Maintaining Community Cohesion

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Dancers from the Gubuk Sufi Jabung community and the Gusdurian Malang community perform a Sufi dance after Christmas Mass on Wednesday (25/12/2019) at Saint Vincentius A. Paulo Langsep Parish Church in Malang, East Java. The 30 members of the Gusdurian community participated in the Christmas procession as a display of friendship and support for the spirit of diversity and tolerance as taught by Adurrahman “Gus Dur” Wahid.

Christmas was celebrated peacefully across the country. The celebration was carried out in accordance with the traditions of each region.The celebration of religious holidays by following the traditions of each region illustrates the diversity of tribes, religions, races and various groups within the Unitary State of Republic of Indonesia.

In a country where people are diverse, we cannot do anything except respect, tolerate and recognize each other as well as maintain social harmony together, just like the Christmas theme of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia and the Indonesian Bishops Conference, "Live as Friends for All". Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo interpreted the theme as an effort to fight the flow of hate speech, intolerance and the politics of identity.

Only by promoting tolerance can we survive as a nation amid rapid change due to the onslaught of globalization and the impact of the digital revolution that gave birth to conditions that we have never experienced before, including the emergence of identity politics.

Aside from community leaders and religious leaders who continue to call on the community to maintain tolerance, we also appreciate the security forces, along with the community, play a role in maintaining a solemn Christmas celebration.

KOMPAS/HARIS FIRDAUS

Members of the Christmas Mass committee of Pugeran Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ (GHKTY) in Yogyakarta, wear traditional Javanese attire on Christmas Eve (24/12/2019). Christmas Mass at GHKTY Pugeran was full of Javanese nuances, such as in the use of Javanese language to deliver the mass and traditional dances and gamelan performances during the service, as well as the committee members wearing Javanese dress.

As a celebration, Christmas has passed. However, the Christmas message delivered by Pope Francis during Christmas Mass at the Vatican is worth noting because the message is universal. The pope invites us, among other things, not to wait for others to do good or appreciate us to do good things first. We are invited to start doing good things from ourselves.

The message looks precise amid the global turmoil today. Inequality in prosperity widens between the rich and developing countries, between the richest one percent and the remaining 99 percent. Inequality is further widened by the attitude of the leaders of the superpowers and other developed countries who impose their will and power rather than working together so that prosperity can be enjoyed together.

We also face inequality that we constantly try to resolve so that they do not spread to social problems.

We also face inequality that we constantly try to resolve so that they do not spread to social problems. We have been warned through the 2019 Country Vulnerability Index. Although our country\'s resilience has increased overall, indicators of cohesion namely elite fragmentation and grievance of groups in society, as well as social indicators namely demographic pressure, show an increased vulnerability.

Entering 2020 and heading to the 100th anniversary of Indonesia in 2045 we need to continue to pay close attention to these early warnings while looking for solutions. We can start caring for other people, the community and the state, not abusing power, not behaving corruptly, consumptively and showing off wealth, we can start from each of us.