No society can survive long where religious intolerance is permitted to thrive. Without it, we cannot be a united as a nation; it will be impossible to build a basis for a common interest, common ideals and common destiny. Simply, without religious tolerance, Indonesia will be ceased as a nation.

What does religious tolerance mean? It is better to explain it by what it means and what it does not mean. Religious tolerance means that one acknowledges and respects the right and the freedom of others to embrace and practice their religious beliefs, even though one disagrees with their beliefs and practices. The key words of religious tolerance are: disagree yet respect. 

David Little, Dermot Professor of the Practice of Religion, Ethnicity and International Conflict at Harvard Divinity School provides an excellent definition of religious tolerance.  It is “a response to a set of beliefs that are originally thought to be objectionable, with disapproval but without using force or coercion [to change them].” According to David Little, tolerance not only does not use coercion or force against an opponent, but a tolerant person respects the other’s viewpoint. “It is natural for us to punish people we do not agree with. To repress that impulse is tolerant.”[i]

The eleventh Webster college dictionary gives the definition of tolerance as “sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own”. Again, the emphasis is on sympathy and differences.

 Religious tolerance is the absolute foundation for a mutual cooperation among religions.  The purpose of religious tolerance is to avoid antagonism and conflict, to respect and to live peacefully coexist with all other religions. The pluralism of people and religions “is acknowledged not only as a historical fact but also as a religious fact willed exactly by God Himself so that people from different faiths could compete with one another in doing good.”[ii] So, intolerance towards others of different religious beliefs is contrary to the real spirit of religion.

Religious tolerance, however, does not mean accepting a notion that all religious beliefs are essentially the same and they are all can be reduced into a single religion. Proclaiming that all religions are one is only ignoring the reality of the differences among them. Proposing a ‘common idea of God’ to be shared by all religions is an over-simplification of differences, leading to a dangerous religious reductionism and relativism. In fact, all religious reflection is built upon a specific ‘faith context’, and only through it can be properly understood. There is no Christianity without Christ, no Buddhism without Buddha, and no Islam without Mohammed.

Differences cannot be eliminated either by ignoring them or by pretending that they do not exist. If these differences did not exist, there would not be religious tensions and conflicts. Tolerance based on ignored differences is like a time bomb. It will eventually explode when the reality of the differences is discovered. For instance, under the infamous ideology of SARA during the New Order regime of Suharto, the religious discourse was dominated by a tightly controlled discourse of nationalism, sidelining or marginalizing the role of religion in the identity formation of the Indonesian people. By playing down the role of religion in the identity formation of the Indonesian people and by insisting that Indonesian identity should be defined by the Pancasila ideology only, the Suharto regime had created a vacuum in public discourse on religion. After having been banned for more than thirty years under Suharto, the discourse of religious identity came out like a flood and religious differences seemed to take its revenge after having been suppressed in public discourses for a long time. The indirect results: the conflicts in Moluccas, Poso and Lombok.

On the other hand, exclusivist and inclusivist paradigms do not seem in tune with the new perception, emerging from the present situation of religious pluralism. In reality, there are very real and important differences among the various religions and these ought to be acknowledged and respected without becoming points of violence and tragic conflict.  Religious tolerance is all about allowing different religious beliefs to exist even if one may not agree with them and may oppose them intellectually. It recognizes and respects religious pluralism. It is not about perceiving other religions as a threat or an opponent, but welcomed them as a partner on a common journey of faith.  The clash of ideas in the pursuit of Spiritual Truth, like the clash of ideas in science or philosophy, does not have to become a factor of social conflict, nor do we have to try to suppress it is order to maintain social harmony.

Therefore, religious tolerance is not in the absence of criticism of religion. This is not to encourage everyone to aggressively criticize the religious of other people but to prevent the suppression of Truth under the pretext of not offending anyone's religious belief.  One’s motivation to embrace particular religion is essentially part of one’s quest for Truth. And in his journey to find the Truth, one should be able to question the beliefs of others rationally and sincerely. What cannot be tolerated is violence used to promote a particular belief, which destroys all tolerance.  What also must not be tolerated is provocation used to trigger violence and conflict toward people of different religious beliefs.

Accepting the ‘other’, not as an opponent, but as a partner in one’s own journey of faith, implies a growth towards a new understanding of one’s own faith. This attitude may be summarized as a basic openness to two mysteries: the mystery of God’s love working in all creation and human history, and the mystery of the human person in quest of ultimate truth and love.

The notion of religious tolerance is closely related to religious freedom. Recognizing and respecting the fact that there are major differences between religions will not lead to religious tolerance unless there is a freedom for human religious inquiry. This may be best described by the meaning of religious intolerance as “emotional, psychological, philosophical, and religious attitudes that may prompt acts of discrimination or other violations of religious freedom, as well as manifestations of hate and persecutions against persons or groups of a different religion or belief”.[iii] 

True tolerance is based upon respect for freedom, not the assumption that everything must be tolerated for the sake of harmony. It is based on the fundamental nature that all Men are created equal and possess innate human dignity as a birthright, and consequently each person must be treated with dignity and each person’s freedom must be respected

The foundation of religious tolerance is religious freedom.