Strengthening Religious Moderation: Learning from the Harmony of Multireligious People in Indonesia

Abstract

Religious moderation is an urgent entity for Indonesian people because they are multireligious. Hence, this qualitative study aimed to explore the religious moderation factors of multireligious people residing in the Sekaran, Rama Agung, and Cigugur villages of Indonesia and to analyze the people’s most vital factors of religious moderation. Fifteen religious and communal leaders from the three villages were purposively involved as the participants. An interactive model was adopted to analyze the data from interviews and focus group discussions. This study found five factors of religious moderation exhibited by Sekaran people, namely the principle of togetherness, socio-religious traditions, social traditions related to the values of the Indonesian Republic, and family. Rama Agung people showcased three factors: accepting the reality of differences, putting aside exclusivity, and upholding the harmony of life. Cigugur people demonstrated ten factors extending to family, awareness of moderation, mutual respect, tolerance, internalization of multiculturalism, good communication, socio-religious traditions, cultural ties, social relations, and interactions with cultural traditions. Furthermore, three latent and generalizable factors of religious moderation were codified as the strongest. They entailed upholding the principle of togetherness, accepting the reality of differences, and having mutual respect.