Interfaith studies experts say diversity and pluralism of religions and ethnicities are part of “God’s sacred plan” for humanity, and should therefore be nurtured and promoted. They also argue that religious literacy needs to be promoted, especially because of the frequent politicization of religion and ethnicity for electoral politics.

Dicky Sofjan, Ph.D., teaches interfaith studies at the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS), which is a collaboration between Gadjah Mada University (UGM), Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University and Duta Wacana Christian University based at the Graduate School, UGM. A lecturer and researcher who often travels the world and has various positions in international institutions that promote tolerance and peace between human beings, he said that he has conducted a lot of research on his field of interest. read more

Written by Athanasia Safitri 

Dramatic societal changes took place during the COVID-19 pandemic all over the world. This included the ways in which religious activities were conducted, not to mention the limitation of attending public worship spaces. It forced many people of faith to adapt and invent a new way to practice their religious tradition, even with the help of technology and digital platforms. Dr. Leonard Epafras spoke of the challenges experienced by religious minorities at Wednesday Forum held by CRCS and ICRS Universitas Gadjah Mada on March 1, 2023. The event entitled “Enduring the Gimmick and Polemics: Digital Performances of Religious Minorities During the Pandemic” was a brief report of a project he did last year along with four other researchers: Hendrikus Paulus Kaunang, Ida Fitri Astuti, Irfan Syaifuddin, and David Akbar. The researchers looked at the digital performances of religious minorities during the pandemic. read more

Written by Johanes Koraag

The existence of ethnic Chinese in the archipelago is easily recognizable by the cultural traces they leave behind. We can find ethnic enclaves (i.e. Chinatowns) in almost all cities in Indonesia that have a history of trade. The Chinese ethnicity is indeed synonymous with the world of trade even though the Chinese are heavily involved in other industries. Many dishes that are now considered traditional food of a region are the result of acculturation between Chinese and local cultures: noodles, meatballs, tofu, and soy sauce among others. read more

Written by Athanasia Safitri 

The Church of England (C of E), also renowned as the Anglican Church, is an example of a state halfway between religious and secular in the plural society. The current British monarch, Charles III, is the supreme governor of the Church of England. On the other hand, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. As society grows secular in such a plurality today, some trends have affected the religious practice of the Anglicans and the rest of Britain. Professor (Rev). James Walters from the London School of Economics and Political Science shared his insight during the Wednesday Forum on 15 February 2023 entitled “British Religious Plurality in the Age of Charles III.” read more

Written by Johanes Koraag

Indonesia is a country, with more than 17.000 islands, spanning 5.000 kilometers -the same distance between London and New York. Hundreds ethnic groups and languages. Indonesia is also known as a democratic country with the world’s largest Muslim population.

Indonesia’s former president, Abdurrahman Wahid, believed that Islam entered the archipelago with strong influences of Persian and Indian culture emphasis on sufism. The existing Hindu-Javanese culture is more formerly rooted and mixed with trust local, no removed force, however, approached with tolerance. read more

The Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together Document (hereon as Human Fraternity Docu- ment), signed on 4 February 2019, is closely linked to the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra aetate (literally meaning “In Our Time”), proclaimed by His Holiness Pope Paul Vi on 28 October 1965. For the Catholic Church, the Nostra aetate is a major leap forward, allowing greater inclusivity and engagement with other religious communities. Endorsed by the Council, which comprises 2500 bishops from around the world, the Declaration has lived to see four Popes. The current Pope Francis at a meeting with fraternal delegates from other churches and religions on 20 March 2013 quoted once again Nostra aetate. Thus, in many ways, Nostra aetate is to do away with negative stereotypes that were usually given by Chris ians toward Jews and other religious communities. Although there was still much to be desired for in terms…. read more read more

Written by Athanasia Safitri

Following the visit made by University of Gadjah Mada Rector Prof. Dr. Ova Emilia, M.Med.Ed., Sp.OG(K)., Ph.D. to Kirikkale University in Turkey on 4-6 July 2022, a team from Kirikkale repaid the visit to UGM accompanied by the son of the President of Turkey, Necmettin Bilal Erdogan and the delegation from Prof. Fuat Sezgin Research Foundation for the History of Science in Islam, on 20 December 2022. The visit was not only to continue mutual cooperation in education and research programs between these institutions but also to give a public lecture entitled “Scientific Development: Past, Present, and Future Trajectories”. The signing of an MOU for collaboration on education, technology, and communication service in Islamic and religious studies was completed by UGM Rector Prof. dr. Ova Emilia, Kirikkale University Rector Prof. Dr. Ersan Aslan, and President of the Board of Directors for Prof. Fuat Sezgin Research Foundation for the History of Science in Islam Mecit Çetinkaya. The event was also attended by academic scholars, lecturers, Director of ICRS Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir, Director of CRCS Dr. Samsul Maarif, and Prof. Dr. Siti Ruhaini Dzuhayatin from UIN Sunan Kalijaga. Dr. Dicky Sofjan of ICRS UGM also delivered a lecture as part of the occasion. read more

Written by Jekonia Tarigan

Accordingly, the presence of religion brings about social and cultural changes. One of the interesting variables to note related to the influence of religious presence related to these social and cultural changes is the trend of changing children’s names. Naming a child reflects social choice, with various practices guided by larger personal and social preferences, cultural, and institutional constraints. [i] This was the first topic that was presented and discussed in the tenth diversity dialogue, a presentation forum and research discussion for alumni of the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies (ICRS) on Saturday, 3 December 2022. This topic was presented by Dr. Askuri, batch 2013 ICRS alumnus, who currently serves as a lecturer at Aisyiyah Yogyakarta University. read more

Written by Maurisa Zinira

The path of upholding justice frequently presents challenges to both victims and those who devote their lives to this cause. Human rights, which are rights inherent in individuals, cannot be obtained for free; there is a price that must be paid to obtain our rights. Such work for justice frequently calls for considerable effort. Oftentimes, activists themselves have doubts about the viability and efficacy of their work. Has the fight for human rights so far produced any results? Are efforts to advance human rights ineffective? read more

Written by Jekonia Tarigan

Religion and ecology as a field of study emerged in the 1960s as a part of awareness of a global environmental crisis the decade before, one of which was marked by the critics of American historian Lynn White Jr. He published an article in Science which specifically blamed Christianity as the main actor that caused the environmental crisis related to its biblical text and teaching that legalized and perpetuated exploitation of nature.[i] Meanwhile, on the Islamic side, Seyyed Hossein Nasr in his book entitled Man and Nature: the Spiritual Crisis of Modern Man argued that the environmental crisis originated in secularized modern science, which emptied the cosmos of its sacred character.[ii] Critiques like these more or less show the dynamics of religion and ecology discourse, so that one of the main questions that needs to be answered at this time is whether religion is destroying or saving the planet? This question was proposed by Jonathan D. Smith in his presentation in Wednesday Forum, a weekly discussion forum organized by the Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies and the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies on 23 November 2022. Smith is a Visiting Researcher at CRCS and a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Religion and Public Life at the University of Leeds. He has conducted qualitative research on religion and social action in Jordan, Lebanon, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. read more