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Bringing back tolerance through arts, reading
Feby Indirani (Photo courtesy of Rudi Elnanda)Historian JJ Rizal said the ancient kingdom of Sriwijaya, along with the neighboring port city of Barus in North Sumatra, possessed a strong intellectual tradition, which promoted open-mindedness and, in the end, became a flourishing international trade hub
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Feby Indirani (Photo courtesy of Rudi Elnanda)
Historian JJ Rizal said the ancient kingdom of Sriwijaya, along with the neighboring port city of Barus in North Sumatra, possessed a strong intellectual tradition, which promoted open-mindedness and, in the end, became a flourishing international trade hub. The open-minded intellectual tradition also provided space for people from different religious traditions to practice their respective faiths.
The arrival of the Wahhabi stream of Islam in West Sumatra around the 18th century has, unfortunately, dealt a blow to such open-mindedness and in recent times has only grown worse. Dutch scholar Martin van Bruinessen referred to a recent phenomenon called ‘the conservative turn’ among Indonesian Muslims following the downfall of former authoritarian president Soeharto.
Van Bruinessen argued that ironically, with the establishment of the democratic system after the downfall of the totalitarian military regime, which managed to suppress religious extremism for more than 30 years, religious radicalism and conservatism have now flourished.
The conservative Muslims’ assertion of their aspirations has expressed itself through incidents of religious intolerance against minority groups in Indonesia, as seen from the recent blasphemy case against former Jakarta governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, popularly known as Ahok, a Christian of Chinese descent who is now serving a two-year prison sentence.
The divisive gubernatorial campaign in Jakarta earlier this year also tore at the social fabric, causing friends and families alike to turn away from one another because of differences in political choices.
In order to bring back open-mindedness and religious tolerance, a publisher and outfit specializing in arts and culture named Pabrikultur has kicked off a movement called Relaksasi Beragama (Relax; it’s just religion).
According to writer Feby Indirani, who joined the movement, the campaign seeks to encourage people to open their minds and have empathy for those who hold different religious beliefs through literary works, visual arts and workshops.
The publisher, for instance, has just released Feby’s short story anthology Bukan Perawan Maria (Not the Virgin Mary), on the subject of becoming a Muslim in Indonesia. The 19 short stories in the anthology aim to open a discussion on religious dogmas and literal interpretations of religious teachings.
To accompany the book launch, Pabrikultur opened an exhibition, featuring artworks, installations and videos on the subject of religious tolerance and open-mindedness. On the sidelines of the exhibition, the activists also held workshops on the same subject.
Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said that the movement was very important and timely given that many people felt that religious life, particularly in terms of dealing with differences, had a taken turn for the worse.
“Basically, we want to equip people with the skills they need to create a new public discourse. Currently, many people are trapped in an either-or reasoning. Either you are a Muslim or you are kafir (infidel). If you object to the loud call to prayers broadcast from loudspeakers then you are an infidel, and so forth,” Feby told The Jakarta Post in a recent interview.
Feby added that unfortunately, such simplistic ways of thinking had attracted many people
“It requires maturity to be able to move away from that kind of thinking, which is now demonstrated by both the extreme left and the extreme right, and formulate more distinctions and categories in our minds. Many people, unfortunately, have rigid personalities. Exposure to many people from different backgrounds can help people become more flexible,” Feby said.
Minister Lukman added that to promote tolerance, logical thinking alone was not enough as people also needed to approach their religion through rasa (empathy).
“When we activate our rasa, the borders that separate people based on differences will automatically vanish,” he said while opening the Not the Virgin Mary exhibition recently.
“Artists have a great advantage to promote this, to activate rasa through their artworks and literature,” he said.
