The Statement of NIPC regarding the situation in Indonesia toward Christianity


The Statement of NIPC regarding the situation in Indonesia toward Christianity

The Statement of National Indonesian Presbyterian Council (NIPC) on the Violence and
Religious Intolerance in Indonesia

Violence and intolerance have been the dominant pictures of Indonesian religious life lately.
The last riot in Temanggung, Central Java, is a picture how the Indonesian government failed
to deal with the radical Islam extremists who employed a mob to burn and destroy a number
of churches. In addition, Ahmadiyah, an Islamic group who believes in the prophecy of Mirza
Gulam Ahmad, also suffers persecution by similar radical extremists. Lastly, since the past five
years, the radical groups have been targeting progressive Muslim scholars as well.
However, the most astonishing case is the act of closing the Indonesian Christian Church
(GKI) Taman Yasmin Bogor by the Major of the Bogor City. The government, who runs the
state based on a principle of neutrality toward religions, failed to guarantee freedom of religious
life in Indonesia as guaranteed by the Indonesian’s Constitution (UUD 1945). The Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono presidency does not work to protect all the religious believers, as it should
do, for it lets the banning of church activities and allows radical religious groups such as Islamic
Defense Front (FPI) to control the country by using violence toward other religions. The current
government under Yudhoyono does not lead the state based on Indonesian state ideology and the
constitution as the highest law in Indonesia. To make it short, we find no equality before the law
under the current Indonesian government.

Therefore, we strongly insist that:
– The Indonesian government put Pancasila and UUD 1945, as the Indonesian state
Ideology and Constitution, back to the governmental life and the life of Indonesia as a
nation.
– We need a strong government who could deal with the radical extremist groups in
systematic and proper ways.
– The law enforcement policy based on the constitution is a must in the social and political
life of Indonesia.
– We strongly support the anti-terror policy and honor those who are working very hard to
keep Indonesia in a secure atmosphere.
– We also support the human rights advocacy by any agencies who work to ensure human
rights issues in Indonesia.
– We highly recommend the National Asian Presbyterian Council (NAPC) and
Presbyterian Church of the United States of America (PC-USA) to speak to any agencies
who could help Indonesia to go back to Pancasila as the state ideology and UUD 1945
as the national constitution, for in these two documents the human rights issues are
guaranteed over all Indonesians.

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