“Should Christians make friends with only Christians at school?” my 6-year-old daughter suddenly asked, putting me in a state of shock.

While carefully composing my words in response, my mind raced. Where did she get this thought? Did her school teach her to think like this? Have I made mistakes raising her?

I believe I have done enough to plant seeds of tolerance in my children. I raise them in a kampung and send my first-born to a national-multicultural school, in the hope she can interact with other children from different cultural and religious backgrounds.

However, with intolerance and extremism taking a hold of this country, parenting is not getting easier. While parents dream their children will live in harmony amid differences, Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, is becoming increasingly religiously segregated. 

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