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March 15, 2001
Presentation of Maria Sliwa at the Jan Karski Wellspring of Freedom, A
Program of the Institue on Religion and Public Policy
Washington, DC
Thank you Joe Gieboski.
I am here today because of the on-going violence, specifically the murderous attacks on Christians and Christian communities in Indonesia.
Indonesian Christians and moderate Muslims are tired of fighting. Their islands, where people of all faiths once lived peacefully side by side, are now polarised along religious lines. The strife has been imported by intruding provocateurs (Suharto loyalists and Islamic extremists) with their aim of destabilising the democratically elected Wahid government. Additionally, the police and military are under-resourced. The main threats to peace are still the Laskar Jihad force which is determined to wipe out the Christian community, and rogue military officers.(Religious Liberty Commission, March 15, 2001) "Waging a holy war in Molucca is obligatory for all Muslims in Indonesia," proclaims the Laskar Jihad Web site, http://www.laskarjihad.or.id.
Indonesia used to be considered an important place when Washington bothered to notice. With 210 million residents, it's the world's most populous Muslim country. Some 40 percent of the world's commerce passes through its key sea lanes. Western corporate giants such as Caltex, Mobil, British Petroleum and Freeport-McMoRan represent vast oil and mining investments there. Three years ago, when the Southeast Asian financial crisis blew through the region, battering Indonesia like a monsoon, Washington was alarmed. International Monetary Fund chief Michel Camdessus, prodded by the U.S. Treasury, rushed in and imposed a harsh financial fix on the then President Suharto that led to the collapse of many banks and businesses. The IMF later admitted its policy was too draconian, but it was too late. The bailout scheme failed, Suharto resigned and the West exulted at the expected dawning of democracy. Then, for the most part, it stopped paying attention. (Newsweek, 3/12/2001)
Two days ago, the South China Morning Post reported that "Faith is a big issue these days for Ambon's beleaguered Christians," after a series of onslaughts by well-armed Muslim forces, left at least half the city in ruins. On the same day this article was published, the LA Times reported that "The Christians, (are) often outnumbered and outgunned by the Muslims." And that "Muslims and Christians who wish to see each other must meet in one of the city's few neutral zones-the governor's office, the airport or the military hospital."
On March 13th, the LA Times published the story of Benhard Leinussa who lived as a Muslim slave for seven months. Forced to convert to Islam and undergo circumcision after his village was destroyed, the 17-year-old said his Muslim captors gave him a new Islamic name, Suadin, and put him to work.
Leinussa's troubles began Jan. 3, 2000, when Muslims attacked the village of Liliama on the southern side of Ceram. Among the attackers, he said, were members of the white-robed Laskar Jihad, the feared Muslim warriors who have come from other parts of Indonesia and other countries to take part in their declared holy war against Christians.
300 Liliama villagers fled into the jungle as the raiders torched their homes. Leinussa was among 20 residents who split off but got lost in the jungle. They lived in a cave for a week on a diet of rattan buds.
Eventually, Muslim men offered them a deal. They said, "If you come down to the village and change your religion, you can stay with us," Leinussa recounted. They went to Polin, where they found about 60 others from their village who had already surrendered.
They were assigned housing and told to sign a statement saying they had willingly converted to Islam. Leinussa said he signed under threat of death.
He and the others took an oath converting to Islam, chanted a Muslim prayer and took a ceremonial bath. Several days later, he was forced to undergo circumcision with a razor blade.
Leinussa says he was not a good Muslim. He didn't like to pray or go to the mosque. He began to worry when Indonesian soldiers stationed nearby beat five converts who were not devout enough. Then a Muslim neighbor warned some former Christians that their lives were in danger and Leinussa escaped. He told the Times, "This is a nightmare, I feel tortured inside."
Before we begin to ask ourselves what we might do about this, we need first to understand what we all are seeing in front of our eyes.
Yet this is a matter of controversy. And the controversy is dividing us here on the panel and will probably continue to divide us.
What IS happening in Indonesia? How should we understand what we all see?
I don't believe it is just ethnic violence arranged and orchestrated by those in power to keep or extend their power. I believe this is driven by an ideology that drives people to act.
I know some take a sort of Marxian view of historical events that says that beliefs and belief systems, ideologies in general, and especially religion is not a real thing, but only a ghostly, thin "superstructure"--- that pretends to be the cause of things that are REALLY caused by economics and greed.
According to this view, all human events are "really" about power, money, possessions -- in short, they are about material things. Religion is only used by those in power as a way of getting people to further the aims of those who want power. I don't believe this at all. The Nazis really did believe the theories of anti-Semitism. The Holocaust was not just an excuse to steal Jewish property. The murderers believed the theory.
And so too in Indonesia. When Muslims kill Christians, I think they are doing it because in their minds, they are convinced they are doing the right thing, in this case the right thing is that Allah wants them to do it. To spread Islam. To subjugate non-believers.
So of course moderates have always tried to moderate Muslim activity in this regard. Over centuries. But those pushing the Jihad in Indonesia against Christians cite Koranic tradition as the basis for their murders.
We should make no mistake: this is a religious conflict. The first reason for seeing this as a religious conflict is because it is true --- and it is religion that motivates murder.
But the second reason is just as important. We know that the majority of the world's Muslims do not support this sort of activity in the name of their religion.
This means we have a way to help bring peace. Because the most powerful thing we could do would be to bring the voices of moderate Muslims to say out loud, "this is not our religion. You radicals, fundamentalists, are misinterpreting our religion. You are hijacking one of the great faiths of this globe. We stand as Muslims and say you cannot do this-you cannot force conversions, you cannot murder or butcher in the name of Islam in order to destroy those of another faith, you cannot circumcise people by force, in the name of my faith."
And so I believe our tasks are threefold:
- To scream to the Heavens that the world must protect the Christians.
- To bring direct aid to them.
- To NOW, seriously go out to the Muslims of this world and ask them to speak up.
Thank you.
Received via email from: Masariku@yahoogroups.com
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