Gee, I wonder why? Of course, the answer is that Indonesia is experiencing an Islamic revival. The opposition to building churches and non-Muslims teaching Muslims is in accord with classic Sharia principles. "Religious intolerance rising among Indonesian Muslims," by Mathias Hariyadi for Asia News, October 5 (thanks to C. Cantoni):
Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Recent surveys indicate that Indonesian Muslims are increasingly intolerant of other religions, this according to a report published by the Jakarta-based Islamic National University (UIN). This has taken the form of non-acceptance by Muslims of non-Muslim teachers in public schools and opposition to new churches or non-Muslim places of worship.The survey, which compares data from 2001 to data from 2010, was conducted by the Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM), an independent research centre at the State Islamic University (UIN) in Jakarta, headed by executive director Jajat Burhanudin.
Each year, the PPIM interviews about 1,200 Muslim men and women, 17 years and older, most of whom are elementary to junior high school graduates.
The data shows that Muslim opposition to churches and non-Muslim religious buildings rose from 40.5 per cent to 57.8 per cent.
In 2010, around 27.6 per cent of those surveyed said they did mind if a non-Muslim taught their children at school, a 6.2 per cent increase compared to 2008 (21.4 percent), but still lower than in 2007 (33.5 percent)....
True islam means intolerance towards other religions.
Devout muslim means one who hates all non-muslims.
Thanks 0bama (the closet muslim)...your policies appear to be working as you hoped...to empower the islamists. And no one says you accomplished anything in your first two years...wonderful job; just the hope and change muslims needed.
I'm waiting for someone to blaim the attacks against Indonesia's non-Muslims on Israeli policies.
Jon? Mac? IslamicEmpire?
Recently in Indonesia I was told of some independant academic research originating from an pan-Asian organisation, sorry, can't remember the name, it was over a year ago, based in Hong Kong which estimated the Christian popoulation of Indonesia (Dutch Reformed, local Calvinist, Roman Catholic, other Protestant, Pentecostal etc)at between 35-45% - a great difference from the Indon. govt. official figures of 10%. Speaking with local Christians they wondered if it was indeed as high as 45%, but they all acknowledged that it was far, far highter than the official govt figures, but perhaps even 30-35%, which is indeed a large no. given the Indon. population - however the local Christians agreed that the govt. there could not acknowledge such a large percentage of Christians as that would cause much violence.
Yes there is intolerance in Indonesia - churches are not permitted to display a Cross on the outside of their buildings - the R.Cath. cathedral in Jakarta is the only church in the country, so I was told, for historical reasons, that can ring its bell - Orthodox Christian churches (Russian and Greek) are not permitted to build in traditional Orthodox style with domes as they would look too much like mosques and confuse the muslims (great irony here as it was the Muslims as they expanded from the desert and overthrew the Roman Empire provinces of the middle east who converted the Orthodox Christian churches with their domes into mosques and then adapted this original Christian architectural form as their own - an intersting sidelight here - I remember reading an article translated from the French by two French archeologists in an English language journal dedicated to the study of the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental monophysite & Nestorian churches - from their archeological mapping of ancient minarets in the middle east they posited that the first minarets in fact began to be built in a radius from the great church of St Simeon the Stylite near modern Aleppo in Syria and therefore it could be argued that the muslims were copying the great pillar upon which St Simeon carried out his ascesis and adapted it to their own ends - Given that their "theology" is a mish-mash of pagan moon worship, Judaism and Arian and Nestorian Christian heresies why am I not surprised that they had to misappropriate another aspect of Orthodox Christian praxis and pervert it to their own end.
Our local priests in Indonesia, who, since our congregations are small, often have to hold employment - but once they are known within their communities as Christian ministers it is all but impossible for them to hold a government position or find employemnt in muslim owned business , and are forced into menial jobs. It is quite sad, but at the same time very uplifting to see the firm, quiet but determined faith of these men, their fmailies and their parishioners.
Orthopraxis
thank you for that additional information.
As an Australian Christian I pray regularly for my brothers and sisters in the faith in Indonesia, and for all the *other* non-Muslims there who also suffer from Muslim suspicion and aggression.
I have always done so - a church I attended for many years, supported two Aussies who worked in a theological college in Indonesia, training up the local pastors - but over the past five years or so, as I have gained a much more specific knowledge of Islam (thanks to the likes of Spencer and this website, but also from much other reading), my prayers have intensified and become much more focused.
The figures used by the Indonesian government to report the number/percentage of Christians is incorrect. I was told at a government office that by orders from a higher office the figures for the number of Christians and churches had been frozen. Local government offices are in trouble if they report an increase in Christians and/or churches.
The increased intolerance of Christians is because of the growth of the number of Christians.
Statistics are difficult to obtain because people are threatened if they ask for their ID card to register them as Christians.
I lived in Indonesia for 36 years.
You may be interested to know that the latest Final Solution proposed for the dissident Muslim Ahmadiyah minority in West Lombok, Indonesia, is transportation to a desert island. Seriously. These people were persecuted from their homes some years ago by Islamist thuggery, and have been in makeshift accommodation since. The local authority lacks the guts or will to restore them to their kampung, so this new plan is 'for their own good.' Read more in Ross's Right Angle expat blog.