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.