PRAXIS DIALOGUE (international youth consultation)

ALHA-RAKA, where we’re active
ALHA-RAKA is a community organizers association that was established by persons work to organize communities and have different background. Before, these community organizers, those are young people, work for Yamajo’s program: a foundation was established by them as well. But, to maximize their work, finally they change their organization format to be association namely ALHA-RAKA.

ALHA-RAKA was established at November 2006, whereas they established Yamajo at December 1996. So, after 10 years they established Yamajo, the young community organizer establish an organization that give an opportunity to build internal democracy, namely association format.

Establishing ALHA-RAKA especially is objected (has vision) “To create the just in politic, economic and social structure, until the people in the work area will be sovereignty”.
The justice and the sovereignty in the objective will be reached through working together to fulfill the basic need or to solve the basic problem, by gaining access to the existing resources. The critical consciousness also will be developed by this collective work to create solidarity or to build organization and participation. From this solidarity and organization building, the struggle to create justice and sovereignty will be done continually. To fulfill the basic need, access to the resources, building consciousness and solidarity and creating justice are for men and women.

ALHA-RAKA’s strategy to implement their program is organizing community (strengthening community organization and policy advocacy). The organizing is to build up solidarity (inter-religious, sector, individual and group).

Inter-religious dialogue project (an Experience)
Firstly, I would to state that, what I describe in this paper is not departing from a theory that I red, but it is departing from the experiences what we done, and I hope the paper is as a stimulant (guideline) to be further discussion matter, not as a final concept.

We have begun to implement inter-religious dialogue project in 1998, when as you know the conflict used the religion as the trigger begin to extend in the several Indonesia areas. At that time, we would to try to do assessment in some areas (villages) those have conflict potential that use religion as the trigger, then we formulate the planning.

Accordance with the assessment result described in the work plan, we determined a village as the work area, and dialogue (workshop) in four divided areas in Jombang.

Work in the village
The village we determined to cooperate to implement the dialogue activity is the village in Jombang that has plural from the side of the religion adherent. We found out Muslim in Majority, then Christian, Hinduism and Catholic in the village.

The work strategy in the village is we were intensive organizing, where two community organizers facilitated inter-religious dialogue. The activity we carried out was as preventive effort in order that the violence conflict triggered by the religion issues happened in several areas in Indonesia would not spread and influence to inter-religious relationship in the village.

We implemented “Inter-religious dialogue (discussion)” in many time among villagers that discussed about inter-religious relationship and harmony according to the respective theology of the respective religion. After the series of the dialogue carried out, some villagers felt that the dialogues carried out were not giving impact to the participant directly, even it exactly created new grouping, where when we write the title of ”inter-religious dialogue”, so spontaneously, the grouping happened, at least in the thought of the participants.

Therefore, we changed the activities to be concrete activities that give impact directly to solve participants/villagers basic need. It was not merely discussion activities. The activities we and they implemented were credit activity, and building up the system of the cooperative. The impact was felt by the participants in these activities is, they can fulfill their economic need.

The dialogue in four areas
Beside we organized people to do activities in the village in that time, we also carried out or facilitated workshop on inter-religious dialogue in Jombang (in all Jombang regent area). We divided four areas to implement it. The dividing was according to the result of the assessment workshop. We invited Jombang religion figures and the expertise in the assessment workshop. The principle of the recommendation of the workshop is, to prevent spreading of conflict triggered by religion issues in Jombang, we have to carry out workshop on inter-religious dialogue the level of sub-district. The activity was not regular activity we have, but we carried out the workshop as an event.

The problem in the project
The title of ”inter-religious dialogue” is influencing very much to the project running, as we stated above, the title gives impact to the grouping, both physic and thought.

The condition among religion adherent in the village that we work run well, but we have to secure that the condition will not change to be worse, therefore we effort to prevent to be worse. To prevent we implement the project of ”inter-religious dialogue”, but the project we planned very well, influence the participant to group accordance to their religion. The project title influences individual consciousness to seek who the participants have similar identity with him/her. The similar identity in this case is similar religion. This is very humane, like we carry out dialogue among professions (farmers, traders, fisherman, teachers etc.), so the persons involve in the dialogue will seek other persons have similar profession background with them.

Therefore, inter-religious dialogue can be done through opening consciousness to get solidarity among human being, not among any identities. Think! Someone is Muslim; and he is also a trader as well as he is a father. Another one is Christian, and she is also fisherman as well as she a mother. Another one is Hinduism, and he is also farmer as well as he is a father. What is differentiation, dialogue among them using title: (1) inter-religious dialogue (Islam, Christian and Hinduism); (2) inter-profession dialogue (trader, fisherman and farmer) and; (3) inter-gender dialogue (father and mother). For me, it’s as long as the dialogue is done by the three persons above, so there is no differentiation, because the holder of the dialogue substantially are the three persons, not their religion, profession or gender.

Departing from this description above, I would to say that enhancing solidarity among “human being” (whether they adhere Islam, Christian, Hinduism etc.; or they have profession as trader, fisherman, farmer etc; or they hold position as Governor, village leader and citizen; or they are male or female) will be better, because they will hold the rue dialogue.

Means, the project we have implemented with title of ” inter-religious dialogue”, after we reflected, that it was be trigger for the participant to group and even it is divisive of solidarity among people (human being) to struggle the more substantial thing, namely struggling to create justice for all.

Then…how to hold dialogue: real cooperation
We have evaluated the project we have in 2003, and the core recommendation of the evaluation was, for the future project (inter-religious dialogue) we would not be recommended to facilitate inter-religious dialogue through the workshop to discuss the theologies, but we were recommended to facilitate the activities to solve real problem of the society. Means, we were very much recommended to carry out discussion to solve basic economic need and information access faced by the villagers (whether they are Muslim, Christian, or Hinduism). The series of economic discussion create cooperative and the information access discussion creates community radio.

The cooperative of villagers has credit and safe activity and sell daily goods for the members those are “religion adherent”, whatever their religion; and community radio can gather the members monthly to share the real problem and ho to solve the problem and spread information and entertainment to the members.

From this experience, we finally determine that, if we use “inter-religious dialogue” as a project, so we will break solidarity among religion adherents, but if we use inter-religious dialogue as a perspective, so it will be basic of our all activities. When we chose inter-religious dialogue as a perspective, we will deem that all people are religion adherent (whatever religion), and anything we will do is in the frame of inter-religious dialogue.

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