Religious Persecution in Indonesia - Research Paper Example

Introduction Religious persecution is defined as a campaign to drive away, or subjugate people because of their religion, race, or beliefs. While to the international community, they see it as “the faithful are arrested and imprisoned. Their homes and churches are invaded and confiscated. In addition, hundreds or thousands every year are martyred -- sometimes by mobs and other times by governments. Religious persecution is a treatment to create an “other. In a way, these Indonesian Christians felt they are an “outcast. When Indonesia declared her independence, Sukarno, the first president of Indonesia, chaired a meeting with his cabinet and established a constitution law that requires the future president candidates to be a Muslim in order to curb persecution of Christians and other minorities in Indonesia. Having Muslim as a religion will make government officials have a more stable position to this problem. This attracts several people to convert to Muslim and to some extent; they are willing to change their name to Islamic (Aragon 39-41). Persecution of Christians Religious discrimination is a serious issue in Indonesia and yet the government is not taking any action to solve this issue. They should be more understanding and respect other religions. Although it has subsided recently, discrimination against religion in Indonesia is still visible and vibrant. The religious conflicts have been solely targeting Christians. Indonesia is the world’s largest and fastest growing Muslim country in the world. Being a third world country, Indonesia has unstable political structure and racial and religious discrimination common. Today, discrimination is regarded as an ordinary daily occurrence and sometimes it may have gone too far. In this particular country, discrimination against religion had hurt hundreds and even taken several lives. For instance, to demonstrate the pain the Christians are going through in Indonesia, extreme persecution and violence is the order of the day in that at some point, three Christian school girls were mercilessly beheaded by masked attackers (AtlasShrug. Com n.d). The girls were attending a Christian school when they were attacked. The Police responded saying that one of the girls head hanged in front of the newly constructed Christian church while others placed outside the police station. The Islamic extremist claims that they are killing Christians in order to instill fears in the hearts of Christians to stop them from spreading Christian messages. Shockingly, the government of Indonesia is turning blind eye to these religious tension by failing to protect all its citizens as stipulated in the constitution. Government authorities are afraid of taking step that might be viewed as Anti-Islam. For the authorities, being popular is more important than punishing those who going against the law (Testriono 2). Laxity of the police was blamed on an upper hand that deemed not to care whether the Ahmadis were attacked or not. The bitter truth coming to light was that a constitutionally elected government was taking sides in what was spelling an entire doom to the nation. The capability of the government to uphold the freedom of religion and religious associations is put to test. More so, the security of minority groups also comes forth as an uphill task for the government despite it being one of the stipulations in the Indonesian constitution. One key deduction arising is that the minority has lost faith in the elected government and merely depend on their God for existence in the Indonesian territory (Hall and Millard 110-113). The government has exhibited open contempt to sideline the minority religious inclinations or affiliations. Source: AtlasShrug.Com Government turning a blind eye to persecutions of Christians In the city of Bekasi near Jakarta, Christians continue to endure torture and persecution in that banners are being hanged in front of the mosque with pictures of Christians with noose around their necks and the words such as this people deserves death penalty. Christians in Bekasi have been accused by Islamic extremists of trying to Christianize the city. For instance, in 2010, Islamic extremists interrupted Christian religious services, prevented Christians from accessing their churches, and blocked the building of new churches. Majority of the Christians came from the working class to upper class -- they are able to make ends meet. This is the area where jealousy gets intense (Bowen 45-48). Part of the reason why the Christians are being prosecuted is the fact that they are better funded and the Muslims are being jealous because of that. A local church, which is located in Jakarta church, had its permit abolished by the local mayor for unmentioned reasons. It seemed liked the mayor had more power to this battle as he could simply violate the courts orders. The local police also stood by the mayor as they refused to give security to the terrorized church congregation. Sealed off from its own