Tag: Indonesia

Indonesian Christians flee violent attacks

October 15, 2015 Indonesia Aceh, Churches, Indonesia

A church has been burnt down and another targeted in Indonesia’s Aceh province. Clashes broke out between Muslims and Christians following the arson on 13 October in the world’s most populous Muslim nation. One person was killed and dozens injured, while thousands of Christians fled the province, reports UCA News. . . . Read More

Indonesian church holds 100th service outside Presidential palace

September 24, 2015 Indonesia Aceh, Bogor, GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Jakarta, Java, Joko Widodo, Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama

At the heart of the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, in the megacity of Jakarta, Indonesia, a church this Sunday will hold its 100th open-air Sunday morning service next to a main road – because a city mayor is afraid to insist that a Supreme Court order is carried out. . . . Read More

Indonesia ‘suppressing’ religions

June 9, 2015 Indonesia Churches, Constitution, Indonesia, Proselytism, Religious freedom

A draft law aimed at protecting religious communities fails to uphold religious freedoms in Indonesia, says a human rights group. “The bill upholds that the state can intervene in freedom of religion to maintain stability and security at the expense of minority groups,” said Bonar Tigor Naipospos of the Setara . . . Read More

Indonesian Islam to model harmony

February 20, 2015 Indonesia Churches, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Joko Widodo

The Indonesian Muslim Congress, meeting under new President Joko Widodo, has re-stated that Indonesian Islam could serve as a model, at the international level, to present a “harmonious society” in which Muslims live and work peacefully side by side with believers of other religions. President Widodo said “Indonesia is a . . . Read More

VIDEO: Amidst hopes of Jokowi, Indonesian Christians remain concerned

January 12, 2015 Indonesia GKI Yasmin, Indonesia, Jakarta, Joko Widodo, Southeast Asia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

In Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, the number of cases of religious intolerance doubled during 2014 – to 67, according to a recent report from the Southeast Asian nation’s National Commission on Human Rights. About 30 of these cases were about the closure or vandalism of churches, . . . Read More

Death threats for educational church visit

January 8, 2015 Indonesia Aceh, Indonesia, Islamic extremism, Sharia

UCAN, a Catholic news service in Asia, reports that an Indonesian university lecturer, Rosnida Sari, has received death threats after taking Muslim students on a trip to a Christian church. The threats began Jan. 5, after the Australia Plus website published an account by Sari, who teaches at the Islamic . . . Read More

Indonesia presidential elections ‘vote for Jokowi’

July 7, 2014 Indonesia Indonesia, Joko Widodo, Religious freedom, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Religious freedom and human rights liberties are at stake in Indonesia’s Presidential elections tomorrow, July 9, as its two leading contenders are at polar opposites when it comes to their reputations regarding human rights. Joko “Jokowi” Widodo is well known for his stance against corruption, being pro religious pluralism and . . . Read More

‘Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians’

June 5, 2013 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Algeria, Arab Spring, Armenia, Asia Bibi, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Central Asia, China, Communism, Cuba, Cyprus, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, Middle East, Morocco, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Russia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen

This is a book designed to show that “Christians are the single most widely persecuted religious group in the world today” (p4). With that aim, three authors well known in the field of religious advocacy give the reader the ultimate global briefing on the causes, patterns and trends in the persecution . . . Read More

Another thumbs-down for SBY ‘statesman’ award

May 14, 2013 Indonesia Banten, Indonesia, Jakarta, Java, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

Add another human-rights watchdog group to the list disapproving of the decision by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation to bestow its 2013 “World Statesman Award” to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, widely known as SBY. The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network, or ETAN, has launched an online petition urging the . . . Read More

Indonesian pastor freed

April 30, 2013 Indonesia Churches, Indonesia, Islamic Defenders Front, Java, Pentecostals

Pastor Bernard Maukar has been released from prison. The Indonesia Pentecostal Church leader from Mekargalih village in West Java was jailed for three months in January for operating a church without a permit. Maukar denied the charges against him, but later told Open Doors International – an organisation that supports . . . Read More

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