F

eb. 8, p. 7

It would be a rough comparison and some people might object to it, but it is interesting to match the gun control debate in the United States to Indonesia’s problem of religious intolerance. Certainly, both cases exhibit differences.

Nevertheless, the similarities they share are striking. Both are related to the Constitution of their respective countries and are politically divisive.

The gun control debate originates from the Second Amendment, which says: “A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”. Emphasizing that constitutional guarantee, gun control opponents argue that the state may not abridge the right of citizens to possess firearms, not forgetting that firearms are also beneficial for self-defense. On the other side of the equation is the fact that firearms are now more deadly than ever. (By Nathanael Gratias Sumaktoyo, Chicago)

Your comments:

US soldiers and special operations agents have killed thousands of people around the world. Some were punished by Washington, some were not. None of them are in jail.

A few were brought to court simply to show the world that justice is at work here in my country, but none of them were convicted unfortunately.

So don’t worry, Indonesia is not too far behind. Only narrow-minded people fail to see it. Good luck, Indonesia.

Robert Starr

Unfortunately, the American public is the world’s most ignorant as far as politics are concerned. They are ill informed about their own politics and know more about Hollywood than world affairs.

 James

This is obviously an internal problem and it’s something that Indonesia needs to work on. It took America 100 years to improve human rights for black people. America was built on the backs of slaves used as cheap labor.

Dude

A Fulbright student should be able to see that there are very few parallels here.

There is a clear-cut solution for intolerance: Enforce the laws against discrimination, hate crimes and assault. Eliminate blasphemy as a legal offense as a first step. Otherwise, forget any solutions; you will just be wasting your time.

Brien