USU PR - The Rector of the Universitas Sumatera Utara (USU) Dr. Muryanto Amin, S.Sos., MSi., said that social harmonization manifested in everyday life would be able to ward off intolerance that is currently developing.

"Social harmonization, such as that in the Batak community, Dalihan Na Tolu, for example, has high social harmonization values," said Muryanto Amin when he was a speaker at the National Seminar on 'National Literacy, Religious Moderation & Tolerance' at the Hotel in Santika Dyandra. Hotel Medan, Friday (10/9/2021).

Mury explained, Dalihan Na Tolu is a belief in the Batak community that everyone is in their own place with mutual respect and respect. In that way, the value of social harmony is contained. This value can also be applied by the community so that there is no more intolerance. The Rector also gave an example of the Batak tribe with the Huta value system, namely the government system that regulates the people in Huta. Huta carried out the distribution and peace of every community throughout his life.

“Huta may be different from the Nagari system in West Sumatra. The value system regulates community procedures in each region,” he said.

Mury hopes that the government and community leaders need to carry out massive socialization about social harmonization. "Increase social harmony in daily life so as to foster trust and confidence," he said.

In his material with the theme “Religious Tolerance, Between Challenges and Hopes”, the Rector of USU said, to deal with conflicts of religious identity, the government and community groups must formulate actions to prevent community division. "This is a phenomenon that challenges us to realize tolerance," said the Rector.

Mury explained, the essence of tolerance is the declaration of two or more things that are different from each other. But it can be brought together by a measure to accept each other's two differences. He also said that Indonesia is called a multicultural country. With so many differences, Indonesia has homework to make recognition agreements and embrace diversity in multiculturalism. Indonesia has 1,340 ethnic groups, he added, so according to Mury there are 1,340 values ​​held by the Indonesian people. These values ​​have been carried over since the time of the ancestors. These values ​​generally contain the teachings of social harmony that can create social order in the existing community.

Mury hopes that unity in diversity can be strengthened through the teachings of social harmony. "I believe that there are teachings of social harmony that many of us are now abandoning, for example the value of Dahlian na tolu," he said.

Not only that, Mury also appealed to all elements of society to regulate the use of social media and seek clarifications that have an impact on the consequences of the emergence of intolerance, because, there are new ideas that emerge massively from academic terminology and goes to public, through social media, such as concerning radicalization, terrorism, to fundamental ideas.

“Everyone can write without the principles of journalism in the social media. So we have to regulate the use of social media and can bring social harmonization in our environment,” he explained. (©ULC)

Author: Bambang Riyanto - PR

Interviewee: - - -

Photographer: Irsan Mulyadi - PR