Flowers of Peace

I got the second place winner in National Essay Writing Contest 2013 which was held by Duta Wacana Christian University, Yogyakarta and here is the essay.

God has made each of us unique and different. We all have different abilities, different talents, and different personalities. He placed us in a region. Then, we together with other people make a culture for that region. This is the origin of cultural differences. Culture covers many things, such as: traditions, traditional dances, traditional foods, traditional dress, traditional languages etc. Of course there are many regions in this world with different cultures, even in one region. For instance, in North Sumatera there are many Batak ethnic groups, such as Batak Karo, Batak Toba, Batak Mandailing etc. They also have different traditional dresses.

The first thing we have to do is tolerate the cultural differences. Tolerance means we accept the differences to make a harmonious society. Can you imagine how would it be if every culture was the same? I think we would easily get bored and stressed. Imagine if we went to other cities or countries, and they also had the same culture with us, it would be pointless. We would rather just stay at home and we would not get to broaden our horizons about the world.

            After we are able to tolerate the cultural differences, the next thing we have to do is understand it. It may not be an easy thing to do, because all of us have egoism in ourselves. We have to place our egoism in the right place as we know that it is also still needed in certain conditions, such as when it is related to our dignity, truth, and honesty. We have to defend these things and in this case we need to do things which are sometimes considered selfish. The act of embracing and tolerating other cultures must be started from ourselves, and it will be copied by other people.

            But there is one thing which can lead to two opposite things; positive and negative: primordialism. On one side, it can conserve our cultures according to its definition. Primordialism is a view that holds certain things firmly which is brought since one was a child. However, on the other hand it can grow our ethnocentrism, an attitude in which someone judges another cultures merely by one’s own cultural views. In this case, we need to open our mind to these cultural differences. Try to think that these will broaden our horizons.

            The important thing that we should know is that the cultural differences can unite us. It means we will be stronger if we are together. As Robert Alan once said “Cultural differences should not separate us from each other, but rather cultural diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit all of humanity.”Not only that, they also make the world beautiful and we can broaden our horizons as we see the different cultures from other cities or countries. If we realize this, we will be able to understand the cultural differences.

            Based on the definition of character building, which is to strengthen positive traits in one’s character, accepting and understanding cultural differences are both included. In order to be able to accept and understand the differences, we have to grow and develop our humanity. There are several ways to grow and develop our humanity, one of them is respecting these cultural differences. As John Hume once said “Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity.”

Aristotle said that man was by nature a social animal which means we need to socialize with other people. By socializing with other people we will get to respect and understand them at once. If we do this, we will surely be able to accept and understand their cultures which are different from ours. These cultivate our humanity which is an important component in the process of character building. Without this, we will be uncivilized and there will be no peace in this world. Besides humanity, open-mindedness also grows in ourselves. Like it or not, recognize it or not, creating an open-minded character is very important. Because harmony and peace will only occur if one another understands the cultural differences. Like a flower garden, which consists of various kinds and colours of flowers will be more beautiful than the homogenous one.