PERSEPSI PEMIMPIN AGAMA KRISTIAN TERHADAP KONSEP DAN AMALAN TOLERANSI BERAGAMA DI MALAYSIA

Christian Religious Leaders Perspectives on the Concept and Practices of Religious Tolerance in Malaysia

Abstract

Religious tolerance is one of the important values ​​that needs to be understood and practiced to safeguard harmonious relations among the multireligious community in Malaysia. However, in the recent years there have been a lot of issues disputed on the grounds of religious freedom which affecting the sensitivities of the Muslims such as the issue of the kalimah Allah and the rights of Muslims for apostasy. This situation suggests that the notion of religious tolerance is still blurry and vague among the non-Muslims. Hence, this study attempts to identify the perceptions of Christian leaders on the concept of tolerance and its practice in the context of Malaysia. For that purpose several church leaders have been interviewed. The data were analysed based on content analysis to identify the main ideas or themes. The study found that Christian leaders viewed the term religious tolerant as negative. The study also found that informants regarded the practices of religious tolerance in Malaysia have discriminated the non-Muslims.

Keywords:perspective, Christian religious leaders, religious tolerance, Malaysia.

Abstrak

Toleransi beragama  merupakan satu daripada nilai-nilai murni yang perlu difahami dan dipraktikkan bagi menjamin keharmonian hubungan masyarakat berbilang agama seperti dalam konteks negara Malaysia Namun begitu, sejak akhir-akhir ini banyak isu yang menyentuh sensitiviti orang Islam seperti isu penggunaan kalimah Allah oleh golongan bukan Islam dan isu hak orang Islam untuk murtad  dipertikaikan dengan alasan hak kebebasan beragama. Ini menunjukkan bahawa pengertian tentang maksud toleransi beragama dalam konteks Malaysia masih kabur. Justeru, kajian ini cuba menghuraikan persepsi pemimpin agama Kristian berhubung konsep toleransi dan pengamalannya dalam konteks Malaysia. Bagi tujuan tersebut beberapa orang pemimpin gereja telah ditemubual. Data temumubual dianalisis dengan menggunakan kaedah analisa kandungan iaitu dengan mengenal pasti idea utama. Kajian mendapati bahawa para pemimpin Kristian melihat istilah toleransi beragama sebagai negatif. Kajian juga mendapati para informan juga berpandangan bahawa amalan toleransi beragama di Malaysia telah mendiskriminasi golongan bukan Islam.

Kata kunci:  perspektif, pemimpin agama Kristian, toleransi beragama, Malaysia.