Is religious tolerance a success in Indonesia? No, it’s not!

Maya Safira Muchtar ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 02/03/2010 10:36 AM  |  Opinion

After reading several issues of The Jakarta Post these last few days, I have been feeling very disturbed. There have been reports on churches and a pastor’s home being burned allegedly by Muslim mobs.

Yet the police were unable to arrest anybody on the pretext that it was done by a mob of people. The mobs had an excuse for burning the churches, on the pretext that the Christians did not have any permits to build the churches (the Jan. 25, 2010 issue).

Amazingly, we have heard nothing of this news in the local papers. It is no surprise then that Indonesia wins praise from the United States for religious tolerance.

Not only that, some local institutions believe that ethnic and religious issues are no longer the main conflict (Jan. 27, 2010 issue).

They say that the main issues are now politics, natural resources and corruption. That is why the government still thinks that there is no urgency to deal with issues of religious tolerance.

However, what is being overlooked and undermined is that religious conflicts and radicalism are potential weapons to be used to obtain political and economic gain. We have seen this happening in Pakistan and Somalia.

It is reported in the Jan. 27 issue that religious radicalism affects education. I myself know that there is a state high school in Yogyakarta where the students would like to have separate canteens based on their religion.

Their student activities are based on fanatic Islamic values which prohibit cultural and musical performances, notably forbidding the teaching of Javanese dance. So I find myself very disturbed when they say that Indonesia is praised for its religious tolerance. Forgive me for saying this, but maybe they have not invited nor even talked to the right people about it.

Sometimes, I begin to wonder if these people who insist on giving statements that there is no problem with religious tolerance in Indonesia are practicing the Law of Attraction. Beware; most people confuse the Law of Attraction and positive thinking.

The so-called positive thinkers tend to brush off negative topics. However, I am curious why they love to dwell on poverty or corruption issues. I believe because it has to do directly with money. Therefore, it draws a lot of attention from the public.

I, myself, am a Muslim who is not so much in favor of radicalism or fanatics. I believe that only those who do not have a firm faith in their beliefs would be either a radical or a fanatic. I am not saying Muslim radicals are solely to blame, but radical Christians, radical Buddhists, radical Hindus, and radical believers in Confucius are too. Fanatics and radicals are those who belittle others’ faiths. Not being able to see the majesty of Allah (in Arabic terms, not Muslim nor Christian terms) in each and every one of them.

Therefore, they can never appreciate one another. Sadanand Dhume gives a very clear picture in his book My Friend the Fanatic of the growth of radicalism in Indonesia and it being a threat to the state ideology Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

So the question now is… what is the government doing? What is the law enforcement doing? All are busy with the Bank Century case? What about the other pressing problems that affect religious freedom in this country?

Even if it is true that the churches did not have any permit to build, does it mean that the people of Indonesia can form mobs to destroy them? So what use is the law? Do they still think that religious conflicts are not of great concern? Why can’t we learn from Somalia and Pakistan?

Like Prof. Jeffrey Winters once said in an interview on national television, “Indonesians lack a sense of urgency”. Let us all take this matter seriously and treat it as urgent.       

          
                            
The writer is the founder of the National Integration Movement (http://www.nationalintegrationmovement.org)

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George K. (not verified), Lalaland — Wed, 02/24/2010 - 2:28am

Though all society is founded on intolerance,all improvement is founded on tolerance.

Mail (not verified), Jakarta — Wed, 02/10/2010 - 9:19pm

The state must guarantee the freedom of belief for the people.

Paolo L Scalpini (not verified), Toulouse — Wed, 02/10/2010 - 6:01pm

I applaud Maya's contribution here and I agree that "(not) Muslim radicals are solely to blame, but radical Christians, radical Buddhists, radical Hindus, and radical believers in Confucius are too." But Muslims being the majority they should speak out more often and more clearly against religious intolerance. Please, true Muslims like Maya, don't let your great faith be high-jacked by fanatics with a political agenda (of wanting to grab power and wealth or spreading hatred as a means to their goals). Talk to the people who are vulnerable for this form of fascism and convince them that true Islam is about reason, tolerance, peace and prosperity.

