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ASEAN interreligious dialogue to focus on religious activism for peace
The ASEAN Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Conference (IIDC) is scheduled for Aug. 7 in Jakarta, with an aim to push religion as a tool to foster peace and prosperity.
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ndonesia will host the ASEAN Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue Conference (IIDC) in Jakarta on Monday with the goal of fostering peace and harmony through religious activism amid the ongoing debate between religious freedom and freedom of expression.
The conference is organized by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia’s largest Muslim organization. Around 200 participants are expected to participate in the event, including Phra Anil Sakya, a Buddhist scholar and monk from Thailand, and Orlando Beltran Quevedo, the former Archbishop of Cotabato in the Philippines.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will open the event, which will also feature remarks from NU chairman Yahya Cholil Staquf, Foreign Minister Retno L.P. Marsudi and Harvard law professor and former United States ambassador to the Holy See Mary Ann Glendon.
The event carries the theme of “ASEAN Shared Civilizational Values: Building an Epicentrum of Harmony to Foster Peace, Security and Prosperity,” as NU aims to push religion as an active tool in fostering peace and security in Southeast Asia.
“We want to create the foundation of a religious civil society that supports ASEAN’s vision of being the epicenter of growth and creating long and short-term peace and security,” the event’s organizing committee chair Ahmad Suaedy told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.
Read also: R20 summit concludes with calls to modernize faith
The Monday conference is a continuation of the G20 Religious Forum (R20) summit held last November, which provided a self-reflection and self-criticism platform for religious groups.
“We want the religions to not be a basis for identity politics or a weapon of violence and war,” Ahmad said.
During the conference, the dialogue will focus on three topics: Unity and diversity in ASEAN and the Indo-Pacific region; ASEAN as an epicenter of peace, tolerance and harmony; and international order based on universal ethics and humanitarian values.
Yahya of NU said the Muslim organization initiated the IIDC to build harmony and peace between different religious groups around the world.
“As a religious organization, NU wants to be in an environment where religious activism can contribute to building peace and a harmonious civilization,” he said in a statement issued on Wednesday.
The dialogue, Yahya added, could become “politically decisive” as NU was also inviting representatives from the government.
Read also: ASEAN needs intercultural and interreligious dialogue
The IIDC will take place amidst a heated global debate between the rights of religions and freedom of expression. The debate was sparked by multiple series of Quran burnings in Sweden and Denmark in the past few months.
Responding to the Quran desecration incidents, foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) states convened on Monday in an extraordinary session. The meeting resulted in a resolution that strongly condemned the burnings. The forum also urged Muslim majority nations and Islamic communities to condemn the act and take measures against it.
The IIDC comes ahead of the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta in September. The bloc is grappling with the issue of Myanmar, which is still embroiled in tensions between the military junta and various resistance groups, including armed organizations.
