Response of Students Majoring in Religion toward Religious
Tolerance
Yohanes Bahari
Tanjungpura University in Pontianak, Indonesia
Keywords: response of students majoring in religion, religious tolerance.
Abstract: This research is intended to describe the response of students majoring in religion toward religious tolerance.
Three things were to be described, namely: (1) student perception, (2) student attitude and (3) student action/
participation toward religious tolerance. Descriptive quantitative with survey method was the research method
used. The students majoring in Theology at IAIN (State Institute of Islamic Studies), Abdi Wacana
Theological Academy and Pastor Bonus Theological Academy in Pontianak in the academic year of 2016
constituted the research population. Meanwhile, a sample of 50 students was taken from the population.
Indirect communication technique was used as technique of data collecting, with the instrument of data
collecting being a questionnaire. Quantitative descriptive percentage analysis was used to process the data.
Research findings revealed that the response (perception, attitude and participation) of the students majoring
in religion toward religious tolerance was categorized as good.
1 INTRODUCTION
News reports about ethnic, religious, racial and
intergroup relations (SARA) is on the rise.
Throughout 2016 almost every day social media such
as facebook, line, youtube, detik.com, kompas.com,
tribun.com, twitter and televisions carried news
articles highlighting the pros and cons on the issue of
SARA, particularly in the context of the Jakarta
governor election. Conflicting opinions from
different groups of society ranging from the lay
people, artists, cultural elites, religionists,
intellectuals, political elites, bureaucrats and military
and police officers have become the norms of the day.
Open and massive debates on the issue of SARA
by public figures through social media and mass
media in a rather long duration triggered intolerance
between ethnicity and religion. Public demonstrations
with the nuance of SARA between the pros and cons
took place in every region, with the biggest being the
demonstrations defending Islam in Jakarta in
November 4, 2016 and December 2, 2016 which were
attended by millions of participants (detik.com,
kompas.com and tribun.com, 2016).
The problems of religious and racial
intolerance are highly sensitive, and have the
potential to trigger conflicts as happened repeatedly
in various parts of Indonesia, for example in Ambon
and Poso in 1999, in Sambas, west Kalimantan and
Sampit, central Kalimantan in 2000.
Intolerance and conflict are always causing
instability in various aspects of life in society, and it
takes a long time to recover, and requires substantial
social and economic costs. As experienced by many
countries such as South Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan,
social reconciliation is not easy. It takes a long time
to happen, and very costly. In Indonesia
reconciliation following the Indonesian Communist
Party abortive coup that happened many years ago is
an uphill struggle and until now has not yet
materialized.
One of the factors contributing to intolerance and
conflict among religion practitioners is concerned
with differences in the interpretation of the Holy
Scriptures which act as sources of religious teaching
(Pines and Maslach, 1993). Differences in the
interpretation give rise to various possibilities, such
as the birth of religious –isms, which later formed
religious communities. The birth of religious –isms
which were propagated by religious communities
would give rise to unilateral claims about truth, which
in turn would cause intolerance toward other groups
10
Bahari, Y.
Response of Students Majoring in Religion toward Religious Tolerance.
In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education (ICSE 2017) - Volume 2, pages 10-15
ISBN: 978-989-758-316-2
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

and become the source of conflict between religions
(Hapsin et.al, 2004).
Research on religious harmony conducted by the
Ministry of Religious Affairs in west Java, east Java
and Lampung in 2009 revealed various levels of
religious harmony in the regencies of the three
provinces. Moreover, the research conducted by CSIS
in 2012 on religious tolerance revealed higher
tendency of intolerance among religious
practitioners. The above findings of CSIS are in line
with the research findings on religious conflicts in
Indonesia since the reform era which showed an
increase in violence, intolerance and religious
radicalism (Imam Tholkhah, 2012).
