Letter misunderstood<\/p>\n
In my letter to The Jakarta Post dated May 12, 1999 I did not
\nquestion, attack or reject religion, yet all the letter writers
\nassume that I am an atheist.<\/p>\n
I am certainly not an atheist. I do believe in God and I do
\nhave a religion. The letter writers should learn to read other
\npeople's letters more carefully. Where did I write that I do not
\nbelieve in God?<\/p>\n
Pak Muhammad Rusdi (The Jakarta Post, May 15) wrote: \"For some
\nWesterners, to have or not to have religion is not a big deal as
\nwe can see from their lifestyles.\"<\/p>\n
Pak Muhammad, there are as many bad people with a religion as
\nthere are bad people without a religion.<\/p>\n
Ibu Nita wrote (May 18): \"It's beyond my imagination to live
\nin a country without religion, where human power dominates our
\nlife.\" I did not write that I come from a country without
\nreligion. My country of origin, the Kingdom of Belgium, is a
\nsecular state.<\/p>\n
Ibu Nita, for your peace of mind, there are a lot of mosques
\nin Belgium, as well as churches, synagogues and temples, and
\nthose buildings are not museums. Every day many Belgians and
\nforeigners pray in those buildings.<\/p>\n
By the way, what does Ibu Nita think about the deeds of former
\npresident Soeharto, the violence in Maluku, Aceh, the bombing of
\nIstiqlal, corruption, collusion, nepotism and last year's rape of
\nChinese? Religion has a lot to do with all those cruelties. So
\nhas human power.<\/p>\n
Ibu Nurhani (May 22) should not invent words I have never
\nwritten. I repeat: I have never written that I am an atheist.<\/p>\n
Pak Gunawan Ahmad's letter of May 19 made me sad. It is
\nobvious that he does not understand what I have written. He seems
\nto think that I wrote that religion belongs to the 19th century.
\nI never said that. I only pleaded for a secular state, i.e.
\nseparation of religion and state.<\/p>\n
Regarding Pak Gunawan's peculiar views on press freedom -- he
\nwonders how my letter could be published in The Jakarta Post --
\nhe should remember the words written by Voltaire over 200 years
\nago: \"I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death
\nyour right to say it.\"<\/p>\n
Pak Gunawan has a very low opinion of the Indonesian people
\nbecause he thinks that my humble opinion is so dangerous that
\nIndonesian people will be influenced by it. So he suggests that
\nthe Indonesian government should deport me. In other words, Pak
\nGunawan wants to silence me. He might as well try to ban the
\nInternet.<\/p>\n
He also seems to think that Indonesians cannot think for
\nthemselves and they are easily influenced by my opinions.<\/p>\n
Finally, although Pak Gunawan's views sadden me, I am also
\nvery happy that people such as him have not yet come to power in
\nthis country because they would not hesitate to burn me at the
\nstake together with The Jakarta Post just like in the old times
\nin Europe and elsewhere when press freedom was unheard of.<\/p>\n
DIRK JJ VLEUGELS<\/p>\n
Sanur, Bali<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/letter-misunderstood-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }