The local and international media is absolutely saturated with stories about rising intolerance and extremism in Indonesia at the moment, and we’re certainly guilty of contributing to that as well.
To help balance things out a bit, we wanted to share this photo, which recently went viral on Facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155385753174036&set=a.327933934035.148243.658179035&type=3
The photo depicts the text of a prayer used at a Catholic mass that took on May 25 at the Santo Antonius Kotabaru Church in Yogyakarta. The text reads:
L (standing for lector) The month of Ramadan is coming soon, our Muslim brothers and sisters are waiting with anticipation to undergo the fasting.”
I-U (Standing for Imam [priest] and Umat [people], indicating when both the priest and congregation should speak together) Father, fill them with grace and health that they may be able to perform their worship well. Let us be tolerant brothers and sisters unto them.”
The photo was shared by Facebook user Sella Trouerbach on Saturday along with the caption “Happy fasting. Hopefully you can keep going the whole month! Good luck!” The original post has since been shared over 7,000 times and subsequent shares have gotten hundreds more.
Among the hundreds of comments on the original posts were some touching messages of thanks for the church’s show of tolerance.
Beautiful tolerance. Thank you for your wishes. Hope you have a happy Christmas later
We stand strongly for and against Ahok, but we are still compatriots
If we are not brothers and sisters in faith, let us still be brothers and sisters in humanity
Although one viral post can hardly challenge the mounting evidence that intolerance is a growing problem in Indonesia, consider that this might just be one example of the innumerable small acts of kindness and tolerance that take place in Indonesia every day that generally don’t make the news. And in so doing, keep alive the hope that, despite everything, most Indonesians still do believe in Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity).
