Ever since I was in elementary school, I was obligate to learn PPKn subject in school. PPKn theoretically give students information about many moral values and one of them is tolerance.Tolerance is an act of respecting differences within the societies. Various of books explain the theory as detail as possible, but several questions arise after I read those books recently when I teach one of my students, ' Do we (Indonesians) really uphold this values? Do we really have tolerance toward others? Is it applicable in Indonesia?"
(The book that is used by my student)
I learned that theories about tolerance in the book are just a mere wordings without a real action conduct in the societies. People forget the value to respect others believes or other differences, some of intolerance people even harm the rights of other people who have differences with them. A few months ago, Lurah Susan, a government official in one of the district in South Jakarta was forced to resign because she has different religion compared to the locals' major religion. She was forced to resign by several religion extremist that stated , "We are protecting this district local religion values from intruders." . That statement is unreasonable, because Lurah Susan doesn't interfere with the local religion. I personally think that the main reason to oppose Lurah Susan is pathetically ridiculous. Why religion must be an issue? Religion should be a personal matters that should not be a topic for debate among the society. Religion is a individual beliefs that should not be merged to some political issues or some power dispute. How can Indonesia uphold the ideology of Pancasila if there's no tolerance in religion?
(Demonstration to force down Lurah Susan, courtesy of VivaNews.com)
If Indonesians could not accept differences among the societies, what's the use of those tolerances materials in schools? Are those materials just a decorations in the book? I believe that the reason ministry implement the tolerance value is to teach the students to live in respect with others. We must remember that Indonesia is a country with thousands of tribes,cultures, and has 6 acknowledged religions in the government system.Therefore, intolerance such the Lurah Susan case, should not be happening in this country.
I still believe that Indonesia has the conscience and moral values to respect others. How can we keep this NKRI, if the societies it selves cannot tolerate others? Let's respect others and improve our Indonesia together.
Quote for reflection:
Mohandas K. Gandhi
