On the 10th of September 2009, violent unrest broke out in Kampala, the capital of Uganda in East Africa. Groups of youngsters attacked people and destroyed property. Police and army responded with force. Within two or three days, 27 people were killed and many more injured. Journalists were arrested and hundreds of people taken into custody. In this paper, Emily Drani and John De Coninck of CCFU reflect on the September riots. The conversation took place in October 2009, when Ute Seela, co-chair of the Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme visited them to discuss ongoing work. The conversation sheds new light on the background of the unrest and its implications for the work of the knowledge programme in Uganda.

This paper is a presentation of Professor Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na’im when he was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the conference “Promoting Pluralism through Civic Reason: Rethinking Secularism” in Utrecht, The Netherlands on the 25th and 26th of May 2009. The conference was initiated by the Kosmopolis Institute of the University for Humanistics and organized in cooperation with Hivos. In his presentation, An-Na’im discussed the highlights of the first chapter of his noteworthy book, “Islam and the Secular State” (2008). In his presentation, An-Na’im presented his key ideas on the secular and offered valuable insights for the Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme. The regional coordinators from the Indonesia program, Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir, and the coordinator from the India program, Prof Sitharamam Kakarala, both responded to An-Na’im at the conference. All three contributions are included in this paper.

This paper is written by Henk Manschot & Caroline Suransky. They indicate that, “There is a special relationship between modernity and humanism, particularly since the Enlightenment.” They share many basic values such as autonomy, civil equality before the law and democracy. They both defend the separation of church and state and advocate the existence of a secular public sphere and of public morality as solid foundations of society. However, in the past decennia, the project of modernity has increasingly come under siege internationally and its key values are challenged from many perspectives. There are philosophical and theological critiques, as well as challenges from the field of political theory. Throughout the globe, fundamental questions have been raised about the meaning and impact of modernity from within diverging political and religious movements, particularly from non-western locations. With modernity heavily in dispute, modern humanism too seems challenged to rethink its own relationship with modernity. The authors argue that this is particularly so in terms of the separation of church and state and with regard to the incongruity of the secular and the religious, something that modern mainstream humanism so far has considered to be fundamental for modern societies.

“I became more pious after visiting Temple!, those were the words of Akhmad Shiddiq, a CRCS alumnus (2006), in describing his experience doing exchange study program at Temple University, USA. After passing a series of test for the program which was undertaken by CRCS, he attended Temple University during the 2009 Spring Semester. He left Indonesia for the United States early January of this year and came back last month.

When asked about his aims on attending Temple University in Philadelphia, Shiddiq asserted that for quite a long time it had been his immense desire to see the way Americans live in their multi-ethnic condition so that he could compare it with the multi-ethnic and cultural society in Indonesia.

“Saya jadi lebih saleh sehabis mengunjungi Temple University!” kata Akhmad Shiddiq, alumna CRCS (Batch 2006), menceritakan pengalamannya usai mengikuti program exchange di Temple University, USA. Shiddiq adalah salah satu mahasiswa yang lolos seleksi untuk mengikuti program yang diadakan secara rutin oleh CRCS itu. Ia mengikuti kuliah disana selama Spring Semester dan baru saja kembali ke Yogyakarta akhir bulan lalu.

Ditanyai perihal alasan dan tujuan mengikuti program itu, Shiddiq menyatakan bahwa ia sudah lama menyimpan hasrat untuk mengunjungi Amerika Serikat. Ia ingin membandingkan kehidupan multi kultur yang dialaminya di Indonesia dengan keadaan yang demikian di Amerika Serikat.

“CRCS sebagai pintu gerbang yang membuka duniaku yang baru. CRCS membuka pikiran saya, tidak hanya bagaimana menjadi pemilik agama yang baik, tetapi juga mengkritisinya.” Demikian ungkapan Wilis, alumni CRCS angkatan 2004, ketika ditanya mengenai kontribusi CRCS terhadap keberhasilannya saat ini. Salah satu keberhasilan perempuan Buddhis ini, ia mendapatkan beasiswa Ph. D. dari Fullbright untuk kuliah di Department of South and Southeast Asian, University of California, Barkeley.

Ketika ditanyakan mengapa dulu ia memilih kuliah di CRCS, pemilik nama lengkap Wilis Rengganiasih Endah Ekowati ini mengaku bahwa ia percaya pada faktor jodoh dalam agama Buddha. “Kalau tidak ada pertalian karma maka tidak ada pertemuan seseorang dengan sesuatu,” ungkap Willis. Keberadaannya sebagai bagian dari CRCS saat ini adalah bentuk pertalian tersebut dengan berbagai kisah disampingnya. Pada waktu itu, Pdt. Pujo Dharmosuryo adalah salah seorang yang mendorong dan membantunya untuk masuk ke CRCS.