*By Maya Safira Muchtar* *, Source : JakartaPost | Wed, 02/03/2010 10:36 AM | Opinion <http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/02/03/is-religious-tolerance-a-success-indonesia-no-it%E2%80%99s-not.html>
After reading several issues of The Jakarta Post these last few days, I have been feeling very disturbed. There have been reports on churches and a pastor’s home being burned allegedly by Muslim mobs. Yet the police were unable to arrest anybody on the pretext that it was done by a mob of people. The mobs had an excuse for burning the churches, on the pretext that the Christians did not have any permits to build the churches (the Jan. 25, 2010 issue). Amazingly, we have heard nothing of this news in the local papers. It is no surprise then that Indonesia wins praise from the United States for religious tolerance. Not only that, some local institutions believe that ethnic and religious issues are no longer the main conflict (Jan. 27, 2010 issue). They say that the main issues are now politics, natural resources and corruption. That is why the government still thinks that there is no urgency to deal with issues of religious tolerance. However, what is being overlooked and undermined is that religious conflicts and radicalism are potential weapons to be used to obtain political and economic gain. We have seen this happening in Pakistan and Somalia. It is reported in the Jan. 27 issue that religious radicalism affects education. I myself know that there is a state high school in Yogyakarta where the students would like to have separate canteens based on their religion. Their student activities are based on fanatic Islamic values which prohibit cultural and musical performances, notably forbidding the teaching of Javanese dance. So I find myself very disturbed when they say that Indonesia is praised for its religious tolerance. Forgive me for saying this, but maybe they have not invited nor even talked to the right people about it. Sometimes, I begin to wonder if these people who insist on giving statements that there is no problem with religious tolerance in Indonesia are practicing the Law of Attraction. Beware; most people confuse the Law of Attraction and positive thinking. The so-called positive thinkers tend to brush off negative topics. However, I am curious why they love to dwell on poverty or corruption issues. I believe because it has to do directly with money. Therefore, it draws a lot of attention from the public. I, myself, am a Muslim who is not so much in favor of radicalism or fanatics. I believe that only those who do not have a firm faith in their beliefs would be either a radical or a fanatic. I am not saying Muslim radicals are solely to blame, but radical Christians, radical Buddhists, radical Hindus, and radical believers in Confucius are too. Fanatics and radicals are those who belittle others’ faiths. Not being able to see the majesty of Allah (in Arabic terms, not Muslim nor Christian terms) in each and every one of them. Therefore, they can never appreciate one another. Sadanand Dhume gives a very clear picture in his book My Friend the Fanatic of the growth of radicalism in Indonesia and it being a threat to the state ideology Pancasila, the 1945 Constitution and the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI). So the question now is… what is the government doing? What is the law enforcement doing? All are busy with the Bank Century case? What about the other pressing problems that affect religious freedom in this country? Even if it is true that the churches did not have any permit to build, does it mean that the people of Indonesia can form mobs to destroy them? So what use is the law? Do they still think that religious conflicts are not of great concern? Why can’t we learn from Somalia and Pakistan? Like Prof. Jeffrey Winters once said in an interview on national television, “Indonesians lack a sense of urgency”. Let us all take this matter seriously and treat it as urgent. **The writer is the founder of the National Integration Movement *( http://www.nationalintegrationmovement.org) -- [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
