Mark Absher
11-11-10
9:30AM
Once again the country of Indonesia and its government has come under fire. The Religious Affairs Minister, Suryadharma Ali has been denounced by international human rights organizations for his stand against the Ahmadiya. The New York based Human Rights Watch has written a letter to Indonesian President Yudhoyono denouncing the discrimination of this Islamic sect. This sect is comprised of nearly 200,000 Indonesians and is different from mainstream Islam because of their belief that Mohammad was not the final prophet. The Minister of Religious Affairs has been heavily scrutinized for his push since 2006 to have the sect banned and for his 2006 decree that makes it very difficult for minority religions to build houses of worship. The result has been a tacit approval of discrimination against this sect and an increase in violence towards those who follow it. The Human Rights Watch has alleged that the Minister’s stance is due to his own religious beliefs and does nothing but foster hate and fear.
The problem with this is that it fosters a hostile environment for freedom. As areas of the world, such as Indonesia, continue to have policies like this, it spills over into other areas of the world. As the discrimination grows other areas of freedom will come under attack. It’s the typical government model, as it gains power, to discriminate against religion for instance; it rarely gives this power up without a significant fight. So we see that this is a social problem, even for us thousands and thousands of miles away. The only viable solution is what this human rights group is doing, shining the spotlight on the persecution.
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesian-president-urged-to-take-minister-to-task-over-ahmadiyah/405011
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