Viewpoints of Dialogue

The major world religions were not traditionally

pluralistic. They were either exclusivistic or inclusivistic.

Exclusivism tells us that there is no salvation outside of

one particular religious tradition (only our own religion can give us
salvation).

John Hick argues that we should view all the great world
religions as providing equally efficacious paths to the
same Real because all have an altruistic message at their
core.
 So all are true in the religious sense that thye
provide soteriologically (theology- the doctrine of
salvation) satisfying solutions.

But not all religions are true in the common sense

because they obviously assert contrary views.

There are three variants of religious exclusivism,

namely open, closed and extreme.
 Eksklusivisme adalah pemikiran bahawa kebenaran
hanyalah milik satu-satu agama sahaja. Dengan itu,
kebenaran yang didakwakan oleh agama lain dilihat
palsu semata-mata. Jadi, kebenaran agama tersebut
dilihat sebagai mutlak.

Pannikar (2006),
the exclusivist holds the view that only his/her religious
tradition contains the absolute truth. exclusivism
denotes the idea that only one religion or religious
denomination is true and that the beliefs and practices in
other religions therefore are false to the extent that they
are in conflict with his religion.
 Inclusivism extends the possibility of salvation to those
outside its religion.

Inklusivisme pula adalah aliran pemikiran bahawa

kebenaran adalah milik satu agama tertentu, tetapi
agama-agama lain turut memiliki sebahagian daripada
kebenaran tersebut. Jadi, agama tersebut tidak memiliki
seluruhnya hakikat kebenaran.

Pannikar menjelaskan, this attitude as magnanimous in

that you can follow your own path and do not need to
condemn the other you can be concrete in your
allegiances and universal in your outlook.
 PLURALISME
Pluralism (religious pluralism) can be defined
based on three claims:
i. All major religious traditions are equal in
respect of making common reference to a single
transcendent sacred reality.

ii. All major traditions are likewise equal in

respect of offering some means or other to
human salvation.
iii. All traditions are to be seen as containing
revisable, limited, accounts of the nature of the
sacred: none is certain enough in its particular
dogmatic formulations to provide the norm for
interpreting the others.
 pluralisme menjelaskan kebenaran adalah milik bersama semua
agama. John Hick menjelaskan faham pluralisme:

a position that accepted the understanding that all truth claims

are valid and therefore should be given equal respect and space
in the contemporary world. the acceptance of this position
does not mean that the believer has to reject his beliefs in his
own religious tradition it only means that the Christian has to
accept the fact that the traditions of others, namely Muslims,
Jews, Hindus etc., also contain valid truth claims which cannot
be denied and rejected. These valid truth claims must be
respected because others have the right to exercise and express
their beliefs the way they wish.
Ketiga-tiga pendekatan ini dapat dibezakan melalui pola
sikap dan pendirian masing-masing. Eksklusivisme
bersikap lebih agresif dan konfrantasi dalam
menegaskan sesuatu perkara yang berkaitan dengan
pendirian agama yang diyakini benar.

Inklusivisme pula menunjukkan sikap akomodasi terhadap

agama lain. Manakala, pluralisme pula mengambil
pendekatan yang lebih positif untuk mengadakan
dialog, rundingan dan kerjasama serta bersikap ingin
berkongsi persamaan demi keharmonian hidup
bersama.
 Pendirian eksklusivisme sering dianggap tidak bersikap
toleransi kerana meyakini bahawa Tuhan yang maha
berkuasa tidak memberikan panduan kepada
penganut yang berbeza mengikut cara yang berbeza.

Pendirian inklusivisme bersifat sederhana

(intermediary) yang meyakini bahawa pelbagai cara
boleh digunakan untuk menyatakan keyakinan
terhadap Tuhan, namun inklusivisme tetap bertegas
dengan keyakinan bahawa kebenaran mutlak hanya
wujud dalam satu agama.
 Pluralisme mengakui perbezaan yang wujud antara
agama, namun aliran pemikiran ini lebih
mengutamakan kepentingan masyarakat berbanding
kepentingan individu yang berpegang kepada
kebenaran.

Walau bagaimanapun, Fauzi Hamat (2007) menjelaskan

eksklusivisme, inklusivisme dan pluralisme agama,
boleh jadi hanya pemikiran penganut dan bukan ajaran
agama. Boleh jadi juga sebaliknya. Maksudnya, sesuatu
agama yang dilabel sebagai agama eksklusif atau
agama inklusif atau agama pluralis, perlu disabitkan
dan disahkan kepada ajaran agama itu sendiri.
 Sebaliknya, pelabelan itu tidak boleh dilakukan
semata-mata kerana pemikiran dan sikap
penganutnya yang belum tentu benar mengikut
ajaran agamanya.