Religious Diversity Strengthens Bonds of Kinship

KOMPAS/NIKSON SINAGA

A motorcyclist rides past Al-Muttaqien Mosque and Pasar I Titi Rantai Protestant Batak Karo Church (GBKP), which stand side by side in Titi Rantai village, Medan Baru subdistrict, Medan, North Sumatra, on Monday (17/12/2018). Strong cultural ties across religious groups in the area mean people live side by side without significant friction.

In the Titi Rantai subdistrict of Medan Baru, Medan, a mosque stands between two churches. The three buildings are separated only by narrow alleyways. Religious differences have strengthened the bond of kinship among locals.

Katan S. Kembaren, 78, was busy scrubbing the moss off the floor of his verandah. The Christmas music from the church in front of his house did not bother him at all. Moments later, the adzan was heard from the mosque beside the church. The music from the church stopped for a while until the Muslim prayer call finished.

Katan serves on the Al-Muttaqien Mosque’s management board on Jl. Terompet in the Titi Rantai subdistrict of Medan Baru, Medan, North Sumatra. The mosque stands between the Pasar I Titi Rantai Batak Karo Protestant Church (GBKP) and the Padang Bulan Simalungun Protestant Christian Church (GKPS). The three houses of worship are only separated by narrow alleyways between them.

“These houses of worship have stood side by side for 30 years. We are united by kinship and culture,” Katan said at his house on Monday (17/12/2018).

The residents of Padang Bulan, located near the North Sumatra University (USU), are religiously diverse. Nevertheless, they are united by family and cultural ties, as a majority of them are of the Batak Karo ethnicity.

Despite their differences of faith, they mingle with one another. “The Karo language, the conversational language here, strengthens our kinship,” Katan said.

Katan comes from a religiously diverse family. His late father lived in a remote region in Karo and adhered to a local belief. Katan is one of ten siblings, four of whom are Muslims and six Christians.

Katan remains close to his siblings until now. At family events, such as weddings, baptisms, circumcisions or funerals, all family members gather and support one another.

Solution

Having been raised in a diverse family, Katan never has problems in mingling with others in his religiously diverse neighborhood. Interreligious frictions, he said, could happen at any time. However, dialogue based on mutual understanding, tolerance and kinship, was the solution.

“I often protest if the church music is too loud. It’s similar the other way around. However, there has never been any serious problem,” Katan said.

Similarly, Markus Dedy Sinuhaji, 34, said he believed religious differences served as the capital for maintaining the unity of his extended family, which is used to differences.

He said his grandfather Ruben Sinuhaji married Bungalau Ginting and had seven children, all of whom were Christians. One of them is Dedy\'s father Matius Sinuhaji, 59. After Bungalau died, Ruben remarried with a Javanese Muslim woman named Sulasih. He converted to Islam and had a pair of Muslim children with her. Ruben’s Christian children never had any problem with that.

Matius’ children chose different religions when they grew up. Dedy remained a Christian, while his brother Masri Ade Saputra S, 32, converted to Islam. They have Buddhist, Muslim and Christian uncles, aunts, cousins and nephews and nieces.

During Christmas holidays, Ade always spares some money to buy clothes for his nephews and nieces. During Chinese New Year or Idul Fitri, they exchange gifts. “One religious holiday is a religious holiday for all,” he said.

Dedy opens his doors to anyone wishing to visit him. “We pray according to our beliefs, but we remain a big family. It will be packed on New Year’s Day. Everyone will be here,” Dedy said.

When he was small, Dedy used to hit the bedug (large traditional drum) during Idul Fitri. His Muslim cousins used to visit the church. This fostered mutual understanding and tolerance. Religious rituals cannot be mixed with one another. Socially, however, they intermingle with one another. Religious differences bring forth beautiful experiences. For Dedy’s family, religious differences strengthen its sense of kinship.

This is because Dedy and Ade’s extended family holds dear the principle that one’s observance of religious rituals is one’s own responsibility toward God, rather than the responsibility of one’s parents or other people. “Everyone has the same goal, namely God. Only the boats are different,” Dedy said.

Similar conditions are found in Manado, North Sulawesi. Kolintang (small, horizontal gongs) player Stave Tuwaidan said he had Muslim and Christian aunts. Religious diversity had always been part of his family life and he never had any problem with it. He said he was often annoyed when people used religion as a cause for discord.

On the day of Idul Fitri in July, Stave played the kolintang to accompany Islamic songs ahead of the breaking of the fast at the Darul Salam Mosque in Kekenturan village, Maesa district, Bitung, some 50 kilometers away from Manado. Last week, he participated in the North Sulawesi Prosecutor’s Office’s Christmas celebration at the Manado Convention Center. Several hijab-wearing women were involved in the event. “Religious differences are not a reason to cut family ties,” Stave said.

Titi Rantai GBKP leader Rev. Samuel J Sibero said in Medan that bonds of kinship strengthened interfaith relations. “We have never made any special agreements. Everything is based on mutual understanding,” Samuel said.

According to Samuel and Katan, interfaith unity is supported by culture and kinship. Identity politics, which has been on the rise recently, is not spreading discord among families here. “People in one home can have political differences. Is this a reason for families to drift apart?” Katan said.