F

eb. 19, p. 6

The conflict related to the establishment of a house of worship by the Indonesian Christian Church (GKI) Yasmin in Bogor has gone on for two years, but remains unfinished.

Although the Supreme Court has issued a legally binding verdict that stipulates that the GKI congregation has the right to establish a church there, the government of Bogor insists that the resistance of Muslim groups living in the area should be respected.

I think the Indonesian government, including the religious affairs minister and the home minister, is facing a dilemma. On the one hand, the government has to uphold the supremacy of law. (By Hilaly Basya, Leeds, UK).

Your comments:

I guess the writer attended neither pesantren (Islamic boarding school) nor madrassa (conventional Islamic school). The opinion about the conflict should be written in a balanced view and based on the local facts.

We cannot make generalizations. Every place and region has their own way and view about the local socio cultural processes. Geographically, there are differences between santri performance because they live in different environments (physically and sociocultural).

The Bogor government should have been considering the socio magnitude in the location of the church development. If we use Pancasila as the way of solution seeking, I definitely agree that we should consider the greater benefit than insist a proposal that makes the conflict bigger.

The offer from the Bogor government to relocate the church is the best way rather than argue on administrative and theoretical arguments.

R Muh Amin Sunarhadi
Surakarta, East Java

It is interesting that you have decided to bring up the issue of European (read Christian) colonialism in trying to explain the negative attitude of Muslims against Christians in this country.

Perhaps if the educators in this country were honest enough, they should also talk about Islamic colonialism e.g. the Ottoman Empire etc. to counter balance the European colonialism.

Depoliticization of religion is the key to solving interreligious problems.

Jaytee
Jakarta

I wonder how a writer who has been pursuing a doctorate degree can say such things.

I disagree with his statement that santri (students in Islamic boarding schools) are a lower class of society. Santri, once, will be an ulema, who will transfer knowledge on Islamic teachings. How are they placed in the lower class in our society?

Faris Gustomi
Depok, West Java

Here the writer is trying to tell of the problem in a fairly detailed way. Obviously, it is not easy for every person to understand the content. It is scientifically told.

How can ordinary people who have not received more education than primary school understand the complicated explanation?

For educated people, it is certainly understandable, but not for Indonesian farmers and street vendors. For that, they do not have enough knowledge to understand.

When it comes to atrocities committed by Muslims or Christians, this has happened for hundreds of years when man was still “uncivilized”. Most believed that the earth was flat.

Today, now that we as people have learned more about our planet, I would have thought that we would “more civilized” than the humans who lived many centuries ago.

Finding a solution for a problem between people who do not even understand their own good, it is certainly not easy.

They should not be allowed to use religion for political purposes. Religion should be used only as a way to worship our God.

If they could understand that God is the only God for all religions, I think it would be easier for everyone to live happily with each other.

In my opinion, the religious conflicts in Indonesia or elsewhere in the world will not be over before until human being can live as a human being.

Widya Utama
Bergen, Norway