A survey study on religious harmony in Indonesia
which was conducted in 2014 showed that although
in general the condition of religious harmony was
good, and the harmony has been cultivated for a long
time, deviation from social and cultural norms in the
form of religious conflicts happened frequently and
could not be avoided (Imam Tholkhah, 2014). In
particular, the survey findings also showed that the
tolerance of Muslims was lower compared to those of
other faiths.
The issue of SARA in west Kalimantan is
potentially high enough. The phenomena could be
seen in repeated interracial conflicts (the last being in
2000), demonstration rejecting the FPI (Islamic
Defenders Front) in 2013, rejecting the construction
of places of worship of particular religions, rejecting
the GAFATAR movement in 2016, rejecting the
placement of transmigration in border areas in 2015,
the rejection by provincial legislator toward
provincial regulation on customary society in 2016,
and the phenomenon of vote polarization between
those supporting and abstaining in the election of
institution heads in various levels when the
candidates were of different faith from the voters.
Some of the above phenomena were corroborated
by findings of researches as conducted by Suparlan,
Achdiyat and Bahari. The study of Suparlan and
Achdiyat (1980) toward Pontianak residents and
Bahari (2013) toward Tanjungpura university
students found out that interracial and inter student’s
relationship were characterized by a relatively high
level of ethnocentrism, stereotype and prejudice.
Based on the above background and the fact that
two regional elections would be held in west
Kalimantan in 2017, as well as the tendency toward
greater issue of SARA in every regional election in
other regions, it is predicted that the use of SARA
discourses would be on the rise. To find out the truth
of the above assumption, it is necessary to do an early
detection through this research on the response of
students majoring in religion toward religious
tolerance.
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Response
Response is a kind of positive or negative reaction
given by an individual. Response appeared after an
individual or a group of individuals perceive the
presence of an object and interpret the object they
perceived (Adi, 1994). Daryl Beum (2002) defines
response as a kind of behaviour or attitude in the
forms of detailed comprehension, evaluation,
influence, rejection, and likes or dislikes as well as
taking advantage from a phenomenon.
According to Morgan, King and Robinson (1994),
the most important thing in measuring responses is to
know perception, attitude and participation. In other
words, to know the response of an individual or a
group of individuals toward something, it is necessary
to know their perception, attitude and participation in
that thing.
Adi (1994) states that perception refers to our
seeing, hearing, feeling and smelling of the world
around us. Perception is formed by the data we get
from our surrounding which were absorbed by our
senses as well as from other things. Perception is a
cognitive process experienced by everyone in trying
to understand information about their surrounding
either from sight, hearing, feeling and accepting.
Perception is a unique interpretation of a situation and
not a correct record of the situation. The above
analysis shows that perception is an individual or
society’s understanding of an object that is still in
their thoughts.
An individual perception of something will have
an influence on his/her attitude. As far as attitude is
concerned, Adi (1994) and Wirawan (1994) defines it
as an individual’s inclination or willingness to behave
in a certain way when faced with a particular
stimulus. Attitude is an organization of an
individual’s opinion or belief toward a relative object
or situation coupled with a particular feeling. It
provides the basis for an individual to respond or
behave in ways they have chosen.
Stimulus refers to both inner stimulus like self-
actualization and physical one like the results or
outcome of development. A change of attitude could
depict the way an individual response toward a
particular object like a change of atmosphere over
another situation. The attitude that appears could be
positive, in that the person likes, approaches and
Response of Students Majoring in Religion toward Religious Tolerance
11

expects the object. Alternatively, the attitude could be
negative, in that the person shuns, or hates a particular
object.
Participation refers to a process of mental attitude
whereby an individual or members of society actively
contribute their creativity and initiative in an attempt
to enhance their quality of life. Adi (1994)
furthermore states that participation is very important
and absolutely necessary if we want to know or
measure an individual or group responses to
something.
As far as participation is concerned, the factor that
gives a lot of influence is vast scope of society’s
knowledge about something. The level of knowledge
about something possessed by an individual could
determine their intention in conducting an activity.
