Indonesia is a pluralistic country. Every individual living in this nation must confront the diversity and plurality that are deeply rooted and permeate every aspect of life, including matters of faith and culture. On the other hand, we often feel that the religious education provided in schools generally does not reflect or foster good multicultural education. As a result, social conflicts are often blamed on the religious legitimacy taught in religious education in conflict-prone areas. This kind of situation becomes a trigger for conflicts that have roots in fundamental religious beliefs, making violent social conflicts difficult to resolve, as they are understood to be a part of the calls of one’s religion.

Officially, Indonesia adheres to various religions, namely Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. This religious diversity means that people are directly confronted with plurality. The Indonesian state, based on Pancasila, embodies the principle that every citizen is required to adhere to a religion, which should be believed, internalized, and practiced to the best of one’s ability.

In historical records, Indonesia has, to this day, experienced many conflicts caused by various issues, ranging from economic conditions and ethnic divisions to oppression and religious conflicts. Religion is one of the most significant triggers for conflict in Indonesia. This is proven by the occurrence of various events that have shaken the country, including: 1) The Sampit riot (1998), 2) The Poso riot (2000), 3) The Ambon riot (1999), and 4) The South Lampung riot (2012). A number of intolerance cases reoccurred in 2018, with several parties strongly condemning the acts of religious violence as they were seen to tarnish diversity and injure the face of democracy in the homeland.

Based on these events, we can see that the diversity in Indonesia has the potential to cause conflict in society, especially religious conflict which has been endless because each side claims its own truth.

To address the problems above, the Cross-Cultural Religious Literacy (CCRL) program, initiated by the Leimena Institute, is present as an institution that champions future peace. The CCRL program offers various activities and innovations for its alumni. It accommodates every individual who wishes to apply an attitude of mutual understanding, by prioritizing an inclusive approach. This is a breath of fresh air for educators, especially Islamic Religious Education (PAI) teachers who are the majority in Indonesia, to improve their skills, insights, and knowledge on how to live a religious life while being able to live peacefully with others.

In the Law of the Republic of Indonesia (UU RI) Number 14 of 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers, Article 1, paragraph (1) explains that a teacher is a professional educator with the primary tasks of educating, teaching, guiding, directing, training, assessing, and evaluating students in formal early childhood education, primary education, and secondary education. Therefore, the role of a teacher, especially a PAI teacher, does not stop at the transfer of knowledge to students but also the transfer of value, which is to instill the values of Islamic teachings to build the character, behavior, and morals of students so they become better individuals.

Through CCRL, PAI teachers gain the information and knowledge to spread peace by prioritizing an inclusive, mutually accepting attitude, giving them a very important role in internalizing Islamic values in students. PAI teachers are expected to be able to build an inclusive attitude alongside individual piety in their students, thereby creating ukhuwwah Islamiyah (Islamic brotherhood) among students, both of the same faith and of different faiths, between students and teachers at school, and between students and the community outside of school.

In practicing religion, every person has a different understanding of their religiosity, which is referred to as a religious response. According to theologian Alan Race, inter-religious relations give rise to religious interactions or what are often called religious responses, which include exclusivism, inclusivism, pluralism, and interpenetration.

Each of these religious responses has a different meaning. First, exclusivism is the belief that one’s own religion is the only true one, and all others are false. Second, inclusivism is the opposite of exclusivism; it acknowledges that one’s own religion is the truest, but it gives an opportunity for followers of other religions to also declare their religion as true. Third, pluralism is a view that considers all religions to be true, assuming that they all have the same goal despite their different appearances. Fourth, interpenetration is the view that one’s own religion is the truest, but its truth is obtained by understanding other religions.

Islam also recognizes the concept of inclusivity, as expressed by the Islamic scholar Dr. Alwi Shihab, who is also a keynote speaker in the CCRL program. In his writings, he reveals that the concept of inclusive Islamic education must be built on the foundation of understanding that differences are sunnatullah (God’s will). Based on this concept of religiosity, inclusivism becomes the necessary understanding to address the pluralism of Indonesian society. An inclusive-minded person, even while acknowledging the values and truths of other religions, still holds steadfastly to the values and truths of their own religion as the most complete.

Therefore, PAI teachers, through CCRL training, are equipped with a great deal of knowledge and insight about cross-culturally based life. They must not only concentrate on purely cognitive, theoretical issues but also be able to transform that knowledge into values that are internalized within the child so they can behave in a concretely religious way in their daily lives.

PAI teachers must be creative, open, inclusive, engaging, and able to understand their students well. This is so that the Islamic values they convey can be properly internalized by students. In this regard, PAI teachers should begin to get involved in various activities facilitated by the Leimena Institute through the CCRL program in order to effectively apply an educational interaction process with students. In this way, the nation’s children will be educated from an early age to preserve unity in the Republic of Indonesia.