Ernie (not verified), jkt — Wed, 02/10/2010 - 11:25am

Hallo Ms. Maya, Thank you for your comments & concerns to our group problems. Yes, you're exactly right, no matter what our relligion or group we could never under estimate others because everything coming from the same God who creates heaven, earth and the whole universe with His awesome wisdom. None from His creation similar each other, He made everything different for specific purposes. Why we as human, tend to make things uniform? God, please give our country Leaders who can respect and honor His people.

Sayuti Daud (not verified), Calgary — Wed, 02/10/2010 - 12:58am

Mr. ALL4YWH, I am sorry if you feel left out. I agree with you that Baha'i faith is recocnized in most part of the world. I believe Baha'i faith is originated in Iran. I have an Iranian friend who follow Baha'i, he often talk to me about Baha'i, when he talk about Baha'i he often put down other faiths and accused Arabs invaded Iran and raped all of its women, it is very disappointed to hear some thing like that. I met a lot of nice Iranians in Calgary, they are very fiendly and they do not seem to care too much about religion. I have been travelling back to Indonesia a few times, I never find any Baha'i temple anywhere in Indonesia. If you think your faith has a large amount of followers in Indonesia, you can request the Indonesian Government to look into it, so you too can have your holiday and good luck.

Dinofal (not verified), Jakarta — Tue, 02/09/2010 - 4:28pm

I'm also a muslim who's worried that the words 'religious tolerance' died with Suharto. Not that there was no inter-religious clashes during Suharto or that I supported Suharto at all, but in those days you still heard people say it and practice it. Nowadays, you hardly ever hear even the word tolerance. And the SBY government, like with everything else, doesn't act on people intimidating or destroying other people's houses of worship such as thugs in robes FPI. Such acts are against the law. The problem is not that we don't have the laws regulating it, but it's because the government doesn't enforce them.

Bellissima (not verified), Jakarta — Tue, 02/09/2010 - 3:13pm

Some of the readers' comments posted here justifying all sorts of violence and intimidation done by the fanatic radicals indeed confirm Ms. Maya's concern. Despite legal issues, which I think are just a bunch of cr4p created by some paranoid people, there is no excuse for those people to assemble the mob to burn down and destroy the worship buildings and then intimidate people of other faiths. On the surface some people may say there's certain degree of tolerance (read it as: the minority prefer not to talk about it, the majority pretend not recognize what's been going on)... I just think it's a time bomb ready to explode any time.

Dedy Darmawan (not verified), Jakarta — Tue, 02/09/2010 - 11:25am

Do not only blame moslem in religious tolerance aspect. other country like france, united state, etc also face bitter case of religious tolarence.

ino ngari (not verified), jayapura — Tue, 02/09/2010 - 6:49am

Tolerance is only romantic fantasy. To be honest, I feel uncomfortable when certain religious believers are about to build houses of prayer around my block. I'm a bit paranoia in this case. I don't know who have been growing and cultivating this attitude which is totally different from what I have learnt during the era of Soeharto. One thing is obvious, for sure, no one ever protects people of my religion in other places, particularly in Java. The houses were destroyed and even burnt during the prayer. The excuse is that they haven't got the licence which I think it's exaggarated. Thus, it's no point to let others build their house of prayer in my area. It's useless to talk about tolerance. I also give up on educational reliance. It's easy to be misguided and abused by religiously fanatic organizations. It's even tougher when we were witnessing government did nothing and got the feeling they were backing such intolerant behaviour. All of these will be huge social crisis and disaster. Given we have had rules on religious tolerance, I think, it's indispensable that good and wise religious people and religious groups have to be fanatic in pursuing religious freedom. Let us unite to protests against the ignorance of government. Without the endorsementt of all religions and government, self-awareness regarding tolerance is only a daydream.

Murtado (not verified), Jkt — Mon, 02/08/2010 - 7:12pm

To the writer: "I, myself, am a Muslim who is not so much in favor of radicalism or fanatics. I believe that only those who do not have a firm faith in their beliefs would be either a radical or a fanatic. I am not saying Muslim radicals are solely to blame, but radical Christians, radical Buddhists, radical Hindus, and radical believers in Confucius are too." Are you saying the taliban and alqaeda wahabi do not have a firm faith in islam? Or maybe you know islam better than the them? Btw what the non-muslims radicals were doing are not condone by their religions unlike what muslims are doing all over the world.
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