TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Editorial: O come all ye tolerant

The Religious Affairs Ministry released on Wednesday the results of an interfaith national survey conducted to find out how tolerant the nation is of religious differences

The Jakarta Post
Fri, February 12, 2016

Share This Article

Change Size

Editorial: O come all ye tolerant

T

he Religious Affairs Ministry released on Wednesday the results of an interfaith national survey conducted to find out how tolerant the nation is of religious differences. The result: Not so bad, with a score of 75.36 out of 100, based on assessed perceptions of tolerance, equality and cooperation from 2,720 respondents across 34 provincial capitals from last June to December.

The province that scored the highest on inter-religious harmony index was East Nusa Tenggara, scoring 83.3, followed by Bali and Maluku. The most intolerant was Aceh at 62.8, followed by Lampung and West Sumatra. Some may be mighty pleased with the results. West Java and Banten have ranked low in NGO surveys on discrimination as they have discriminatory bylaws; but in the government survey they scored over 72.

Therefore, we have an indication of what the scores show us and what they do not. In the case of West Java and Banten, for instance, while the total frequency of religious-related violence might be low, their many bylaws are the source of justification for intimidation and even the murder of minority members; and only a few of those bylaws have been annulled by the Home Ministry.

While the capital'€™s score is just below the national average at 74.1, bursts of harassment and intimidation of minorities in Greater Jakarta reflect a central government incapable or unwilling to crack down on the violations of citizens'€™ rights to live in peace and worship freely.

The researchers said the survey should be continued to provide '€œa good early warning system'€ of potential conflict, and that the ministry should have a continuous program to promote tolerance. But Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said one reason behind the many religious-related conflicts in the country was the abuse of religion by the elite to incite people for their own political and economic interests.

Less self-serving, malicious leaders could thus learn from areas with higher scores of interfaith harmony on how to improve tolerance, equality and cooperation. Societies that have become more respectful and tolerant of differences will hopefully be less prone to elite provocation come an election year.

The minister said that to avoid more religious-related conflict, his office was preparing a draft bill on the protection of religious freedom. If passed into law, we may have to annul the 1965 law on blasphemy, which has justified harassment, expulsion and even the murder of '€œdeviant'€ followers of minority faiths. We have not conclusively decided how far the state should step into religious affairs, and whether we should end state authority in branding certain beliefs '€œdeviant'€.

Complacency about being a fairly tolerant country has led us into delusion, silence and inaction against mushrooming intolerance and even their supporting national and local policies. Clear evidence is the hundreds of minority faith families displaced from their own land in a free Indonesia.

As the survey confirms, predominantly Muslim Indonesia has inherited a solid foundation of living in diversity. It is urgent to keep it that way.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.