0 Your letters: It’s not faith that needs to change,

I would like to comment on “PKS graft case and the loss of moderate Islam in Indonesia?” (The Jakarta Post, Feb. 5, p. 6) by Syahrul Hidayat, Exeter, UK. We should separate the actions of a portion of followers from the ideology. The majority of followers act in an organized manner. If 25 people learn kung fu and three quarters of them use their skills to beat people up, would the teaching of kung fu be the problem, even while kung fu was taught as a self-defense measure? 

I say the solution to this matter in Indonesia needs two kinds of approach. The hard-line way of teaching must be stopped, either by persuasion or restriction. Should mobs try to force their thinking upon others by rioting, the police must repel them instead of just watching it happen. To ask a follower like me to do something would be beyond expectations. I am against these groups too but I don’t have the time or capabilities to go to the streets and face them directly. I have jobs to do and mouths to feed. 

The most I can do is express my opinion and sign a petition (if any) to show my support for the cause. It’s not the faith that needs to change, but the mindsets of hard-liners who claim to be true followers. I don’t easily brand those who criticize as “haters”, but I can see from the tone of the sentences whether the writer is seeking a solution for the good of the whole, or just wants to show that he is right and those oppose him are wrong. I have explained myself. Whether you accept it or not, it’s your problem. We can disagree on these matters but it doesn’t change the fact that we’re from one nation and we’re all fellow humans. Respect each other, even if others are different.

Rio Rivai
Jakarta
source : the jakarta post