"We bet most people are not happy about the burning of churches in North Sumatra on Friday night. As a Muslim-majority nation, we are a proud democracy. And we have had enough Christian-Muslim conflicts in the past, notably the Ambon and Poso conflicts. We are also an emerging multicultural nation with a proud legacy of religious pluralism. However, the trajectory of a nation toward its maturity is often difficult to fathom.
Our minds promptly turn to religious leaders and the many interfaith dialogues that have been held.
We are afraid that they might have only churned out sweet talk and exacerbated such conflicts.
We are also concerned that there is a big gap dividing religious leaders and those at the grass roots.
The question is how to close this gap.
Past experience has taught us that religious conflicts often mask the real issues beneath them."
And religion is like gasoline to a spark. A reason for violence is always at hand.
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