Wedforum | CRCS | Farihatul Qamariyah

As society changes, youth are taking on more significant roles as agents of peace building and the university is becoming a more important institutional actor. One consequence of the current context of the apparent increase in violence resulting from religious intolerance between Muslims and Christians, as seen in incidents that have occurred in several places carried out by certain religious groups, is the continuing anxiety across Indonesian society over religion and its role in social conflict. Thus, interfaith peacemaking is urgently needed.

WedForum | CRCS | Ida Fitri

Jaye Starr, an American Muslim visiting the ICRS/CRCS programs through the Henry Luce Foundation exchange program, started her talk at the Wednesday Forum by inviting the audience to express their perceptions or questions about Islam and Muslims in America. She then provided an overview of Muslims in America from an historical and demographic perspective. Of the 7 million Americans Muslims living in America today, 2% are European, 2% are South-East Asian, 25% are from the Middle East, 30% are African American, 33% come from South-Central Asia, and 5% come from other backgrounds. Starr explained the necessity of examing the historical background of Islam and Muslims in America today.

Konflik di Poso menyebabkan segregasi didalam masyarakat Poso, hal ini ditandai dengan adanya wilayah teritorial dari masing-masing kelompok umat beragama. Terkait dengan segregasi tersebut, Izak Y. M. Lattu, alumni CRCS yang saat ini menjadi salah satu staf pengajar di UKSW, pada Wednesday Forum (6/5), menjelaskan bahwa kehadiran Youth Centre di Poso sangat efektif dalam membangun keterbukaan dan hubungan damai di antara Pemuda Poso. Dengan demikian tentu akan lahir berbagai dampak positif termasuk diantaranya menjembatani segregasi yang ada.