References SOCIAL ETHICS AND INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE IN THE CONTESTATION OF PUBLIC SPHERE IN INDONESIA
technology causes disability in seriously pondering upon our culture or religion “in closure”. An “in closure” attitude means, firstly, an attitude
which observes as if there were no other cultures or religions. This kind of closed attitude is related to “closed condition”. This attitude can arise
out of their up-bringing which are relatively experienced in a more-less homogeneous or uniformed culture, without exposure to other cultures,
and lacking in social contacts with people possessing different cultural backgrounds. However, the advance of communication technology
cause these closed conditions to be less and less observed. Although we live in a remote village, as long as our residential place
is connected to mass media network or mass communications, then we willingly or not would be a part of McLuhan’s global village. Through
the television we could feel and understand preparedness of the American nation in facing disasters through storms and floods in the
United States brought about by hurricane Irene, Katrina, or Sandy. We were able to follow in grief and awe the devastation of the tsunami in
Japan and the strength of the soul of the Japanese nation in bearing their post disaster misery. We follow in awe and mutually glorify the name of
Allah upon witnessing the hajj groups carrying out wukuf in Arafah while we are sitting in a place distantly removed from the holy land. We
also engage in the global village every time we clap our hands because a footballer from a Latin American or European team scores a goal, as
well as witness how the players usually gestures the cross on their forehead and chest.
Nevertheless, changes to this closed condition do not instantly bring change to closed attitude. There are people who have entered into
opened conditions, have been using sophisticated communications technology and have entered the global village, could still keep and
preserve their closed attitude as well. The way it is done is by acting as if their culture does not have to share the world we live in, or this global
village of ours, with other cultures or other religions. In short, closed
attitude is an attitude which ignores the existence of diversity or even rejects the existence of various flowers in this global village garden.
This closed attitude can be a passive or indifferent closed attitude and an active closed attitude. An indifferent closed attitude is an attitude
which acts as though we are still in closed conditions no matter how exposed to technology, particularly communications technology, we are.
An indifferent closed attitude is reflected when a person acts as if there are no other cultures and religions in the world, even though that person
rides a Japanese made motor cycle, wears an American made t-shirt, uses Korean made cellular phone, and may as well wear a pair of
sandals made in China which has communist ideology. Commonly, this indifferent closed attitude is observed in communities that in daily
life almost never have to engage in intercultural communications. Although it does not venture far from being in a closed condition, this
indifferent closed attitude will not disturb the peace of the society. On the contrary, an active closed attitude attempts actively to stunt
the growth of diversity in a world which has taken the form of global village. This active closed attitude is reflected in communications using
violence through words, pictures, movies, and often through physical violence. The goal is to annihilate diversity, in order to achieve a state
where those who possess different religious and cultural backgrounds will discard their diverse customs and beliefs and replace it with custom
and belief followed by and familiar to people who have this active closed attitude. In other words, the aim of this active closed attitude is a
homogeneous, uniformed state of society that is not different to a garden with one type of flower, or in short a closed condition. This active
closed attitude, therefore, disturbs the peace in its various aspects. Meanwhile, what we need, in fact, is an open attitude, that is an
attitude based on the confession that, in reality, we live with people of various religious and cultural backgrounds, and moreover, we must
share the world we live in with these people of various religious and