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One might say that religious moderation is an attempt to treat all
religious concepts similarly instead of an alternative way to reconcile tension
among different concepts within them. Such a perspective presumably occurs due
to the lack of understanding of the essence of moderation. Numerous experts have
already defined the meaning of religious moderation to challenge the distortion
that probably could make misunderstanding or even misleading among religious
adherents, particularly ordinary people. Ministry of Religious Affairs of the
Republic of Indonesia for instance, through the Directorate of Islamic
Education has defined religious moderation as perspective, attitude, and
religious practice in together life by embodying the essence of religious
teachings that protect human dignity and build public benefits based on the
principle of fairness, and compliance with the constitution as a national
agreement.[1]
According to that definition, it is understandable that religious moderation is
not an attempt to moderate religion, rather, it is to moderate understanding
and religious experiences to avoid extreme and excessive attitude when
implementing it.[2]
The understanding of religious moderation in the context of diversity
occupies an important place, especially in Indonesia which is a nation with
many ethnicities, cultures, languages, and religions. This diversity on one
hand is a great mercy from God that could enhance the treasure of Indonesia
even though on the other hand is vulnerable to inflicting religion-based
conflict.[3] In
the midst of such a condition, the existence of religious moderation is important
to build peace and interfaith harmony among religious societies.[4] The
presence of religious moderation would encourage people to respect each other by
letting them to conduct worship in accordance with their religion. From there, the
attitude of tolerance would be formed gradually. It is important to underscore
that tolerance itself could be said as a significant prerequisite to reaching
religious harmony. In the context of religious diversity, tolerance is closely
related to an open attitude toward differences among religious adherents by not
undermining each other’s beliefs when it is associated with religious matters.[5] Moreover,
in that sense, tolerance also encompasses religious freedom not as an absolute
and unlimited freedom but as responsible freedom that upholds human rights and
dignity responsibly. In short, tolerance here is a condition that is sought to
achieve interfaith harmony as an aspired objective.
Basic inquiries such as how to disseminate a comprehensive understanding
regarding religious moderation and how to instil the attitude of tolerance probably
would occur. In that regard, character-building and civic education are
significant factors. Of course, those things also require participation from
all elements of society not only relying on stakeholders through their force
and policy. Indeed, such things are no less important, but enhancing social
awareness in building togetherness and cooperation requires more attention due
to the lack of communication within society. As a result, an exclusive attitude
remains which occasionally resurrects conflicts triggered by long-held feelings
of suspicion and finally exploding. To prevent such an undesired circumstance,
the presence of interfaith communities that promote religious moderation such
as the Religious Harmony Forum (Forum Kerukunan Umat Beragama)[6]
and the Interfaith Brotherhood (Persaudaraan Lintas Agama)[7]
holds a significant role. Unfortunately, those communities are local-based
communities which focus their activities locally in a narrow range. This has of
course become a challenge because the socialization and dissemination of
understanding of religious moderation involving elements of society has not yet
been carried out inclusively and simultaneously on a national scale.
[1] Public Lecture with Prof. Dr. H. Ali Ramdhani, S.TP.,
M.T. (14 December 2022) at Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII),
Depok, Indonesia.
[2] Marianus Patora, ‘’Berteologi secara Moderat dalam
Konteks Kebhinnekaan”, Kurios: Jurnal Teologi dan Pendidikan Agama Kristen, Vol
8, No. 1, April 2022 (124-133)
[3] Agus Akhmadi,
“Moderasi Beragama Dalam Keragaman Indonesia,” Inovasi-Jurnal Diklat Keagamaan
13, no. 2 (2019): 45–55.
[4] Fitriani and Khoirul Azhar Siregar, “Peran Forum
Kerukunan Umat Beragama (FKUB) Dalam Menyelesaikan Konflik Pendirian Rumah
Ibadah di Asia Mega Mas,” Studia Sosia Religia 4, no. 2 (December 2021): 12–19.
[5] Raihani. 2014. "Creating a Culture of
Religious Tolerance in an Indonesian School." Southeast Asia Research 22
(4): 541–60. https://doi.org/10.5367/sear.2014.0234.
[6] Eko Budiono, 2017, “KH. Syafii Mufid: Rekonsiliasi Dan Mediasi Pasca Pilkada.” FKUB DKI Jakarta.
July 31, 2017.
https://fkub.org/kh-syafii-mufid-rekonsiliasi-dan-mediasi-pasca-pilkada/.
[7] Jeremy Menchik, 2016, Islam and Democracy in
Indonesia: Tolerance without Liberalism, New York: Cambridge University Press.