In My Rearview: PLURALISM AND INTER-RELIGION TOLERANCE WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBALISATION

It seems that not all people realize and carry on with all their hearts the practical but humble message from Martin Luther King Jr., that in order to survive each citizen as part of human kind must unite. Indeed, in this contemporary world, the process of getting everyone on earth united and their interests connected with each other has gone through such resonance and relevance in the frame work of the inevitable globalization that seeps its values on every aspect of our life from politics, economics, social culture, and religion. Religion within closed society has gone through turbulent changes by means of the reinforcement of liberal-secular openness of information, values, and ideology has enhanced the high culture of technology to enable an open gate for religion and ideology all over the world to reach any local territory. Hans Kung confirms that, “For the first time in world history it is impossible for any one religion to exist in splendid isolation and ignore the others"[1]

In theoretical mindset, Thomas L. Friedman coins globalization as a cultural movement nurtures the diversity that knocks out the totalitarian unity of value and belief. Global culture embarks as local cultures integrate into global system. The diversity of values becomes the basic thinking in creating sub-culture and the freedom of expression that lurching us to define in a whole new way on our way of life.[2]

But apart from all those grand and basic platform of globalization, it is also compulsory to realize the dark nature of this emerging force. From the epistemology perspective, globalization is like two sides of coin. The very idea of unity in globalization can be destructive as some well-interest powerful part of the world try to dominate by strategically redefining unity as “onenity” and dragging human kind into such hegemony of social, economics, and political constructions that play by the rules of the dominant. Then again, we can not blindfolded pessimistically from the sweet promise of how constructive globalization could be as an effective medium to bring the world into a better level of humanity, peace, and welfare that harmonizes the relationships between nations, religions, and social classes, and even individuals by promoting pluralism and inter-tolerance in the new millennium.

Pdt. Stevri Indra Lumintang, M.Th. is one of many religious leaders who puts a great interest in the globalization of the spirituality and religious area. He believes that relativism as part of the global pluralism can helping us build the bond of trust and respect to other religion: “Relativism says that truth is relative…Protagoras shows that every human being is the gauge standard for everything…there is no absolute and universal truth. “ He based his thinking mostly on the 20^th century pluralist Ernst Troeltsch who sees Christianity from the cultural relativism point of view. He states three popular attitudes towards religions:

1. All religion is relative

2. Everything is the same essentially

3. Everyone has general source of psychology

Every religion is relative means every religion has its imperfect and limited part as a way of thinking and searching for meaning. That’s way Christianity is perfect of Christian people as well as Hinduism is perfect for Hindu people. Every religion is basically the same because each has share the common essence and purpose and kalim its own superiorities. Deep down, all religions are the same-different paths leading the same goal.[3]

This same pluralism not only promote relativism as a new way to see the world in harmony and respect diversity of ideas and beliefs, but also encourage all the diference to be united in the quest for the same goal and truth, that is finding with our own way to God together without conflict and domination. The illustration from Yan Martell’s humanistic novel, Life of Pi could be an enchanting reference on how relativism fills the blank spot between the inter-religion relationships. The heterogenic culture of India is set as the background of this coming of age tale of a boy called Pi who finds God in every religion he meets. Pi is Hindu-born Indian boy who spends his way of adolescent for getting to know, learn, and fascinated by every wisdom and rituals of other religions such as Christianity and Islam that he ends up practicing them altogether as his way to commune with God Almighty. His decision to take pluralism to its utmost level of relativism has inflicted his family and each local priest of the three religions. Each priest, whom Pi dearly respects and loves, puritanically defends his religion exclusivity and the notion that his is simply the best from others. But for a boy like Pi, all these debates and conflicts is merely meaningless and unable to shake his faith to God. Using the concept of Hinduism to rephrase this, Pi has humbly reached the level of Nirguna Brahman in which he can believe and love God as one.[4] In the same tone and sentiment, Gus Dur has also stated that God is unnecessarily being defended. Every religion is a beautiful journey in its own ecsostermic truth which is relative and will end up on the same point on the esotermic level. This common ground is shared loud and clear in the first point of the national philosophical principal Pancasila: Ketuhanan Yang Maha Esa (The Soleness of the Almighty).

Pluralism doesn’t stand alone in the front gate of globalizations to make a better reality of inter-religion tolerance. Cross-religion peace dialog and the need and sincerity not to limit and narrow our perspectives theologically to other religions and beliefs is also become the true harmonic ingredients of inter-religion tolerance and the willingness to deconstruct critically the old established rooted traditions and dogmas as a positive responds to diversity. This is what Knitter considered as a global theology that not just bridges the meeting point of all religions, but also mediates and receives all the truths of all religions in the world. [5] On similar context, Dalai Lama agrees that there is a wide changing in cultural context of religious practice, as long as the essential values from religion such as loving and caring is still defended because of its traits that would always be relevant and beyond time and conditions. [6]

Thus, real issues on pluralism and inter-religion tolerance within the context of globalization cannot be simply neglected. A real action of critical evaluations and dialog is needed since pluralism is no longer evitable and demanded in the name of the harmony and peace of human kind in this global village. Each nation and religion are compelled to be brave and show good deeds to face and retrospect over the dark history of conflicting inter-religion relationships and the roles they once were playing to build a new and better platform for global interactions of religiosity and spirituality. This action could be started by denying dharma-rtam and committed to the sublime values of each nations and religion (in the case of Indonesia, we can make a reference to the plural values of Bhineka Tunggal Ika) to survive the challenge of globalization.

[1] Pdt. Stevri Indra Lumintang, M.Th., Teologi Abu-Abu (Pluralisme Iman) Departemen Literatur YPPII, Malang.