ENI – The Rev. Soritua Nababan, a Christian leader in the world's most populous Muslim nation, says the stereotyped idea of Islam tied to “oil and terror” should be rejected and he believes strengthening Muslim moderates in their own communities through dialogue can help reduce conflict.
The ephorus, or bishop, one of the eight presidents of the World Council of Churches, knows conflict. “I was a freedom fighter against the Dutch as a schoolboy” in Indonesia, he noted. But, he said, “I have an idea to widen Christian Muslim relationships dictated by the centuries-long paradigm of crusade against Islam, or jihad, or Islamic war.”
“The majority of Muslims live in Asia and the biggest number of Muslims living in a country is in Indonesia and the most moderate are there,” said Nababan. “I think it is our task in our interreligious dialogue and cooperation to strengthen the role of moderate Muslims in their own communties, rather than letting the extremists take over.” He noted: “There are extreme groups even among Christians.”
