Christians in Indonesia Seeing Intolerance Spread

on March 13, 2014

Indonesia has the world’s largest Muslim population. World Watch Monitor reports of an estimated 251 million people, 86 percent are Muslim. Despite this, Indonesia for many years has been known as a nation of religious harmony.

According to a recent report written by Christian Solidarity Worldwide, “extremist ideology is spreading across the nation”. According to the CSW report national authorities have not taken proper official action, and the majority of Indonesia’s Muslims are not speaking out against intolerance.

Christian Solidarity Worldwide East Asia team leader Benedict Rogers has written a report in which he states minority religious groups, such as Christians are being subject to “spiraling intolerance.”

Rogers does say that Indonesia has made a lot of progress in promoting a multi-faith society. National elections are taking place in Indonesia this year, and he says the new president taking office in July will have to move the country back into the direction of its founding motto “Unity in Diversity.”

According to CSW there are six official religions; Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Catholicism and Protestantism.

Rogers says there is evidence that hardline Islamic organizations and political groups are gaining major influence in government policy.

In the report Rogers cites an incident in which 17 churches in northern Sumatra Indonesia were closed in three days in May 2012. He says in 2011, two churches in West Java were closed, even though a court ruled the churches should be allowed to remain open.

Asia News reports last month hundreds of men with weapons, led by local Muslim leaders, took over a plot of land owned by an Indonesian Christian community. According to the leaders of the Christian community, the raid was motivated by an attempt to build a place of worship.

Indonesia has a complicated process for Christians to get permission to build a church. The current process may take five to ten years to obtain all permits required by law.
Local residents must give permission for the facility to be built. Even if permission is granted, local officials have the ability to block the project.

Father Antonius Benny Susetyo, Executive Secretary of the Interfaith Relations Commission of the Indonesia Catholic’s Bishops Conference says many factors are contributing to the rise of intolerance. He says in some cases radical groups get police protection and that economic inequalities also contribute. He says a new national leader is needed “who will unite Indonesia behind its Constitution, which protects all citizens, including atheists.”

Thomas Muller is an official with Open Doors International. He says he is hoping this report will lead to action.

“In the last four months alone, at least half a dozen reports have emerged of forcefully closed churches or churches that were not allowed to be built,” he said. “It is great that Christian Solidarity Worldwide highlighted once more the situation of religious minorities in the country, as Indonesia is in danger of losing its tolerant reputation.”

Barnabas Aid says a massive campaign of violence was launched against Christians in the last years of the 20th century. Islamic hardliners wanted to bring the entire country under Shari’a law. Barnabas Aid says some reports indicate as many as 30,000 Christians were killed and half a million driven out in Central Sulawesi and the Maluku islands.

Barnabas Aid says it is concerned that the central government of Indonesia has twice failed to enforce Supreme Court decisions in favor of churches receiving building permits after local authorities failed to take action. Barnabas Aid also says the government has detained and imprisoned Christians under the 1965 blasphemy law for expressing their opinions and Christian beliefs.

Barnabas Aid also says Shari’a law is officially permitted in the western Indonesian province of Aceh, and Shari’a courts hand down many cases.

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