The Hinterland Harmony: Buddhist and Muslim Relations in Indonesian Rural Areas (original) (raw)

2011, The 8 International Buddhist Conference on the United Nations Day of Vesak Celebrations th 12 - 14 May 2554/2011 Thailand

For the last twenty years, the contestation among religious followers in Indonesia has actually been increased and as a result, many communal conflicts exist in some areas such as Ambon, Poso, Sampit, and other cities. Some scholars and government officers have similar views and put emphasized on the importance of religious dialogue, or some others say interfaith dialogue, for citizens to prevent further communal conflicts. Though some other analysts reject the religion as the main root cause of the communal conflict - rather religion is being involved in the conflict. So, they argue that the religious conflict never existed. In addition, it is so long, for scholars who mostly analyze - that the issue of religious conflict in Indonesia seems to have been dominated by the high tension of relationships between Christians and Muslims. They have argued that contests between both groups of followers occurs elsewhere in the country as it connected with the long social and political rivalries - especially in Indonesia’s post-Independence era. One of the most recent books on the interreligious-relations issue in Indonesia, written by Mujiburrahman (2008), shows the relationship between elite Christians and Muslims since Indonesia’s Independence has been covered by warm tension and prejudices. According to Mujiburrahman, Christians have been threatened by the Islamic state on one hand, and on other hand, Muslims fear the ‘zending’ – or, Christian missionary activities. Hence, it can be assumed so far that interreligious-relations are vulnerable in terms of mutual understanding which is possible, based on social connections. The query that should be addressed here is: is it possible to find other interreligious-relations that shows harmony; and, could we have other religious-relations which are good and positive connections towards one another?