The Role of Religious and Traditional Leaders in Maintaining Harmony Among Religious Communities: Strategy for Implementing the Religious Moderation Concept in Indonesia

Abstract

Exploring the role of religious and traditional leaders in various aspects of life is always interesting and important, as religion is inseparable from the true meaning of life and human values. This article attempts to further explore the roles of these figures in establishing harmony between religious communities in Indonesia through the implementation of the concept of religious moderation. This article is an effort to raise awareness among religious and traditional leaders as well as Indonesian society in a wider scope so that they always maintain the values of unity amidst cultural, customary, and religious diversity. In an effort to explore the idea of moderation in various substantive ways, the researcher uses a philosophical hermeneutic study approach with the hope of being able to reflect critically and dialectically on capturing the objective geist and philosophical values contained in the concept of religious moderation as well as the actualization of moderate attitudes in the lives of the religious and multicultural communities in Indonesia.