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Indonesia’s parliament on Tuesday endorsed a presidential decree that gives officials sweeping powers to ban organizations deemed as threats to national unity. The decree, signed in July by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, has already been used to ban Hizbut Tahrir, an Islamic organization that advocates for a global caliphate. It required parliamentary approval to become permanent law. […] The decree allows officials to sidestep the courts when banning organizations it deems contrary to the country’s constitution. It was issued following months of sectarian tensions in the world’s most populous Muslim nation that shook the government and undermined its reputation for...

The recent uptick of the Islamic “tolerance” of Christianity continues and this time the hate has arisen in Indonesia. Isn’t Indonesia supposed to be one of those so called “moderate” Islamic countries? 01/23/2010 INDONESIA North Sumatra, two Protestant churches burnt: “too many faithful and too many prayers” by Mathias Hariyadi At least 1,000 people set fire to the Pentecostal community places of worship.

Surabaya: The country's largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), strongly reiterated its opposition Friday to efforts to turn Indonesia into a theocratic state. NU lawmaking body chief Sahal Mahfudz said the organization needed to reaffirm its commitment to the country's secular traditions amid concerted moves to introduce sharia as a legal foundation for drafting legislation. "The NU upholds pluralism in line with the Pancasila. We oppose the implementation of sharia because this will only lead to disintegration. Sharia can be implemented without being formalized," Sahal told the opening ceremony of a three-day national NU ulema conference in Surabaya, East Java....

Jakarta, 9 Dec. (AKI/Jakarta Post) - Civilian guards from Indonesia's largest Muslim organisation, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) are to help secure churches in the country during Christmas and New Year's celebrations. The move is a goodwill gesture towards the country's Christian minority, after recent threats of terror attacks by the al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiya (JI) militant group against a range of targets in Indonesia and other Asian nations. The NU guards, called Banser - from the organisation's youth wing - have agreed to back the police in ensuring the peaceful celebration of Christmas and New Year. Baser has also contact...

On October 10, 1996, 25 churches in several towns in East Java were vandalized and burned down Unlike the previous incident on June 9, 1996, these incidents occurred in several towns surrounding the township of Situbondo where the attack first started. They are Situbondo, Besuki, Penarukan, Asembagus/Banyuputih, Wonorejo, and Ranurejo. This attack came only months after the authority promised to find the perpetrators in the last incident and are still without significant progress. [14]GKJW Induk Ranurejo Jawi Wetan Christian Church in Ranurejo Location: Ranurejo, East Java [15]Gereja Kristus Tuhan Christ the Lord Church Location: Ranurejo, East Java [16]Gereja Sidang Jemaat...

Hasyim Muzadi, the chairman of Indonesia's largest Muslim organization Nahdlatul Ulama, said the group strongly opposed any U.S. attack on Iraq. "We totally oppose a U.S. attack on Iraq. What would it be based on? There's never been a clear argument from the United States, and even their allies oppose it," Muzadi was quoted by The Jakarta Post as saying on the sidelines of a seminar on terrorism in Jakarta. "If the U.S. strikes, they will lose significant value as a democratic country, and we will protest," he said. Nahdlatul Ulama is said to have some 40 million supporters across...