And of course the statue is going to be removed. Islamic Tolerance Alert from modern, moderate Indonesia. "Buddhist Statue Draws Islamists' Ire," by Arientha Primanita, Bilhuda Haryanto and Aidi Yursal for the Jakarta Globe, October 22 (thanks to Larry):
Jakarta. Buddhists are the latest minority religious group to feel the heat, being at the center of a festering row over a large Buddha statue on the roof of a temple in the North Sumatran city of Tanjung Balai.City council chief Surya Dharma said on Friday the governor and the foundation in charge of the temple had agreed to remove the statue after complaints from an Islamic group.
"The letter of agreement was signed in August and we agreed to relocate the statue to a more respectful location inside the temple," Surya said.
But the offending 6-meter statue continues to sit on top of the three-storey temple in the city center.
"The foundation promised us that the relocation would be conducted by a construction team from Bandung," Surya said.
The relocation was endorsed by the Religious Affairs Ministry's department dealing with Buddhist affairs.
The Forum for United Muslims, a local coalition of Muslim groups, has been agitating for the statue to be removed, holding repeated protests in May and June.
Baharuddin Berutu, of North Sumatra's Islamic Community Council, said it was frivolous to exaggerate the issue. "The mayor decided on the best solution and it was agreed to by the temple," he said.
"By not exaggerating the issue, we have been able to maintain harmony between religious communities."...
Yes, giving in to intolerant Muslim demands is virtually everyone's idea of how to maintain harmony. Just ask Juan Williams.
The long history of Muslim attacks on Buddhists and Buddhism worldwide: http://seanrobsville.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-buddhists-and-pagans-need-to-know.html
The Jakarta Post has more on it.
It is the usual case of Muslims intimidating other beliefs, then there is a conciliatory meeting in order to reach out to the Muslims and make concessions to them. Do read the comments below the article. Some are highly interesting.
Ranging from Hamid in Aceh(!):"The chinese should have known better, building a non-muslim religious place of worship or statue in darul salam is a big mistake and they should bear what ever the consequences! Remember Muslim are the majority in this country and Islam is the way of life, fighting for sharia is every muslims utmost religious duty!"
to Nairdah: "Sad to see the debate being hijacked. The actions of the local Islamist group in North Sumatra is are part of a well tried and promoted text book strategy for takeover of communities as followed by the Taliban. First you find a vulnerable minority group - better still if a minority religious group - then work through local authorities to 'cleanse'(destroy) that group (in Indonesia Christians, Ahmadiyah, Budhists, animists). If the local authority cooperates, you escalate the transition by intimidation and blackmail until sharia is achieved and political control secured and maintained. This is the 'thin end of the wedge' - if there is no resistance to the first move, then the community increasingly fears resistance as the strangle hold is applied. The strategy is not new, used by many dictators and religious extremist groups - it is a form of terrorism but instead of using bombs to terrorise, you use the 'thumbscrew' technique, gentle at first until the community progressively succumbs to the terror of fear and is then rendered subservient. It is happening right now in many parts of Indonesia and few communities are resisting the insurgency, either out of ignorance or out of fear. Failure to uphold the rights of the Budhist community in North Sumatra is a sure sign that the local authority(ies) will be an easy and subservient target. The Christian bataks of North Sumatra now have every reason to be concerned.
"The mayor decided on the best solution and it was agreed to by the temple," he said.
Does anyone care to guess what religion the mayor is?
http://news.nationalpost.com/2010/10/23/dalai-lama-wants-dialogue-with-china-still-a-marxist/
OT but kind of related...
Lesson is, don't count on Buddhists to get your back... they will fold as the winds blow...
Makes me wonder if the Dalai subscribes to the tenents of the universalist "New World Order" Baha'i Faith of spiritual collectivism...
I wonder if it's Buddhism the ideology that produces human dupes...
No doubt, the tolerant Muslims would destroy the Buddha statue if they could. One is reminded of the Bamayan Buddhist statues in Afghanistan. The world was outraged that the Taliban had obliterated them. Yet, no one bothered to ask what had happened to the Buddhist civilization that had built them in the first place.
Three guesses: (1) the civilization disappeared on its own, (2) its inhabitants were so overwhelmed by the persuasiveness of Muslim missionaries and the clarity and superiority of Islamic doctrines that they converted en masse to Islam of their own free will, or (3) "peaceful" and "tolerant" Muslims with blood-dripping swords destroyed their monasteries, the centers of Buddhist culture, slaughtered or enslaved the monks and nuns, and forced the population of presumed idolators or polytheists to convert to Islam or be murdered.
Given that Buddhism was destroyed in the north Indian land of its origin by Muslim depredations and Jihad fi sabil Allah from 1000 to 1200 AD (as have Zoroastrianism and Christianity, and, in the future, Judaism, if Israel is destroyed), then clearly (3) is the answer.
What will happen to (y)our non-Muslim civilization(s)?
Indonesia Buddhism had been under repressing from muslims for a at least 30 years. My sister a Buddhist, she contributes to the building of a vihara(Buddhism Temple) in my hometown, it took ten years just to get approval from the local muslims for the vihara, and that after several time of relocation.
The more I read items like this, the more MUSLIM symbols become offensive to me. They are becoming as offensive to me as a swastika, KKK robes, and Fred Phelps.
Same here.
Lesson is, don't count on Buddhists to get your back... they will fold as the winds blow...
I wonder if it's Buddhism the ideology that produces human dupes...
Judging the entire Buddhist faith based on the action of one Buddhist. Riiiight that makes sense. Wonder if you know that the Tibetans are still fighting for independence despite what the Dalai Lama says. Or perhaps you've never heard of the Buddhist monks in Burma risking death to fight for their country's freedom. But just because the Dalai Lama wants peace with China and says he's a Marxist that means Buddhism is the religion of dupes. Guess some people will believe anything if it fits their narrative.