This knowledge will subsequently influence their
attitude, intention, and behaviour. Having knowledge
about the benefit of something will lead the person to
have a positive attitude about that thing. A positive
attitude will influence a person’s intention to
participate in an activity relating to that thing. The
intention to conduct a particular activity will
eventually determine to a considerable degree
whether the activity is actually carried out. The
activity carried out is known as attitude or behaviour.
2.2 Religious Tolerance
According to Indonesia National Encyclopedia,
religious tolerance refers to an attitude which is
willing to accept diversity and freedom to practice
religions and beliefs of other people or groups. This
can happen because the existence of a group, religion
or belief is respected by other parties. The
acknowledgement is not only limited to equality both
in the setting of state, society and in the sight of God,
but also in differences in religious instilling and
worship which is in line with a civilized and just
humanity (Compiler of Indonesia National
Encyclopedia, 1996).
According to Osborn (1993) aspects of religious
tolerance consist of: (a) acceptance, (b) appreciation,
(c) patience, (d) freedom and (e) cooperation. The key
to tolerance is accepting another person the way
he/she is. In line with the above viewpoint, Eisenstein
(2008) states that tolerance manifests itself in a
person’s willingness to accept the opinion, values,
behaviour of another person which is different from
his/her own. Therefore, it could be understood that
acceptance is a person’s willingness to accept another
person the way he/she is.
In addition to acceptance, another important thing
relating to tolerance is a person’s willingness to
appreciate everything rejected or defied by someone
(Sullivan, Pierson, and Marcus, 1993). Magnis-
Suseno (1992) states that tolerance manifests itself in
a person’s willingness to respect another person’s
faith even though he/she does not approve it. The
willingness to respect should be based on the belief
that it is not right for anyone to force his/her will on
another person or group. No person or group should
monopolize truth, and this conviction is based on the
belief that faith is a personal matter.
Every religion practitioner should respect the
existence of other religions with the understanding
that they respect the diversity and differences in
religious teaching of each respective religion and
belief whether the religion is sanctioned or not yet
sanctioned by the state. Confronting this reality
requires that every religion practitioner should always
be able to instill the values of diversity and position
themselves in the context of diversity based on the
spirit of mutual respect and appreciation among
different faiths (Ruslani, 2000). They are not
supposed to defame other religions or force their faith
on to other people.
Another important thing relating to religious
tolerance is patience which constitutes a sympathetic
attitude toward different point of views and attitudes
of other people. Bagus (1996) states that tolerance
manifests itself in a person’s willingness to be patient
toward other people’s philosophical belief and moral
which are supposed to be different, debatable, one
even faulty. Such attitude does not mean that one
shows approval toward other beliefs. Nor does it
mean that one is indifferent toward truth and
goodness, and one should not be agnostic and
sceptical. Instead, one inclines to have the attitude of
respect toward diversity and different human dignity.
Patience in the context of religious tolerance could be
taken to mean the ability to refrain from the things
disapproved or disliked, in the framework of building
better social relationship (Khisbiyah, 2007).
Another aspect of tolerance is to give freedom to
fellow human beings or fellow residents to practice
their faiths or regulate their lives and decide their
respective destiny (Yewangoe, 2009). The most
essential human rights is the right to
freedom/independence, both freedom to think,
freedom to have their own will, and freedom to
practice their religions/ faiths. Freedom is such a
fundamental human right that it is capable of
differentiating humans from other creatures.
Religious freedom is often misunderstood to mean
freedom to practice more than one religion. Here
religious freedom means freedom to choose and
ICSE 2017 - 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education
12

practice a faith or religion which they think is the right
way to salvation without being forced or intimidated.
In the context of Indonesia, the 1945 Constitution
article 29 section 2 states that “The state guarantees
the freedom of every citizen to profess their
respective religions and to worship according to their
religions or faiths”. It is clear that the state itself
guarantees the freedom of their people in choosing
and professing their respective religions or beliefs, as
well as guarantees and protects their people in
carrying out worship according to their respective
religions or beliefs.
