The Importance of Tolerance

Indonesia is a land of cultural diversities. It has a lot of culture that traces back
thousands of years. Uniquely, every region has different cultures, due to different
geographics and other factors. This huge amount of cultural diversities gives our nation an
identity. But, it could also be a double edged-sword that can stab us back. To counter this
we really need to implement toleration. It is very important, especially to our country, with the
huge amount of culture, race, and religion. Here are a couple of reasons why toleration is
very important.
First, tolerance will improve our nation's stability. There is a big gap in Indonesia
affecting our country, which is caused by political polarization. It originated from strong
identity politics, especially in the last few elections. Indonesians are being divided into sides.
One who supports someone and one that supports another. Even though it is mostly
political, sometimes it can lead to racial-based, or even worse religion-based. We can say
that it is tearing our country apart. By implementing toleration (to the next generation), we
can prevent that from happening again. The political climate will eventually calm down, and
our country will be much stable. And a stable climate will give the country huge benefits.
Secondly, tolerance will preserve our nation’s identity. With the huge amount of
cultural backgrounds, Indonesia is prone to disunity . It has happened before. Sampit War,
Ambon Conflict, and many others. Those conflicts happened because of the clashing from 2
different cultures. We must learn from that and prevent it from happening again. How? By
implementing toleration. Toleration will prevent cultures clashing, but instead preserve them.
And as we all know, Indonesia is famous by it’s huge amount of cultures. So by toleration, it
will be better preserved, and it will strengthen our nation’s identity.
Tolerance is very crucial for Indonesia. It will improve Indonesia's stability, and also
preserve our nation’s identity. That is why we need to implement it immediately. The most
influential platform is from education. By implementing tolerance in our education curriculum,
the younger generation will be more tolerant in the hopes of bringing Indonesia goods in the
future.