Political

The causes of religious-based violence are complex, from extreme religious practices to rejecting people with different beliefs.

July 2, 2025 |

EnlargeResidents block Ahmadiyah congregation members who are heading to the Ahmadiyah Mosque to perform Friday prayers on Jalan Bukit Duri, Tanjakan Batu, Tebet, South Jakarta, July 2015. Doc. Tempo/M Iqbal Ichsan

News Summary

• Religion should be presented to humanize humans, not the other way around.
• There were 82 cases of religious-based intimidation and violence throughout 2022-2024.
• There has never been any religious-based violence that was carried out purely because of religion.

BSEVERAL groups regretted the disbandment of a Christian student retreat in Kampung Tangkil, Cidahu District, Sukabumi Regency, West Java, last weekend, including Lukman Hakim Saifuddin. The former Minister of Religious Affairs said that religion should be presented to humanize humans, not used to insult humanity.

The Deputy Chairman of the People’s Consultative Assembly 2009-2014 is convinced that no religion teaches violence and intolerance . All religions teach peace, compassion, tolerance, and tolerance.

Lukman believes that the cause of intolerance and religious-based violence is extreme religious understanding and practices from lay people who are incompetent in religious knowledge. “Because of limited knowledge and insight, they are generally too textual in translating religious texts or holy books without looking at the context,” he said, Tuesday, July 1, 2025.

The former Head of the Nahdlatul Ulama Human Resources Development and Study Center Program said that verses in the holy book that contain nuances of violence are often misused to justify acts of violence. In fact, the context in which these verses were revealed is limited to conditions of war or certain situations.

Also Read:

• Why Persecution of Minority Religious Communities is Increasing

“Essentially, it is an effort to defend oneself or protect one’s life from enemy actions that threaten life and property rights,” he said.

News of the disbandment of a Christian student retreat in Kampung Tangkil on Friday, June 27, 2025, circulated widely via video on social media. The video showed dozens of people vandalizing the halfway house owned by Maria Veronica Ninna, a Jakarta resident, in Kampung Tangkil. Inside the house were students participating in the retreat who came from Jakarta.

A group of people were also seen taking down objects like crosses. They destroyed several facilities in Maria’s house, including glass walls, tables, and chairs.

Also Read:

• Violent Dissolution of Worship

The religious-based violence in Kampung Tangkil is just one of a series of similar cases in the past three years. According to Amnesty International Indonesia’s monitoring results, there were 82 cases of religious-based intimidation and violence throughout 2022-2024. The religious-based intimidation and violence took the form of rejection of the establishment of houses of worship, destruction of houses of worship, closure of houses of worship, prohibition of worship, and physical intimidation and attacks. The most cases were rejection of the establishment of houses of worship and most occurred in West Java.

Meanwhile, the Setara Institute noted an increasing trend of religious-based violence and acts of intolerance in the last two years. In 2024, there were 260 incidents of violations of religious freedom and belief with 402 acts. This figure has increased sharply compared to similar cases in 2023, which were only 217 incidents with 329 acts. 

Residents stand guard in front of the Ahmadiyah congregation’s house of worship which was sealed on Jalan Bukit Duri Tanjakan Batu, Tebet, Jakarta, August 14, 2015. Doc. Tempo/Dian Triyuli Handoko

The Setara Institute also recorded various incidents of religious-based violence in one semester this year. For example, the prohibition of worship against members of the Ahmadiyah congregation in Kuningan Regency, Banjar City, and Majalengka Regency, West Java, as well as intimidation in the name of ethnicity, religion, race, and inter-group in Indragiri Hulu Regency, Riau. In the incident in Indragiri Hulu in May 2025, an elementary school student became a victim of the violence and died.

Also Read:

• The Bad Portrait of Intolerance in Indonesia

Driyarkara College of Philosophy lecturer Franz Magnis-Suseno said that intolerance and religious-based violence often occur because those who are “different” are not accepted in society. This attitude is a natural human trait that always expects everyone to be the same and tends to exclude, eliminate, and commit violence against “the other.”

The author of the book Etika Jawa said the roots of religious-based violence are usually more complex. “The problem can become more emotional if there is friction between different religious and ethnic groups,” he said, Tuesday, July 1, 2025.

Professor of sociological philosophy at Jakarta State University, Robertus Robet, argued that there has never been any religious-based violence that was purely carried out because of religion. This is because religious life and practice in Indonesia are strongly determined by the state and politics.

Robet said that religious-based violence needs to be viewed contextually according to the social dynamics in each community. “What are the factors? What is the background to the mobilization of violence and religious issues that are easy to do in certain areas? Who are the main actors?” he said, Tuesday, July 1, 2025.

He gave examples of several regions whose religious life is harmonious and peaceful. While the religious life of several other regions is the opposite. Minority groups find it difficult to build houses of worship and worship at great risk. ●

freedom of religion and belief

intolerance

violence-in-the-name-of-religion

religion-based-violence

freedom of religion

source https://www.tempo.co/politik/akar-kekerasan-kebebasan-beragama-1873629