Abstract

Interfaith tolerance has become an important issue within human history. Many have investigated religious tolerance through various lenses and case studies. This work attempts to explore the mechanism of religious tolerance through an existing mixed graveyard located in Yogyakarta as a case study. It is to examine the practices of tolerance by a plural community in a small village of Barek, Yogyakarta by providing a multi-faith graveyard. Data collection employs interview, observation and documentation. Key informants include community leaders, cemetery keepers and religious leaders of Muslim and Christian communities. The results show that there is a strong concern of tolerance within community members of different religious backgrounds producing common values through the existence of the cemetery. In detail, the work is to explore three important aspects to support the strong commitment of tolerance, including 1) the form of inter-religious concern within the community of the cemetery; 2) the factors influencing the different religious background community in producing tolerance among its members; 3) the impacts of the tolerance towards the unity of the community. The work has importantly shown that inter-religious dialogue has been brought to the availability of the multifaith cemetery that has created religious tolerance among people to promote social harmony.


Keywords: Symbolizing; Tolerance, Interreligious Dialogue, Cemetery