, Yogyakarta

Yogyakarta has of late been the talk of the international community for allegedly harboring terrorists. The U.S. has gone as far as calling on its citizens to leave the city.

The word "terrorist" brings to mind armed and aggressive people that terrorize peace-loving residents. Does Yogyakarta present this picture?

Regardless of the veracity of the allegations, if you take a walk around Yogyakarta you will likely see men wearing Arabic Muslim garb in shops or other public places. They have beards and wear turbans and loose robes.

In the area of Kauman or around the State Institute of Islamic Studies, you can also find people wearing Muslim garb (usually the men do not wear robes and turbans, but rather rimless caps of black velvet and sarongs, while the women wear conventional veils that do not cover their faces). They often get together to discuss matters from religiosity to post-modernism.

There is a different atmosphere on the campuses of Muhammadiyah University and the Indonesian Islamic University (UII). On these campuses, usually just the women wear Muslim garb -- in a different style and fashion, of course.

In the same city, you can find young people putting on their "modern-style" clothes, or other young people without any sign of their religion riding motorbikes together or just sitting around.

Yogyakarta, the area of Muntilan in particular, was among the first areas in the country for Catholic missionaries. Seminaries, monasteries, pilgrimage sites and churches, as well as Catholics, are all here. There are quite a lot of strongly rooted missionaries. Recognized or not, the role of the Catholic mission and the activities of Catholics in general are important to social life in Yogyakarta. In Sengkan area we can find roads using uniquely Christian names.

The same phenomenon is also found among the Protestants. Kiai Sadrah is not an alien name, and the work of the Javanese Christian Church cannot be negated. Some members, for example, are interested in introducing the Bible to others, while others undertake humanitarian work.

Meanwhile, despite subordination to the various religions, Kejawen, an indigenous and traditional belief, is undeniably still deeply rooted in its varied forms. The Kejawen philosophy has become part and parcel with the Javanese way of life in Yogyakarta and therefore plays an important role in everyday life here.

Buddhism has also developed in Yogyakarta and its immediate surroundings. In Magelang, a cool town north of Yogyakarta, there are still remnants indicating the former glory of Buddhism. The Borobudur Temple, a Buddhist temple, has become the pride of Indonesians. Other beliefs, like Hinduism and Confucianism, also have their followers.

Yogyakarta provides an atmosphere conducive to the growth of various religions, despite the strong feudalism inherent in this city. It must be said that Yogya is a haven for various kinds of expressions about the relationship between humans and God. Often, feudalism is positioned as the opposite of democracy, which respects diversity and freedom. Fortunately, Yogyakarta shows it is not simply black and white.

All kinds of expressions of this kind abound in Yogya: starting from the tolerant ones, those liking liberal dialog, up to those wishing to "go to the battle". Laskar Jihad, which dissolved itself recently, had its headquarters in Yogyakarta.

There are expressions by those often categorized as fundamentalists, hard-liners, the religious and the ulemas, Islamic school students, abangan (Javanese syncriticism), the sufi, those who have faith but profess no religion, those professing a religion but having no faith and even atheists. They are all there. Many of them readily say who they are and what their choices are. There is no more hiding about these.

In the past few months, there have been boarding houses openly putting up notices reading that these places are restricted only to a particular religion. However, the city can also boast interreligious groups fighting for a life with a healthy religious pluralism.

Dian Interfidei and The Inter-Religious Community Brotherhood Forum (FPUB) -- where leaders of different religions and faiths get together -- and the Tikar Pandan Group (KTP) are examples of this good intention.

KTP, for example, brings together young men from various religious traditions and faiths to fight for theological equality, particularly through pluralist songs. In addition, they also try to establish a counter-cultural discourse on faith through cross-religion and cross-faith reflection, discussions and friendship.

Friendship is built not on lip-service or just at the level of dialog alone, but it is allowed to be fluid and flowing, like the rhythm of the music they offer. The partition of the symbolism of religious tradition is no longer relevant while the legitimacy of religious hierarchy crumbles.

A discourse on pluralist and tolerant faiths and religions replaces religious dogmatism and doctrines. The Holy Book has begun to be reinterpreted. Legitimacy through religious figures or elites have been questioned. It is no longer taboo to come up with criticisms and questions about each religion as such criticisms, for example, are not intended to disadvantage or corner other parties but to remove prejudices that have been formed.

If you are in Yogyakarta and walk along Gejayan, in Gang Kuwera, you will find a comfortable house built by the late YB Mangunwijaya, who, during his lifetime, initiated pluralist religious education.

Over here, on Wednesday nights, you will be carried away by the sound of religious songs. They are devoid of uniformity but are rather self-enriching. They never wish to hold dominance over the others, but they are side by side and equal. If you like discussion, come here on Saturday afternoon and experience the friendship offered here.

Finally, Yogyakarta remains in its image a city of students. It is a city of intellectuals, both secular and theological. You have IAIN, UII and Muhammadiyah, Catholic University of Sanata Dharma and the Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW) -- all with their schools of theology/religion.

Even at UGM there is a post-graduate program for interreligion studies. If you wish to experience religiosity mixed with intellectuality and culture, Yogyakarta is the right place to visit.

The writer is a post-graduate student at the Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta.