Delegates from Indonesia say cross-cultural religious literacy creates tolerant and inclusive societies
Coming together in the Heber J. Grant Building on April 24, the ASEAN Human Dignity Conference resumed with a morning discussion titled, “Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy in Fostering Peaceful & Inclusive Societies.” Exposure to people of diverse faiths promotes human dignity, explained four Indonesian delegates on the panel.
Matius Ho, the executive director of the Leimena Institute, began the discussion saying the focus of cross-cultural religious literacy is bridging social capital or “[building] relationships with people outside the Church with different backgrounds.” When social capital across religions is strong, he said, groups can work together toward common goals. “If there is strong social capital, it will also lead to better social cohesion, better inclusivity and harmony,” shared Ho.
Farid Saenong, a faculty member of Islamic Studies at Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia (UIII), said cross-cultural religious literacy is prevalent in Indonesia because of the vast diversity throughout the country. “Indonesia consists of more than 17,000 islands, meaning [it] has larger sea zones creating the so-called maritime culture,” he said. “People with maritime culture are more open, more democratic, more egalitarian than the continental worlds,” because they are frequently meeting new people, Saenong explained.
If there is strong social capital, it will also lead to better social cohesion, better inclusivity and harmony.”
The three C’s of religious literacy
Rev. Dr. Henriette Hutabarat Lebang, pastor of Toroja Church and a general chairperson of Indonesia Bible Study, said the three steps to building cross-cultural religious literacy are personal competence, comparative competence and collaborative competence.
Personal competence, Lebang explained, is when a person “deepens their understanding of moral and personal self-knowledge from the rich spiritual well of their faith.” Ho said it is when an individual has a well-rounded understanding of their own religion. “For example, as a Christian, I need to understand Christianity well, especially what it teaches [about] how to treat people different from me,” he shared.
Comparative competence, Lebang said, is when individuals listen and understand those with religious or cultural differences. Ho said, “It’s important for me to understand my own religion, but I also need to understand the religion of other people from [their] perspective.”
Ho said the final step of cross-cultural religious literacy, collaborative competence, is where people take action. It’s “an exploration of possible ways for people of different cultures and faiths to work together, particularly to address common concerns,” Lebang shared. Through collaboration, Ho explained, trust is built between communities. “We will remain different after we collaborate because collaboration doesn’t mean that we become syncretistic, [or the same],” he said.
Dr. Akh Muzakki, State Islamic University (UIN) Sunan Ampel professor, acknowledged the need for cross-cultural religious literacy in education in Indonesia. “In school, public or private, you have to invite teachers” who share faiths with the students, he said. Because “students are not quite familiar enough with different religions,” he explained. By implementing cross-cultural religious literacy into education, he said, students and teachers can receive a more comprehensive understanding of religion. “[It] paves the way for teachers of religious education to get to know each other and also collaborate with one another,” Muzakki shared.
Building a tolerant society
Cross-cultural religious literacy also works to encourage tolerance, Muzakki said. “Tolerance is becoming brothers and sisters,” he shared. It is when people come together to eat at the same table, despite their differences, Muzakki explained.
In light of his passing on April 21, Lebang provided Pope Francis as an example of tolerance. “There are two main legacies of Pope Francis, which are... spiritual equality and unconditional inclusivity,” she shared.
When visiting Jakarta’s Istiqlal Mosque in 2024, Pope Francis and Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar showed mutual respect to each other despite belonging to different faiths, Lebang explained. “The Grand Imam of Istiqlal kissed Pope Francis’s head, and the Pope kissed the Grand Imam’s head. This shows clear evidence that tolerance is deeper than mere co-existence,” she said.
A tolerant society is one where “even though they do not know each other, [people] come to the same place, share their food and [are] loving to each other,” Muzakki explained. They accept each other as-is, he said.
Lebang explained, “Tolerance… has to spring out of the laughing hearts and reflect spontaneously in the daily interactions among the people, regardless of their cultural or religious backgrounds.” By building a tolerant society, people can work together to solve the world’s pressing issues, she shared.