Posted on 06/22/2007 6:43:03 AM PDT by Valin
Jakarta, 22 June (AKI/Jakarta Post) - Results from a recent survey indicate that the majority of Indonesian Muslims are tolerant toward other religions and reject the imposition of religious bylaws but believe that bombings will continue to be a threat in the future. Pollster Indo Barometer conducted the survey in May this year to determine Indonesian Muslims' opinions on terrorism and religious tolerance in their own country.
The survey was distributed in 33 provinces using multi-stage random sampling and face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents of all religions. Only the answers of 1,047 Muslim respondents were taken into account. Those surveyed were either aged 17 years and above or in wedlock. Respondents were selected to reflect as closely as possible Central Statistics Agency demographic data.
Director of Indo Barometer M. Qodari said the results showed that 95.4 percent of respondents agree that tolerance between all religions is important, with only 3.5 percent considering it unimportant. He added that 51 percent of respondents reject the idea that religious tolerance is decreasing, while 42.7 percent believe it is.
Additionally, 53.8 percent of respondents believe terrorism still threatens the country, while 71.8 percent reject the notion that terrorism is linked directly to a specific religion.
Qodari added that 88.88 percent of respondents disagree with using violence to battle immoral behavior, while 7.4 percent support it. The results also indicate that 96.2 percent disagree with violence toward people of other religions, while 1.3 percent agree with it.
"Even though the figure is small, there are still some people who advocate violence. We should keep an eye on this figure," Qodari said during the announcement of the survey results at the Wahid Institute on Thursday.
The results indicate that 63.3 percent of respondents disagree with the issuance of religious bylaws, while 27.9 percent agree. Qodari said that 97.6 percent of respondents did not believe that pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) were breeding grounds for terrorism.
Commenting on the survey, Moeslim Abdurrahman, a member of Muhammadiyah, Indonesia's second largest Muslim organisation, said the results helped provide a picture of contemporary Indonesian Muslims.
He said, however, it was not a good tool for determining which regions had the highest number of hard-liners or for pinpointing who they were in order to counsel them. Moeslim maintained that communication is the key to eliminating terrorism.
"Unfortunately, we can't sort out who the extremists are. That is our organization's biggest weakness. We simply don't know exactly who they are. We know who is in the fundamentalist groups, but we don't know who the terrorists are," he told The Jakarta Post.
Father Benny Susetyo of the Bishops' Council of Indonesia said the survey had made no major revelations because the nature of most Indonesians is to respect the beliefs of others. He added, however, that the government should continue upholding pluralism in Indonesia.
"All religious bylaws should be eliminated. The government should create universal regulations, which don't discriminate among communities," Benny told the Post.
“MUSLIMS REMAIN TOLERANT POLL FINDS”
Painfully obvious. I could have told them that and spared them the expense of a poll.
Forgot the “/sarc” tag
Wonder why the so called “other religions”, 153 of them were not used?
What a joke. Indonesians routinely burn local Christian churches and beat up and even kill members of the congregations.
And anybody remember the Bali bombings? And the slap on the wrist handed out to the perpetrators, because public opinion wouldn’t tolerate their being incarcerated for the rest of their lives?
Of course the government will claim Islam is a religion of peace...
In other news, bears still crap in the woods.
Did the newspaper print the latest Batboy update too?
Horse hockey.
Pure and unadulterated.
Indonesia have about 235 million people. This still means that there are roughly 3.1 million people in Indonesia (and guess which religion they likely belong to) who think violence against people of other religions is acceptable. Just goes to show that even if the dubious case can be made that violent Islamists are only a "tiny minority", that this still amounts to quite a lot of people.
Additionally, 53.8 percent of respondents believe terrorism still threatens the country, while 71.8 percent reject the notion that terrorism is linked directly to a specific religion.
Though there have been violent people who have claimed about every religion known to man at some point or another, the fact remains that Islam is the ONLY religion whose scriptures, and subsequent history, demonstrate a systematic, religiously-motivated violence against anyone who doesn't belong to the religion. There are quite a lot of violent, intolerant Hindus in India today, but that doesn't translate into Hinduism itself espousing violence against non-Hindus as a religious doctrine. Likewise, Catholics has killed a whole lot of people in the name of their religion (Crusades, conquistadores, Inquisitions, etc.) but that is an aberration from, not a tribute to, the foundational texts upon which it is based.
http://www.actioninengland.gb.com/muslim_atrocities/ogrish-dot-com-three_teenagers_beheaded_in_indonesia1.jpg
Yes?
The majority of Muslims ARE tolerant.
It’s just that small minority of 750 million Muslims who are not.
Yes They believe in religious diversity - they are equal opportunity slaughterers they kill and maim Hindus Seikhs, Jews, Buddhists - not just Christians!
Being Muslim is being intolerant. The Koran commands them to convert the whole world by what ever means necessary including murder and jihad.
If the West could promote that industry, the potential loss of that non-Islamic perk/industry might keep some of them tolerant.
Somehow I doubt this.
His Excellency Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid
Serves as LibForAll Foundation’s
Patron and Senior Advisor
http://www.libforall.org/about-us-patron.html
Popularly known as Gus Dur, H.E. Kyai Haji Abdurrahman Wahid was Indonesia’s first democratically-elected president and long-time head of the Nahdlatul Ulama, the world’s largest Muslim organization, with nearly 40 million members. He was also the recipient of the 2003 Friends of the United Nations Global Tolerance Award.
For over thirty years, Gus Dur has used his position to advocate religious tolerance, pluralism and democracy. On many occasions, he has sent members of his Muslim organization to defend Christian churches and congregations—with their lives, if necessary—from attack by radical Islamists
But there is no doubting Wahid’s commitment to interfaith harmony. He tells Indonesian Muslims that they can learn from Christianity and Christian life, and has dispatched armed members of Nahdlatul Ulama to protect Christian churches from Islamist violence. Not long ago, one of Wahid’s Muslim adherents was killed when he discovered a bomb in a church and used his body to shield the Christian worshipers from its blast. That stunning act of selflessness is a powerful reminder that Muslims no less than non-Muslims have a great deal riding on the defeat of the Islamofascists, and that we will not win the war against radical Islam without Muslim allies like Wahid.
Jeff Jacoby’s e-mail address is jacoby@globe.com.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
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