Comments: 'Groups at odds over blasphemy law'

Feb. 4, p. 4

Religious minorities have expressed their support for a group of NGOs that have requested the 1965 Blasphemy Law be reviewed, saying the controversial law is outdated and irrelevant to a democratic Indonesia. The Indonesian Bishops Conference (KWI) and the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), respectively representing the Catholic and Protestant churches, said the law did not sit well with current Indonesian society, a decade after the fall of Soeharto.   

“Our society has matured since the law was first established in 1965. Civil society at that time was weak and that is why such laws were put in place and the guided democracy system was used,” PGI secretary-general Gomar Gultom told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. “But in the reform era, Indonesians no longer wanted to be ordered around by the state,” he added.  


Your comments:

Don’t let new sects live in Indonesia. It just ruins our unity.

Andri
Jakarta


In a perfect world there would be no need for blasphemy laws. People would have a respect for each other regardless of their religion, ethnicity or personal circumstances.

But this is not the case in Indonesia today. There are still too many ignorant insults and intolerance shown toward religions, which cause tension in our communities and damages harmonious relations between people of different faiths.

So we do need a law to encourage mutual respect and dialogue. However, I believe the 1965 law needs to be reviewed and redefined. The definition of blasphemy should be widened to specifically include attacks on places of worship. This to me is blasphemy in one of its most severe forms.

Andrew
Tangerang, Banten


Andri, what unity? Is it the unity of burning other people’s houses of worship or the unity of imprisoning someone for blasphemy?

Philry
Jakarta
 

Glory be to Gus Dur, to the Constitution, to NGOs. May Gus Dur rest in peace.

Joko Bening
Jakarta