Abdillah (2001) states that understanding
religious tolerance entails two interpretation toward
this concept. Firstly, there exists negative
interpretation which states that religious tolerance
only requires the attitude to let someone have their
own way, and not hurting the feeling other people
who profess different or the same faiths. Secondly,
there exists positive interpretation which states that
there must be assistance or support toward the
existence of other people or group. Al Munawar
(2003) states that there are two kinds of religious
tolerance, namely: static tolerance and dynamic
tolerance. Static tolerance is a kind of cold tolerance
which does not result in cooperation. If association or
relationship among religion practitioners is in the
form of static tolerance, the result would be pseudo
tolerance. Dynamic tolerance is an active tolerance
which results in cooperation for common good. Thus,
harmony among religion practitioners is a reflection
of togetherness of religionists as one nation.
Therefore, one can understand that the
manifestation of religious tolerance is in the form of
willingness to cooperate with people of other faiths.
Based on the above exposition, it could be
concluded that aspects of religious tolerance are as
follows: 1) Acceptance is the willingness of
religionists to accept the behaviour and belief which
is different from theirs, even though they may not
approve of it. 2) Appreciation is the willingness of
religionists to appreciate the opinion, viewpoint,
belief, custom, behaviour, etc. which are different
from theirs or even contradictory to their own
conviction. 3) Patience is the ability of religionists to
refrain from the things disapproved or disliked, in the
framework of building better social relationship. 4)
Freedom is the willingness of religionists to give
freedom to fellow human beings or fellow residents
to practice their faiths or regulate their lives and
decide their respective destiny. 5) Cooperation is the
willingness of religionists to cooperate with people of
other faiths.
3 METHOD
Descriptive quantitative with survey method was the
research method used. The students majoring in
Theology in Pontianak constituted the research
population. Meanwhile, a sample of 50 students was
taken from the population, consisting of 23 students
of IAIN (State Institute of Islamic Studies), 12
students of Abdi Wacana Theological Academy and
15 students of Pastor Bonus Theological Academy.
Indirect communication technique was used as
technique of data collecting, with the instrument of
data collecting being a questionnaire. Descriptive
qualitative percentage analysis was the data analysis
used (Sugiyono, 2009). The criteria/ indicator of
questionnaire quality is as follows: 81%-100% = very
good/ very high, 61%-80% = good/ high, 41%-60% =
good enough/ medium, 21%-40%= bad/ low, and 0%-
20%= very bad/ very low.
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Results
4.1.1 Perception of Students Majoring in
Religion toward Religious Tolerance
The research on the perception of students majoring
in religion toward religious tolerance shows the
following results:
Table 1: Recapitulation on the perception of students
majoring in religion toward religious tolerance.
No
Aspects of
Attitude
Percentage
VK
K
LK
NK
TNK
1
Attitude
toward
Acceptance
22
68.7
9.3
0
0
2
Attitude
toward
Appreciation
19.3
72.7
8
0
0
3
Attitude
toward
Patience
17.3
76.7
6
0
0
4
Attitude
toward
Freedom
23.3
70.7
6
0
0
5
Attitude
toward
Cooperation
22.7
71.3
6
0
0
Total
105
360
35
0
0
Average
21
72
7
0
0
Response of Students Majoring in Religion toward Religious Tolerance
13

VK= Very Knowledgeable, K= Knowledgeable, LK= Less
Knowledgeable, NK= Not Knowledgeable, TNK= Totally
Not Knowledgeable.
Based on table 1, data recapitulation on the
perception of students majoring in religion toward
religious tolerance, 27.8% of students have very good
perception toward religious tolerance, 63% have good
perception and only 9.2% having not so good
perception. 0% of students have bad and very bad
perception. Thus, the data show that the perception of
students majoring in religion toward religious
tolerance is already good.
4.1.2 The Attitude of Students Majoring in
Religion toward Religious Tolerance
Research findings on the attitude of students majoring
in religion toward religious tolerance is depicted by
the data below:
Table 2: Recapitulation on the attitude of students majoring
in religion toward religious tolerance.
