RITUALS FOR HARMONY: EXPLORING THE BERSIH DUSUN LOCAL GENIUS BEHIND RUBBER TAPPING

Differences have long been a natural marker of the dynamics of the relationship of society. Differences often become obstacles in creating social stability. Diversity can be a strength if managed properly, but may become a source of conflict in case of faulty management. This short article addresses the issue of how to manage diversity so as to produce harmony in society that has different beliefs. There are three basic things defined in this paper. First, a society is capable of being integrated through commonly shared events. Second, providing room for all of the elements of society gives rise to collective solidarity which allows differences -even conflicts-- to be turned into unity. Third, the typicality of ritual that continues to be practiced in society can be optimized to serve as the medium that manages the differences and turned them to peace

REVITALIZING LOCAL WISDOM: EFFORTS TO REDUCE TENSION AMONG BELIEVERS

This article aims to show that through the strengthening of local wisdom, apathy toward the existence of other groups can be avoided to form a better order of life. Concern about the condition of the Indonesian people that are considered to have less appreciation for the other groups, in particular against certain religious groups has triggered the author to explore these issues and to respond to the concern. This nation, in fact, has a mechanism which has proved capable of reducing and even quelling the potential of conflict in a multi-cultural society. It is often called local mechanism. Although it has local characteristics, but if taken to a higher level, then the mechanism will generate new institutions for creating a broader harmony. This brief article showed that the existing local wisdom could create a harmonious relationship among the Bugis community though they have different faith. This is part of their commitment to practicing the noble values of local wisdom so that differences of identity (religion) are not a deterrent in building good relations, but in deed serve as a medium that acts as a reinforcement to the existing order. Keywords: Revitalizing, Local wisdom, Social Relations

Religious Violence in the Indonesian Democratic Era

The Indonesian democratic era has provided hope for the growth of mutual social practices established upon diversity of ethnicity, religions, race, and inter-group relations. Yet, in the last decade, various forms of violence were often carried out on behalf of religion instead. These acts of violence were not only physical but also psychological (cultural), in the forms of discrimination, abuse, expulsion, insult, and threat. The Ahmadiyya and Shia cases, for instance, provide an outlook regarding the prevalence of violence within social practices in the community in response to differences. Why does such violence remain to occur in Indonesia?  The work finds that, aside from a ‘failed understanding of religious texts’, excessive truth claim also triggers acts of religious violence in the current era of Indonesian democracy. It is of utmost importance that people’s understanding and interpretation of differences be set straight so that any response to differences can be considered as an embryo of national power that serves as an instrument employed for uniting the people of this nation instead of disuniting them. It is also strongly indicated by the work that religious violence may be avoided by changing the understanding of the meaning of differences

Arithmetic Spacetime Geometry from String Theory

An arithmetic framework to string compactification is described. The approach is exemplified by formulating a strategy that allows to construct geometric compactifications from exactly solvable theories at $c=3$. It is shown that the conformal field theoretic characters can be derived from the geometry of spacetime, and that the geometry is uniquely determined by the two-dimensional field theory on the world sheet. The modular forms that appear in these constructions admit complex multiplication, and allow an interpretation as generalized McKay-Thompson series associated to the Mathieu and Conway groups. This leads to a string motivated notion of arithmetic moonshine.Comment: 36 page

DISKRIMINASI NEGARA TERHADAP AGAMA DI INDONESIA, STUDI ATAS PERSOALAN POSISI HUKUM TOWANI TOLOTANG PASCA PENGAKUAN AGAMA RESMI

This paper aims to analyze the legal position of Towani Tolotang in the case of restrictions on religion in Indonesia. This paper is based on research toward the Towani Tolotang community in the Sidenreng Rappang Regency. Towani Tolotang is a local religion that continues to survive despite attempts to disband its followers, efforts which come not only from groups which disagree with the religion’s existence, but is also from the state. The discrimination experienced by followers of Towani Tolotang comes from two directions: first, from the public in the form of assumptions which denounce them, and second, from the government through a variety of regulations which limit the space for followers of Towani Tolotang to develop its teachings