All the bullshit about religious tolerance in Indonesia - how bad things are for non-Muslims in Indonesia
Saturday, November 04, 2017
BCF : North Sulawesi, it turns out, is quite Protestant and reputed to have
a church every 100 meters.
But central Sulawesi was much more Muslim,
so we planned to drive to Poso, then south to Tentena, a Christian
village that was in some danger of being wiped out by Islamists. This CNN article tells
of how some 7,000 Muslim guerillas were planning war on about 60,000
Christian villagers. A few years later, guerillas were using machetes to chop off the heads of young Christian girls. The reason for this long introduction is that NPR recently did a piece
on the utter lack of religious liberty for Christians in Indonesia, as
illustrated by a small church outside of Jakarta that the local Muslims
will not allow to open. A sample:
The city of Bogor, on
the outskirts of greater Jakarta, is a conservative Muslim area with a
strong Christian minority. To open a church here, Christian groups must
meet a lot of requirements, including getting permission from Muslim
authorities.
Starting in 2003, the Taman Yasmin
Indonesia Christian Church, also known as the GKI Yasmin Church, got all
the necessary legal permits. But vocal Muslim citizens opposed
construction of the church and pressured the local government to cancel
the permits.
The local government acquiesced to
the demands. But the church group went to court, and won. On an appeal,
they won again. Finally, the case went all the way to Indonesia's
Supreme Court — where the church group won a third time, in 2010. But to
this day, the congregation can't worship there…
Why do I bring this up? Because this NPR report contradicts the widespread media fantasy of Indonesia as this happy inter-religious paradise. This recent New York Times article
–- which attributes news of interfaith fights to ‘international news
reports’ – is a case in point. Remember, former President Barack Obama
showed up there last summer in Indonesia to tout the interfaith harmony there.
How he could wax eloquent about this with the Jakarta’s Christian governor recently jailed over blasphemy-against-Islam charges is beyond me. Obama doesn’t seem to realize that the Indonesia of his childhood no longer exists.
I do not aim to please anyone. This is my blog, there is no blog like this. I am not mainstream. Read my disclaimer before posting comments and threatening me. Not to worry, I will not quiver in my boots. If you are not happy, no problem, just take a hike!!
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I do not aim to please anyone. This is my blog, there is no blog like this. I am not mainstream. Read my disclaimer before posting comments and threatening me. Not to worry, I will not quiver in my boots. If you are not happy, no problem, just take a hike!!