Tolerance Among Religious Communities: Foundation of Social Harmony Amidst Human Diversity, religion often stands as one of the strongest sources of identity. However, rather than uniting in harmony, religious differences can sometimes become stumbling blocks that divide.
This is where the importance of tolerance among religious communities emerges as a foundation that enables peaceful and sustainable coexistence.
Exploring the Essence of Tolerance
Tolerance is not merely a passive attitude or avoiding conflict. More than that, tolerance is an active stance of appreciating and respecting diversity in beliefs and religious practices. It involves a willingness to understand, respect, and collaborate despite existing differences.
Tolerance does not mean agreeing with everything believed by other religious communities. Instead, it means recognizing the right of every individual to their beliefs according to their conscience, without fear of intimidation or discrimination.[1]
Bridging Differences
It is important to remember that religious differences do not need to be a cause of conflict. On the contrary, these differences can be a source of spiritual and cultural richness that complement each other. Tolerance helps bridge gaps between different groups, promotes constructive dialogue, and builds shared understanding.
Benefits of Tolerance for Society
Tolerance among religious communities is not only about maintaining social order but also has profound positive impacts on society:
- Social Harmony: Tolerant societies tend to be more harmonious and peaceful. They are more likely to collaborate in building inclusive and sustainable communities.
- Appreciation of Diversity: Tolerance helps societies appreciate diversity as an asset that enriches social and cultural life.
- Protection of Human Rights: Tolerance protects the rights of every individual to choose and practice their religion or beliefs without fear of persecution or restriction.
- Enhanced Inter-Cultural Dialogue: Through tolerance, societies can build communication bridges and expand understanding of different beliefs and religious practices.
Challenges and Improvement Efforts
Despite the widely recognized importance of tolerance, challenges remain in realizing it in the real world. Intolerance, prejudice, and fear of the unfamiliar still exist in many places. Therefore, active efforts from all parties are needed to enhance tolerance.
Education and Awareness
- Education that promotes understanding of diversity and universal human values can cultivate tolerance from an early age.
- Promotion of Inter-Religious Dialogue: Building forums for dialogue and cooperation between religious leaders and communities can strengthen mutual respect.
Legislation and Legal Protection: Establishing legal frameworks that ensure protection of religious freedom and punish religious discrimination.
Conclusion
Tolerance among religious communities is not just a moral value but also a crucial foundation for an inclusive and sustainable society. By respecting religious diversity and beliefs, we can build a world where peace, justice, and cooperation are principles upheld by everyone. This is the essence of a truly advanced and civilized society.
The number of human beings on this earth reaches billions of people, a considerable number of people that is the cause of the emergence of many differences in each society, such as differences of religion, race, tribe, nation, colour, culture, customs, and so on.
Because of this multitude of differences, conflicts arise that really can’t happen, when there’s “TOLERANCE” between each other. Therefore, we must be able to get used to tolerant behavior in everyday life.
And it has been happening in Indonesia recently, there are two unusual moments that occurred, namely, our Hindu brothers celebrating the fasting of Ramadhan in tandem with the Muslims, these two essences are a beautiful example of religious tolerance in Indonesia.
There are a number of similarities between fasting and fasting among Islamic and Hindu believers, both withholding thirst and hunger, and refraining from doing things beyond the norms of religion, and silence is highly recommended in Islam, as well as with Hinduism, because almost all religions advocate hugs for the time of fasting.[2]
The truth of fasting and rejection is to create silence and tranquility in the soul of every people. The differences in these two religions have the same purpose. It can be proved when the people of Islam perform the prayer of rejuvenation with silence to honor our brothers who are celebrating Rejection.
We should be grateful that, this is an example of disobedience in religion and belief in Indonesia and can be an example or provide a positive perspective for religious people in the world, from here we can infer how important the attitude of tolerance towards fellow living beings because people in Indonesia consists of various ethics, cultures and Pancasila as the ideology of the nation.
Author: Syarifah Laila Syahar Banu
Student of Arabic Language Education, University of Muhammadiyah Prof. Dr. Hamka
Supervisor: Dr. Muhammad Iman Sastra Mihajat
References
[1] Fitriani, “Keberagaman Dan Toleransi Antar Umat Beragama.”
[2] Urrozi, “Toleransi Sebagai Idiologi Beragama (Kajian Fungsional Atas Keragaman Agama).”
Editor: I. Khairunnisa
Bahasa: Rahmat Al Kafi
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