In article
>,
Old Mother Ashby > wrote:

> 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.

I'm not sure that the imprisoning of Christians and converts to
Christianity for blasphemy in a "pluralist" nation, the shake down
tactics to break up bible studies in a home setting or the burning of
churches and then looking away can be seen in any other context than
being driven by religion.

Regards,
Ranee

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"She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands." Prov 31:13

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