members, the meanings of the church have yet ceased to fade as the people of the church continue their weekly services on the streets (AHRC.NET n.d). Indonesian government takes sides in dealing with the Christian persecution in that it is protecting its Islamic homegrown thugs to an extent of offering them compromises. Some cities such as Bogor continue to encounter the violent attacks on Christians and the permit system for building houses and churches continues to shows how government is taking protecting Islamic extremists. For instance, there is strong disagreement between the Muslims and Christians in that Christian mass and services are being halted with regard to the faithful Parish of St. John the Baptist Church. Muslims claim that the church was built on their land. The Mayor instead conspired with the Islamic extremists by revoking the permit that belonged to the Christians. The local government does not seem to promote the spirit of religious freedom, multiculturalism and Unity in that the local government official have never shown the intent to find an agreement on the matter that concerns the place of worship. More so, the first rules of Jakarta Charter which part of the Constitution, provided an obligation for all people to observe Shariah law. The government ignored the Court ruling of closing down Christian churches but the local government officials continue to ignore to show their firm support of Christian killings and torture. The government has used systematic effort to suppress the Islamic extremists and at the end has turned a blind eye to persecution and torture of Christians by Muslim thugs. For this reason, there is no difference between genuine freedom of religion and allowed to exist (AntichristComes n.d). Possible solutions to the problem The ongoing rivalry between Muslims and Christians can be solved if Christians agree to construct churches on the streets bearing Islamic names. In addition, the government needs to start processing permit addresses afresh with the aim of trying to end the conflict. The Indonesian government ought to freeze the activities of the Islamic groups, which continues to wage what it calls moral crusade by deploying more police and troops in all cities. By doing this, the government will be guaranteeing the security of citizens despite existence of religious differences. The government needs to investigate the case where Christians are denied permits to construct churches and charge those responsible for contravention of the law. In addition, the government needs to evaluate the organizations, which might lead to freezing the activities of militia groups responsible for anarchy. It is significant that the Indonesian government declare Islam a State religion because majority of the people are Muslims. Therefore, Having Muslim as a religion will make government officials have a more stable position (Wasim and Franke 79-82). This attracts several people to convert themselves to Muslim and to some extent; they are willing to change to Islam. It is important for Indonesian government must be at the forefront of encouraging genuine freedom of religion and associations. They must do all within their means to protect the interest of the minority since this is not a favor but a constitutional right for the citizens. For this to be achieved there should be shift in paradigm whereby the State should encourage genuine freedom of religion and associations. Works Cited AtlasShrug.com. Islamic Jihad in Indonesia. Retrieved on 14 Feb 2012 from http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2006/11/islamic_jihad_i.html AntichristComes.“Religious Discrimination Lawsuit Against Houstons National Cemetery. (Update- 7/1/2011)” Youtube. Youtube, 10 Jul. 2011. Web. 5 Feb. 2012. Ahnaf, Muhammad. The Image of the Other as Enemy: Radical Discourse in Indonesia (Islam in Southeast Asia: Views from Within Series. Jakarta: Silkworm Books, 2006. Print. Aragon, Lorraine. Fields of the Lord: Animism, Christian Minorities, and State Development. Hawaii: Univ of Hawaii Pr, 2000. Print. Hall, Ivan and Millard, Mike. Jihad in Paradise: Islam and Politics in Southeast Asia. London: M E Sharpe Inc, 2004. Print. Hennigfeld, Judith and Pohl, Manfred. The ICCA Handbook of Corporate Social Responsibility. New York: Wiley, 2006. Print. Mann, David. A Deadly Misunderstanding: A Congressmans Quest to Bridge the Muslim- Christian Divide. Washington, DC: Harper One, 2008. Print. Wasim, Alef and Franke, Edith. Religious Harmony: Problems, Practice, and Education Religion and Reason 45. New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2006. Print. Bowen, John. Religious Discrimination and Religious Governance Across Secular and Islamic Countries: France and Indonesia as Limiting Cases. American Behavioral scientist Journal, Sage Publishers, 2012. AHRC.NET. Indonesia: Freedom of religion not protected. Asian Human rights Commission: Web. 13 Feb. 2012. Testriono. “How to worship without fear in Indonesia.” thejakartapost.com. The Jakarta Post, 13 Feb. 2012. Web. Read More