Reaction to 'Bias of faith'

Reaction to 'Bias of faith'

In relation to the attacks on Jamaah Ahmadiyah Indonesia
(JAI), you write that "They create erroneous misperceptions
that spur a 'Western' simplification on Islam and terrorism."

I strongly doubt that this Western simplification is the
result of the acts of a handful of fanatics: These type of people
can be found everywhere. Instead, this Western simplification is
rooted in the fact that Indonesia in reality does not have
freedom of religion, even though it is supposed to be among the
most moderate and tolerant of regimes with an Islamic background.

Take for instance the fact that the number of recognized
religions is limited to five and that state-sanctioned
authorities determine who are the "real" and the "false" prophets
of these faiths, while the four non-Muslim faiths are regularly
discriminated against.

Since Indonesia is not a secular state, this also has grave
consequences for the human rights and civil liberties of
minorities. To give one example: People belonging to an
unrecognized faith can't get married. As a result, they are
denied their basic rights, and can even -- if they should simply
live together -- get into trouble with the authorities. This is
not the policy of a handful of fanatics but of the Indonesian
state.

In fact, these are actually very recent developments. You also
write that "Despite our differing ethnicities, religions and
races, Indonesians have always set aside their contradictions and
turned their homeland's diversity into a strength."

We know that this is not true if we look, for instance, at the
discrimination against ethnic Chinese, and the ethnic and religious
conflicts that have occurred across the archipelago. The reality
simply is that decades of authoritarian rule suppressed ethnic
discord. But just like in Yugoslavia after the disappearance of
its centralized authoritarian regime, ethnic and religious
conflict could become even worse if Indonesia does not seriously
protect and uphold the civil liberties of its minorities.

The questions that "simplistic Westerners" are asking are: Why
are the criminals who attacked the JAI not brought to justice?
Even Muslim scholars and organizations have criticized the role
of the authorities in this drama.

If Islam is basically a peaceful religion and the majority of
its followers wouldn't have anything to do with fanaticism or
terrorism -- something I don't deny -- then why are the
Indonesian authorities in the legislative, judicial and executive
branches of government not fulfilling their responsibilities?

BUDHI WIDYATAMA, Vancouver, Canada