Battling Hatred Begins at Home

Illustration

When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono proposed his idea to establish an international protocol against religious denigration at the UN General Assembly, he was probably not aware of all the domestic and international ramifications.

As the leader of a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, and one that has tried hard to project itself as a moderate force in international politics, he may indeed be in the best position to propose such a plan. However, the failure of the Indonesian government to protect the basic rights of various religious minorities at home raises questions about the credibility of his proposal

A closer inspection of Yudhoyono’s proposal makes us doubt whether it is possible to reach any international agreement on such a delicate and sensitive issue like religious denigration. Although it is easy to agree with the president that there is a need to establish an international platform on the promotion of interreligious harmony and peace, a strong resistance may still come from Western democracies if such a noble goal should be achieved at the expense of freedom of expression. As a matter of fact, in addressing the UN General Assembly, US President Barack Obama convinced his audience that he would never discourage American citizens from expressing themselves freely in any form.

Obama’s insistence to uphold the principle of freedom of expression in his country should not surprise us. As a liberal president he speaks on behalf of a secular society that tends to look at any religious belief system as not more than a human-constructed set of ideas that will never be immune from criticism and even mockery.

No wonder sharp and sometimes unjustified criticism of religions — especially Christianity — in Western, secular democracies is regarded as a normal contestation of ideas. If Yudhoyono’s proposal of an international protocol is meant to control or stop public discourses like this, it is doubtful that his plan will have any chance of success. We may expect that there will always be some irresponsible individuals out there who will be tempted to come up with a crazy idea — like the one that has led to the making of an anti-Islamic film “Innocence of Muslims.”

Therefore, before the government goes ahead with its plan to formulate a roadmap for an international protocol against religious denigration, let us re-think its plausibility and then come up with a more sensible idea.

Also, let’s not forget that no matter how compelling our moral exhortation in the international arena, at the end of the day effective promotion of interreligious harmony and peace is very much determined at the national level.

We live an era of globalization and liberalization of ideas. With Indonesia’s limited political and economic leverage, there is no way we can stop or control this trend. On top of that, all religious institutions now are under pressure to develop their apologetic system in order to argue against those trying to delegitimize their beliefs. Violent reactions will never solve this problem and sometimes make it even worse.

If the Indonesian government intends to substantiate its claim as a moderate force in international politics, it has to start with its own society. The more we can uphold interreligious tolerance in Indonesia, the more the international community will look at us as an example worthy of emulation. Promoting interreligious harmony after all is more about real-world action than about sophisticated diplomacy that is yet without substance.

Aleksius Jemadu is dean of the School of Social and Political Sciences at Universitas Pelita Harapan in Karawaci. JG