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Dismantling churches, dismantling Islam
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Bowed to intolerance: Members of Kanaan Methodist church in Jambi burst into tears while seeing their house of worship was sealed. (Tribun Jambi/-)
T
hree churches in Jambi were recently forced to close by the municipality due primarily to pressure from Islamic organizations, including the local branches of the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI), as well as the Jambi Interfaith Communication Forum (FKUB).
The official reason for the closures of the Indonesian Huria Christian Church (HKI), Indonesian Methodist Church (GMI) and the Assemblies of God Church (GSJA) cited a permit for public worship. City authorities had apparently taken into account that the churches had been established for more than 10 years and that they had already applied for the permit, although no permit had been granted to date.
This situation calls to mind the worsening situation for the Christian community in Indonesia. According to the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), more than 1,000 churches have been closed in the last 20 years.
My own data shows that under the administrations of Soeharto and BJ Habibie, 456 churches were forcibly closed and 156 others were vandalized. During the administrations of Abdurrahman Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri, at least 232 churches were closed and 92 others vandalized, while up to 2010 under the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono administration, at least 2,442 churches were attacked.
