The Jakarta Post - Editorial: Allah for Malays only?

The Jakarta Post | Tue, 01/12/2010 9:15 AM | Opinion

It is indeed ridiculous that Indonesian religious leaders urged Indonesian Muslims not to follow the acts of some Malaysian Muslims who attacked and damaged several churches in their country following the disputes over the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims. The attempts of some Catholic priests here (in Indonesia) to play down the dispute as merely a language problem and express sympathy to the Malaysian government are also no less absurd. We expect them to be more willing to accept the facts no matter how bitter or embarrassing they are.

The statements of the religious elites, as quoted by The Jakarta Post on Monday, reflected a strong sense of self denial – if not ignorance – that implied that Indonesia has no religious conflict, nor attacks on place of worship. Just click on Google and you will easily find out how many churches have been burned and damaged in this country over the last few years, including very recently.

While it is true that freedom of religion and freedom of expression is much more guaranteed in Indonesia — Malaysia’s Constitution is discriminatory to non-Muslims and non-Malays — but the facts show that religious violence is much higher here than in the neighboring country. Therefore the above appeals are not based on true facts, but more on the willingness to portray that violence as a very rare practice here.

Showing sympathy by our religious leaders to the Malaysian government just because the government condemned the church attacks can also be misleading. It is clear the ruling government in Malaysia is the most responsible party in the violence. It was widely suspected, including by opposition parties and international media, that the government tried to use the sensitive issue between Muslims — by the Constitution, all Malays are Muslims — and non-Muslims to regain popularity there.

The Indonesian government is also the party most responsible for inter-religious conflicts in this country because of its refusal or inability to act firmly against law breakers. We can easily count the number of people who attacked places of worship and were punished. The police often seem powerless against such troublemakers for several reasons, including the cowardice of its generals to deal with people who use religious jargon to justify their barbaric acts. And like Malaysia, the government here often uses sensitive issues to divide people and cheaply boost its popularity.

Inter-religious dialogues are held only at the top level, while at the grassroots, people often feel they have no connection at all with their leaders. Only by having honest dialogue at all levels with sincerity and respect, will we be able to find and resolve the roots of the problems.

The problem in Malaysia is not just a linguistic problem, the roots are much deeper. And let us stop regarding others are worse than us. The church attacks are not exclusive to Malaysia. And to be honest, in many other parts of the world, mosques are also attacked by those who think their religion is superior to others.