The Jakarta Globe:
To fix something, we must first admit that it is faulty, because we don’t fix that which isn’t broken.
So when Religious Affairs Minister Suryadharma Ali says he sees nothing wrong with relations between different religious groups in the country, despite blatant examples of religious violence across the archipelago, we know the government will not do anything to address complaints of intolerance.
We know attacks on Ahmadis, Shiites and other minority groups will continue. We know the closure of churches will go on. We realize we will see more groups claiming to represent the truth and the majority, who will take the law into their own hands. We’ve seen it before and we’ll likely see it again.
We strongly believe the majority of Indonesians are moderate and tolerant, and will not harm others simply because they are different.
The quality and attitude of individual members of society play a most significant role in the creation of a peaceful or disorderly society. This is a natural desire to excel and rise above others. But if left undisciplined and uncurtailed can become unwholesome. Jealousy and foul play can poison the spirit of human nature and because of which the entire society suffers.
Yes,we should be tolerant to our fellow countrymen.
But if some group in the society dares to interfere with the boundaries set for the smooth running of different groups then indifferent behavior by the one who is in authority must not be tolerated; Taking no notice of this will NOT be termed as “Tolerance”; it is most certainly “Indifference”, indifference towards what’s going on around in our society.