Some years ago, coming from the majority Muslim region of Java, I met a woman pastor in a Christian majority community of Indonesia’s peripheral region of East Nusa Tenggara. The pastor was one of prominent local advocates of inter religious tolerance in Christian majority regions of Indonesia. I was moved by her worry of what she called "intensifying diversity". Her fear reflects a pressing issue of siege mentality that shapes views and attitudes toward religious others.

Migration that brought more diversity has reached more rural communities and often caught them unprepared for multidimensional impacts of demographic changes. Siege mentality finds reference in religious narratives that can develop into extremist minds when they manifest in histories and socio-psychological realities of individuals living in diverse communities. Based on my peacebuilding experience in Indonesia, this presentation will highlight this challenge and offer paths for peacebuilding in multi-religious religious community.

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He is an assistant professor in sociology of religion at a post graduate program on religious and cross cultural studies, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia. He teaches a course on “religion, violence and peacebuilding”. Ahnaf earned Ph.D in strategic studies (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand) and Master degrees in conflict transformation (Eastern Mennonite University, USA) and comparative religion (Gadjah Mada University). He has worked with various government agencies, NGOs and local communities promoting freedom of religion and belief, community resilience to extremism and peacebuilding in post-conflict societies in Indonesia. He has published books, journal papers and essays in various national and international publishers, including among others "The Image of the Enemy: Radical Discourse on Indonesia" (2006).

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