Ref : Sebelumnya Menteri Agama Suryadharma Ali mengklaim Indonesia sebagai 
negara dengan toleransi tertinggi di dunia 
(http://www.indonesiamedia.com/2012/06/01/negara-paling-toleran-di-dunia/ ). 
LSI menyatakan lebih toleransi.  Cuma saja toleransi tertinggi dan lebih 
toleransi  dijaga oleh ribuan tentara, polisi dan kapal perang.
. 

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/24/indonesia-more-tolerant-perceived-lsi.html


Indonesia more tolerant than perceived: LSI
Margareth S. Aritonang, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Headlines | Mon, December 
24 2012, 10:15 AM 

A new survey conducted by the Indonesia Survey Circle (LSI) found that the 
majority of people are tolerant and concerned about worsening discrimination 
against religious and ethnic minorities.

According to the survey, conducted between Dec. 14 and 17, only 10 percent of 
respondents condoned discrimination against minority groups in the country and 
insisted that minority groups should submit to the wishes of the majority.

LSI, however, found that although intolerant people were few in number, they 
were opinion setters who wielded influence in their communities.

The survey outfit found that intolerant groups could inflict violence on a 
regular basis because of lax law enforcement.

“These groups include, among others, members of the Islam Defenders Front 
(FPI). These people are very vocal and actively reach out to society declaring 
that they represent the majority of the population to legitimize their violent 
actions [against members of minority groups]. We now know that they are the 
minority,” LSI researcher Adjie Alfaraby said in a press briefing on Sunday.

He said that radical groups could freely commit violence because of the 
inaction of moderate groups. 

“These people would not dare impose their will if the majority Indonesians were 
united in rejecting their arbitrary actions. It would also help if the 
government enforced the law strictly when there are violent acts,” he added. 

In its latest survey, LSI interviewed 440 respondents from around the country 
in focus group discussions. Field workers also had in-depth interviews with the 
respondents over the country’s diversity.

In the survey, 88.84 percent of the respondents favored equality among all 
religious groups, and only 9.15 percent insisted that the government should 
favor members of the majority religion.

When asked about ethnicity issues, 93.04 percent of the respondents were of the 
opinion that ethnic identity should not determine treatment toward others.

Only 5.22 percent wanted special treatment for those of the ethnic majority.

LSI found that in spite of the spirit of tolerance among members of the 
community, politics made it difficult to promote respect for those of other 
faiths and ethnicity.

“Politicians will capture members of this small, powerful group to get support 
for their political interests. We, for example, identified that violent attacks 
by such groups tend to escalate during certain periods,” Novriantoni Kahar from 
nonprofit group Denny JA Foundation said.

Novriantoni said that religious clashes tended to happen, both at local and 
national levels, at around the time of elections.

Although the majority of the respondents accepted differences, only half of 
them said they would accept leaders, particularly at the local administration 
level, of different faiths and ethnicity.

Of six minority categories given as options, women were the most welcomed to 
lead in local government, with homosexuals being the most frowned upon.

Other categories included atheists, Ahmadis, Shiites and adherents to different 
faiths.

“This reflects the condition of our society. People would tend to vote for 
female candidates rather than male Ahmadis or Shiites, for example,” LSI 
researcher Adjie said.

The finding also confirmed LSI’s study released in October citing gays and 
lesbians as the group most likely to face the highest level of hostility.

According to the survey, rejection of having gay or lesbian neighbors had 
increased significantly since 2005 as Indonesians would prefer to live next 
door to people of other faiths, even with those they deem deviant like Shia or 
Ahmadiyah.

“However, having seen that the majority of Indonesians in fact embrace 
differences, we want to encourage leaders of this country to promote and 
protect these differences. We also want to suggest that candidates running in 
the 2014 presidential election not be afraid to advocate differences over the 
fear of losing votes,” Adjie added.


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