Ranee Mueller wrote:

>In article
>,
> Old Mother Ashby > wrote:
>
>
>
>>Indonesia is the largest Moslem nation on earth, but there have been no
>>reports of any trouble at all. Indonesia has been through unsettling
>>times since Soeharto was deposed, and there has been a growth of Saudi
>>funded religious extremist groups who have committed some terrible
>>atrocities. The Indonesian government has no interest in fomenting
>>unrest, neither do the Malaysians, a thoroughly authoritarian lot. Many
>>of their citizens may be offended by the idea of the cartoons, but
>>that's as far as it goes.
>>
>>
>
> This may be true, about the Indonesians and the Malaysians, but I
>don't take it as a sign of their relative peaceful coexistence in a
>pluralist world. There are all those church burnings, for instance, in
>Indonesia.
>
> Regards,
> Ranee
>
>Remove do not & spam to e-mail me.
>
>"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13
>
>http://arabianknits.blogspot.com/
>http://talesfromthekitchen.blogspot.com/
>
>
Like I said, there have been some terrible atrocities in Indonesia,
perpetrated by extremist Islamists. And in some places, like the
Moluccas, it appears that not a great deal has been done about it. The
Bali and Jakarta bombings got proper attention at least partly becuase
foreigners were involved, not to mention significant economic interests.
My point is that there is no violence at present about the Danish
cartoons - as far as I know - because it is not in the Indonesian
governement's interest to allow it, much less encourage it. There is
violence in Iran because the Iranian government wants it.

As you know, Indonesia and Malaysia are themselves "pluralist" nations,
another reason why sectarian violence is something they can do without.
I'm not sure how many Christians there are in Indonesia, but I think
it's more than the entire population of Australia.

And of course I'm not pretending that the Indonesians are a mob of
non-violent pacifists. Who can forget East Timor, and Blind Freddy knows
what's going on in Papua. But it's not driven by religion so much as
good old lust for power and money and control of resources.

Christine