Closures of churches

Closures of churches

The attacks and forced closures of churches throughout the
country in the last four years have reached an alarming level for
Indonesian Christians, both Protestant and Catholic. They see no
sign that the government has the capability -- and more
importantly -- the political will to prevent, or at least to
minimize, the blatant betrayal of the 1945 Constitution, which
guarantees freedom of religion for all of the country's citizens.

In most cases, the government has rarely been serious about
punishing those who use violence to close down churches or
silence moderate Muslims who have different views from the
extremist groups.

The government's attitude of not creating "unnecessary"
problems with the hard-liners that take matters into their own
hands, was reflected by the statement of Minister of Religious
Affairs M. Maftuh Basyuni last week. He said that the government
would not prosecute the Muslim groups that closed down at least
23 churches over the past year in West Java alone, but instead
asserted that the churches were built by "illegal congregations."

Many Protestants -- with a dozen or so denominations -- feel
helpless because it is nearly impossible to build a church, while
still meeting all the regulations required, even those that have
been waiting for years to get authorization. So in lieu of full
authorization, many have decided to plant churches without the
official licenses because they were nearly certain that they
would never be granted such permits.

On the other hand, as reflected in the statements of the
regional branches of the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) during
the MUI national congress last month, more Muslims seem to be
alarmed by the threat of conversion from Islam to Christianity
and have vowed to take all necessary measures to stop such
conversions, including a clampdown on the aggressive construction
of churches in many places. Perhaps not many Muslims realize
there are over a dozen Protestant denominations, and each group
wants to set up their own churches no matter how small their
number is.

There are general sentiments among many Muslims that the
number of churches are not equal to the number of Christians
living in a particular area where the churches are located. They
suspect that is a result of conversions to Christianity becoming
the prime source of the construction of more churches in many
places in Indonesia.

"The phenomenon of the construction of churches in this
province is most disturbing," said a Jambi delegate at the MUI
congress. While a delegate from Cilegon in Banten province,
expressed his pride at the achievement that "there is not a
single church in Cilegon to this day."

The minority groups often feel discriminated against by the
state, while the majority of Muslims often perceive that the
minority groups -- non-Muslims -- control the country's economy,
and that they are the majority only in terms of quantity and not
quality.

Many Christian denominations, however, have often fueled the
fire that threatens to burn them, as they openly proselytize to
Muslims telling them that Jesus is the only way to heaven.
Learning how to behave ourselves among our majority compatriots
is also important to prevent conflicts.

We can no longer hide this bitter fact. It is ridiculous to
conclude that freedom of religion is becoming extinct in this
country, but it is also absurd to say that there are no
interfaith problems here.

It is time now to stop pretending that Indonesia is a perfect
model for religious tolerance and that, "Indonesians are very
tolerant against those who have different faiths and that there
is no problem of religious freedom here." It is time to concede
honestly that the people of this nation are less tolerant now
toward differences in religion. Only by opening the wounds and
diseases, together we can cure the illness. Let us honestly
concede that we have trouble in religious relations, because only
with an honest, open-minded attitude can we rid ourselves of the
problems.

It is not enough just to involve prominent religious leaders
in inter-religion dialogs, because often an agreement will be
reached on paper. But the full and effective involvement of the
grassroots people in the dialog process is the only way to get
more real exchanges of views. Let them talk each other openly to
find possible solutions, but still in the constructive spirit of
the citizens of Indonesia.

The people can be proud to be the world's third largest
democracy after India and the United States, as well as the
nation with the world's largest Muslim population, in which Islam
is regarded as a model for tolerance and moderation. Hopefully,
we will not tarnish those things due to impatience and a lack of
respect for others who have different beliefs and opinions.