Your comments on the recent attack against a church in Bekasi, West Java, days before Christians celebrate Christmas.
Unbelievable that it has happened again. I am a Muslim. I grew up in a family which has two religions. When I was a child, until I was nine years old, I could sense that we respected other religions in a better way. We had a tolerance for other religions, until the time came that my Muslim neighbors did not visit us during Christmas time (My father celebrated Christmas). What I had heard at the time was that it was not allowed to shake hands with the Christians who celebrated the Christmas.
God has created people from different kinds of nations, languages and religions with a holy purpose that we, as human beings, can live hand in hand, we need each other to live in this world. We should live together peacefully no matter what the differences are.
I think we have to respect other religions ... We should not look for the differences but we have to look for the similarities. In this case, it is love and peace.
What happened in Bekasi should not have happened at all. They are not allowed to destroy churches in the name of God. What a shame! If only they had a better understanding of their own religion, then they would not do such a thing. Lack of knowledge of Islam is the biggest problem of Muslims around the world. The level of education and economic problems that Muslims have perhaps have the biggest influence over what happened in Bekasi.
Muslims should explore and learn more about Islam from the right sources: the Koran and hadith (Muhammad tradition). But what has happened, is that Muslims are always going to follow what their teachers (ustad/ustadzah) say without exploring it further. Finally, they do not even know whether it is right or wrong. They do not even know whether what they have been taught is right according to Islam.
If they know Islam, I think they are going to know what the real message of Islam is: love and peace. And they are going to spread it around the world.
I really hope that the new year of 2010 is going to spread love and peace around the world.
I hope that there is no other destruction of houses of God (churches or mosques).
I hope people will understand the important of tolerance among mankind.
Elsye Tetelepta
Jakarta
Ladies and gentlemen, something that we must understand is that we have to live together in this world, although we have different cultures, religions, etc.
M. Kiky
Purwokerto, Central Java
Religion is a matter of faith in a particular God but I think all religions teach us about aiming for a better life in this world. Muslim and Christian scholars should respect each other and teach about peaceful relationships among human beings.
Ardiyan
Jakarta
How would the nation react if hundreds of Christians attacked and burned down a mosque in Bekasi?
Gamal
Tangerang, Banten
Dear Muslim brothers, how do we expect to uphold the NKRI if we cannot tolerate our own brothers of other religions. Remember, interfaith intolerance is against our Pancasila state ideology.
Moeljono Adikoesoemo
Jakarta
I heard that the attack was actually not intended to be against the church. A housing complex nearby that was targeted was guarded, so the invaders attacked the church.
Even then, it was only the church construction workers' temporary house and some tiles, thus the church building escape unscathed. Nevertheless, it was shocking and unacceptable; a religious attack always is.
Just ask any religious leader whether his or her faith endorses violence. Of course, ask the right ones. I believe religious tolerance in Indonesia is upheld by the vast majority of its citizens. It's just that some crooked people have feelings against certain religions.
Ignatius A.W.
Jakarta
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