For Izak Y.M. Lattu, CRCS 2000 alumnus, CRCS has significantly contributed to his work now. “An open minded paradigm; CRCS does not give all knowledge, CRCS gives paradigm on how to stride.” That was his answer when asked what contribution CRCS has given to his life. This man, known as “Chaken” to many, is a lecturer at the Faculty of Theology where he heads one of its programs at Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga
When he studied at CRCS, Izak experienced many things that benefited his life personally and also for other students. For him, the gaps of religions became fluid when he studied Religions together with other CRCS students, and it helped them learn other religions easily. The skill improvement in English is one of the benefits that he never forgets, including the national and international networking that he built.
This Moluccan also shared his interesting experiences studying at CRCS, especially during Muhammad Ayoub’s class. For Izak, Ayoub’s thoughts have built his paradigm. “If we want to learn about other religions, we must learn them by heart and not to find any mistakes or build debates; we try to find some understandings to build dialogues,” shared Izak one of Ayoub’s famous lines that he can still remember. “The dialogues are dialogues of life, not only chit-chat,” Izak emphasized.
Aside from his busy schedule with lectures and organizing the program that he leads, Izak is also doing a research on “Java-Muslim Migrant and Emotional Identity in the Midst Moluccan Christian Hosts,” in Seram Island, Moluccas. This research is related to his interests in Religious and Cultural Studies, and also Religions and Conflicts. This motivates him to pursue a PhD program either in 2010 or 2011.
Practical activities are also done by Izak around the “corridor of paradigm” that he mentioned above. His friends and him are active an interfaith forum in Salatiga which is called Forum Antar Iman dan Solidaritas Sosial (FAISAL). Besides that, Izak leads his students to learn about other religions directly, especially in Islam class that he teaches. For several times, he brought his students to a boarding school named Adi Mancoro in Salatiga. “The students learned about how to build interfaith relationship, to build mutual-understanding,” Izak ended. (JMI)
