In the country that Thomas Carothers (CEIP) referred to as “the largest democracy in the Muslim world [where people are] enjoying economic growth and actively supporting democracy”, innocent people of the Ahmadiyah community were killed for practicing their religion.

While the killing itself is very disturbing, what troubles me further is to find that some regular, supposedly moderate, Indonesians are in agreement with this inhumane act. One Indonesian Twitterer said, “I agree with this attack… after all, sin is sin”. Not only this comment, but others represented a dangerous violence facing religion, it also shows an inability to think rationally – let alone critically.

If sin is the cause of killing, then how about corrupt people, exploiters or liars? Is a corrupt government officer who stole billions less of a sinner than an Ahmadi?

Some Indonesians deem “being Ahmadi” as a big wrongdoing mostly based on a judgmental, narrow-minded argument propagated by clerics and leaders.

They argue that the most problematic aspect of Ahmadiyah is the fact that this particular sect interprets the Koran differently — something the mainstream deems contraversial. Ahmadis themselves claim to practice the religion in its pristine form and share beliefs with Islam in general.

In the grand scheme, Ahmadiyah’s distinctive dissimilarity, which is rooted in different interpretations of the Holy Book, are very small in comparison to the similarities it shares with mainstream Islam.

It is interesting to look at the centrality of peace, forgiveness and sympathy in Ahmadiyah teachings, which makes it even more interesting, questionable and oxymoronic to be disturbed by this teaching.
One of the few things that does more harm than belief itself is when individuals/groups believe that they are in sole possession of the truth. It is a dangerous superiority to believe that you are the only one that holds the exclusive right to truth, have a magical eye that sees the truth, and therefore perceive those who do not believe the same as incorrect.

This in itself opposes one of the main purposes of many, or most, religions: to make a better human.
Or, otherwise, I am wrong in assuming that this is the main purpose of religion.

Rationally, the absoluteness of one truth is impossible. If the truth is absolute, then there cannot be more than one truth. If every belief system claims to be the “true” one, then there cannot be more than one belief system.

But, there is neither method nor tool to prove whether a truth is really the truth; we can only interpret for ourselves. Thus multiple interpretations of one truth do exist and will continue to exist as long as the human race exists.

In the context of our role as citizens of one nation, Indonesia, there are many ways of living, believing and behaving. There are many ways of interpreting how to live, believe, and behave.

History, anthropology, literature, art, to name a few, have made it clear that what makes us human is differences of cultures and characters which are as deep as the similarities.

Human beings are equipped with “the mind” — a great ability to think and explore what fits with one’s character. This very ability leads us to multiple paths to live, believe and behave. To deny differences means to deny our very existence of humankind. And if someone believes in God (as the creator), to deny differences means to deny God’s precious gift of being human, “our mind” and thus to deny Thyself.

Paul Lample, in Revelation and Social Reality (2009), articulates that human beings are limited in their capacity for understanding and, therefore, must struggle over time with descriptions and insights about reality that can guide more effective and productive action in the world (p. 173).

In other words, what makes man human is the search for truth and generating knowledge is a willingness to doubt and question and to think that “it is possible we may be wrong”.

What makes us human is not our possession of truth but our never ending search for truth, our quest for knowledge, and inquiry of reality, not just for ourselves as individuals but also for the betterment of the world and its peoples.

The belief that any individual or group is in sole possession of the truth closes minds and turn individuals, groups, and even nations into what Jacob Bronowski called a “regiment of ghost-obedient ghosts, or tortured ghosts”. Echoing Bronowski, it was not gas that turned people into numbers in Auschwitz. It was arrogance. It was dogma. It was ignorance.

The same arrogance, dogma, and ignorance have killed our fellow citizens in Cikeusik and Temanggung in Central Java and killed thousands, millions throughout history.

It is the task of us, the people and the government of Indonesia, to say no to ignorance, to stop it from continuing. And the time is now.

The writer is a professor of the School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University.

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