VK= Very Knowledgeable, K= Knowledgeable, LK= Less
Knowledgeable, NK= Not Knowledgeable, TNK= Totally
Not Knowledgeable.
Based on table 2, data recapitulation on the
attitude of students majoring in religion toward
religious tolerance, 20.9% of students have very good
attitude toward religious tolerance, 72% have good
attitude and 7.1% having not so good attitude, and 0%
of students have bad and very bad attitude
respectively. Thus, the data show that the attitude of
students majoring in religion toward religious
tolerance is categorized as good and very good.
4.1.3 The Action/Participation of Students
Majoring in Religion toward Religious
Tolerance
Research findings on the action/ participation of
students majoring in religion toward religious
tolerance is depicted by the data below:
Table 3: Recapitulation on the action/ participation of
students majoring in religion toward religious tolerance.
No
Aspects of
Action
Percentage
VK
K
LK
NK
NK
1
Action toward
Acceptance
19.3
73.3
7.4
0
0
2
Action toward
Appreciation
18.7
73.3
8
0
0
3
Action toward
Patience
25.3
70.7
4
0
0
4
Action toward
Freedom
18
76
6
0
0
5
Action toward
Cooperation
20
74
6
0
0
Total
101
367
31
0
0
Average
20
74
6
0
0
VK= Very Knowledgeable, K= Knowledgeable, LK= Less
Knowledgeable, NK= Not Knowledgeable, TNK= Totally
Not Knowledgeable.
Based on table 3, data recapitulation on the
action/participation of students majoring in religion
toward religious tolerance, 20.3% of students have
very good action/ participation toward religious
tolerance, 73.5% have good action/ participation, 6.2
% having not so good perception, and 0% of students
have bad and very bad action/ participation
respectively. Thus, the data show that the action/
participation of students majoring in religion toward
religious tolerance is categorized as good and very
good.
4.2 Discussion
In general the research findings show that the
response of students majoring in religion toward
religious tolerance is categorized as good and very
good. In particular, the perception, attitude and
action/ participation of students majoring in religion
toward religious tolerance fall into the category of
good and very good.
The research findings were out of expectation
because the research was conducted amid widespread
reports and discourse on the issue of SARA in the
nation. Moreover, the province of west Kalimantan
was ravaged by racial intolerance several decades
ago, and regional elections are fast approaching.
No
Aspects of
Perception
Percentage
VK
K
LK
NK
TNK
1
General
Perception
27
58
15
0
0
2
Perception
toward
Acceptance
26
68
6
0
0
3
Perception
toward
Appreciation
30
56
14
0
0
4
Perception
toward Patience
32
64
4
0
0
5
Perception
toward Freedom
22
66
12
0
0
6
Perception
toward
Cooperation
30
66
4
0
0
Total
167
387
55
0
0
Average
28
63
9
0
0
ICSE 2017 - 2nd International Conference on Sociology Education
14

The fact that the students were not influenced by
the issue of SARA in their view of religious tolerance
could be attributable to their being intelligent
individuals who give priority to rationality and
objectivity and to their receiving correct religious
education from their lecturers. It could also be
attributable to inclusive religious cultivation in their
respective campuses.
Although the research findings show heartening
religious tolerance and harmony, anticipation and
care should be taken in order not to plunge into
intolerance in the future considering that religious
tolerance and religious harmony in the nation are
always dynamic in nature.
5 CONCLUSIONS
Based on research findings and discussion in Chapter
IV, the general conclusion is that the response of the
students majoring in religion toward religious
tolerance is categorized as good.
Meanwhile the specific conclusions of this research
are as follows:
 The perception of students majoring in religion
toward religious tolerance is categorized as
good.
 The attitude of students majoring in religion
toward religious tolerance is categorized as
good.
 The action/ participation of students majoring in
religion toward religious tolerance is
categorized as good.
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