"Moderate Indonesia": Two Evangelists beaten and arrested

Yes, sammy, no doubt there are idiots among every group of people. But I'm sorry, there is one religion that has more radicals, and more aggressive ones, too. And while I keep hearing that it has nothing to do with religion, but only poverty, local culture, yada, yada, what is happening in Indonesia is proof of the opposite. This is not one or two bad apples - these are outbreaks of intolerance in a supposedly "moderate" Muslim country.

Muslim extremists throw stones and urine at Bekasi Christians

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - A mob of Muslim extremists attacked a praying house that belongs to the Filadelfia Christian Protestant Batak Church (HKBP), Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta (West Java). Despite the intervention of the police, the 300 and more attackers threw stones and urine-filled bags at the walls of the building, interrupting yesterday's service celebrating the Ascension of the Lord. This is nothing new. Just last week, a group of hooligans brutally assaulted a local Christian journalist. In February, local extremists disrupted a religious service with loudspeakers and shouts (see picture and YouTube video)

In yesterday's incident, attackers threw stones and urine-filled bags, shouting anti-Christian slogans and insults, forcing worshippers to stop five minutes into the Ascension service. HKBP members eventually left the site for security reasons and went home.

Reached by AsiaNews this afternoon, Rev Palti H. Panjaitan Sth, head of the Filadelfia HKBP community, explained that his congregation has faced problems in worshipping freely since 2006.

The community has existed since April 2000, when a group of ethnic Batak Christians set up their own independent congregation. Since they did not have a 'praying house' of their own, they initially worshipped in private dwellings. However, as the community grew-it is about 1,500 at present-it became increasingly necessary to build a real place of worship. This, however, sparked a legal battle.

After three years of legal wrangling over the building permit (known by its notorious Indonesian acronym IMB), an administrative court in West Java recognised the Christians' legitimate right to build a church. The Supreme Court also ruled in their favour.

Yet the obstinate opposition by Bekasi authorities and local Muslim extremists, in violation of the law, brought the project to a standstill on several occasions and could ultimately derail it.

As in the case of the Yasmin Church in Bogor, also in West Java, members of the HKBP Filadelfia Church have no option, for now, but to celebrate their rites and services in private homes or in the street, which brings the risk of being attacked and insulted.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Musl...nes-and-urine-at-Bekasi-Christians-24788.html

This here just happened last week:

Hundreds of Muslim extremists attack Christian prayer house in Aceh

Jakarta (AsiaNews) - A mob of Muslim extremists attacked a Christian prayer house in Aceh Province. The building was damaged and worshippers were forced to stop the service. Local witnesses, who asked their names be withheld, said that the attack occurred last Sunday, during worship. The place itself belongs to the Indonesian Bethel Church.

The fundamentalist attack was apparently caused by a lack of building permit (Izin Mendirikan Bangunan in Indonesian), a claim Christians deny. More disheartening for the members of the congregation is the fact that the attack occurred under the eyes of the police, which did not lift a finger, except to place seals on the building after the incident.

The Indonesian Bethel Church where the attack took place is located in Peunayong, capital of the province of Banda Aceh.

The mob struck during Sunday prayer. Hundreds of attackers hurled stones and pebbles against the building, causing major damages to the structures.

Eyewitnesses confirmed that the police stood idly by as the incident unfolded, whilst worshippers had to evacuate the building, seeking refuge in a safer location.

Human rights activists and associations slammed the extremist raid, noting that it occurred in a place that had been characterised by relative calm and a "pluralistic environment".

Aceh, Indonesia's westernmost province, is also the only part of the archipelago where Sharia is enforced. Provincial authorities use a morality police, a special street-level law enforcement unit, to crack down on people who violate the local moral code.

Under Governor Irwandy Yusuf, a former rebel fighter, there was some degree of interreligious peace and harmony between the Muslim majorities and non-Muslim "foreigners". However, things have recently changed. As fundamentalists gained more power and freedom to act, religious minorities have come under attack.

In last April's elections, long-time exiled (in Sweden) former separatist leader Zaini Abdullah easily won on a platform centred on fighting corruption and enforcing Islamic law.

As signs of growing interreligious tensions multiply, local Christian communities have seen attacks and acts of violence, included the forced closure of their places of worship, increase.

Indonesia has a history of moralisation campaigns in the name of Sharia and Muslim customs, which are particular rigid in Aceh. The most recent case involved a ban on miniskirts, a moralisation campaign led by ulemas against yoga and tobacco, and police action against people wearing jeans and tight skirts.

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Hund...ack-Christian-prayer-house-in-Aceh-25068.html

 

Asian

 

West Aceh police checkpoints and raids against jeans and tight skirts



Jakarta (AsiaNews) - The women of the District of West Aceh can no longer wear jeans or tight skirts, considered indecent and against Islam. From yesterday in the city of Meulaboh, Wilayatul Hisbah (special police for the enforcement of Sharia), are patrolling the streets forcing people wearing the offending clothing to wear a tunic tailored to Islamic rules. The restrictions also affect men, who can not wear shorts in the tropical country.

Ramli Mansur, head of the district, said: "To enforce the Sharia, for the next days the special police will carry out raids against women who offend Islamic law." He adds that agents have purchased more than 20 thousand coats to be distributed in public places and created a series of checkpoints along the roads to the city to stop travellers.

The manoeuvre is the result of the new rules for the application of Islamic law introduced in December 2009. It has attracted the criticism from moderate Muslims and human rights activists, who see the application of Islamic law as a form of terrorism.

The province of Aceh, a famous tourist destination, is also the province where Sharia law is applied. In recent years the majority of Islamic restrictions were applied at the behest of Islamic religious authority. The current governor Irwandy Jusuf is a former leader of Free Aceh Movement Group (GAM), a movement for the independence of the island and over the years has always opposed the application of Sharia in the province. (M.H.)

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/West...ids-against-jeans-and-tight-skirts-18524.html

 

I'm 6'6.

To be honest, I am not very good at basketball, though. But I think I'd probably block your shot a few times.

 

Who are the "other large players"? Are they ideologically close to the Wahhabis? Can you explain what you mean? Thanks.