INDONESIA: ISLAMISTS THREATEN TO TEAR DOWN CHURCH
 |
| Police protecting church |
JAKARTA, May 6 (Compass
Direct News) – Muslim extremists and local government authorities last
week threatened to tear down a church building under construction in
North Sumatra even though church leaders met requirements of
Indonesia’s draconian law on worship places, the church’s pastor said.
Emboldened by local authorities’ unwillingness to grant a church building permit to Protestant Bataks Christian Church (Huria Kristen Batak Protestan,
or HKBP), some 100 Muslim extremists accompanied by government
officials on April 29 tried to destroy the building under construction
in Jati Makmur village, North Binjai, 22 kilometers (14 miles) from the
provincial capital of Medan.
The Rev. Monang Silaban, HKBP pastor, said about 100 members of
the Islamic extremist Front Pembela Islam (Islamic Defender Front, or
FPI), some armed with “sharp weapons,” arrived at 4:30 p.m. accompanied
by Binjai municipal officials, who brought a bulldozer. Church members
quickly gathered to defend the building, with women anxiously crying,
“Please God protect us.”
Just found out about this awareness when I read it on
Paxton's posting. Nothing much would I write. Christians in Indonesia are
still treated unfairly these days, even though things aren't as bad as
10 years ago. But persecutions still happen every now and then in some part of the country. God's children are still crying here, even though it might be a silent cry.
Comments
Prayer offered.
Reading this post just suddenly reminds me of how dangerous it is when religion is understood merely as a set of rules on right/wrong or the faithful/infidel.
I am a muslim, yet I feel sorry for my fellow muslims who, for their superficial comprehension on Islam, choose violence and attack people in different faith
brutally. I believe that we can gain peace on earth with mutual understanding and love. And I deeply symphatize with the victim Christians and damaged churches mentioned in your post above.
May God guide us all.