INDONESIA: CHRISTIANS OUT!
J. Grant Swank, Jr.
Why?
There may be several reasons. One is that authorities claim that some Christian groups have been too aggressive with their Christian message in a Muslim environs. This cannot be tolerated by zealot Muslims. It is not welcomed by others who feel relief work in a tsunami-ravaged area is not the place to evangelize.
Another reason: Indonesia has a record of persecuting and executing Christians. Therefore, there is not a cordial backdrop toward Christians even prior to the tsunami disaster. Further, with the Christian presence very much there on turf, it may be that records of atrocities committed against Christians in the past could surface in greater detail.
Another reason: it may be that authorities want to wipe the slate clean of all helping groups in order to restart. In restarting authorities would then pick and choose more specifically those groups they want to help. That would mean pointedly informing certain religious groups that they are no longer welcome and opening the doors to those agencies having no religious message on their agenda.
According to The Washington Times’ Sharon Behn, "Christian groups and some other private relief agencies are being asked to halt their work in the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh and leave the area by March 26, Indonesia's defense minister said yesterday.
"The decision likely will target Western and smaller church groups as the government moves to tighten control over reconstruction work in Aceh, the home of a decades-old separatist insurgency.
"Bruce Campbell-Janz of the Christian Reformed World Relief program said there were some things Christian relief groups can do ‘to increase [their] validity in the eyes of the government. ... There needs to be significant sensitivity around religious issues.’ Mr. Campbell-Janz said he had heard reports of some Christian agencies setting up large banners with Christian references, something he said would be considered disrespectful."
"Human Rights Watch has said that both sides in the conflict have violated human rights with impunity. The organization has documented the security forces' role in extrajudicial executions, ‘disappearances’ and torture, as well as the separatists' role in killings, unlawful detentions and forced expulsions."
For more: http://conservativeposts.us/ <http://conservativeposts.us/>
Why?
There may be several reasons. One is that authorities claim that some Christian groups have been too aggressive with their Christian message in a Muslim environs. This cannot be tolerated by zealot Muslims. It is not welcomed by others who feel relief work in a tsunami-ravaged area is not the place to evangelize.
Another reason: Indonesia has a record of persecuting and executing Christians. Therefore, there is not a cordial backdrop toward Christians even prior to the tsunami disaster. Further, with the Christian presence very much there on turf, it may be that records of atrocities committed against Christians in the past could surface in greater detail.
Another reason: it may be that authorities want to wipe the slate clean of all helping groups in order to restart. In restarting authorities would then pick and choose more specifically those groups they want to help. That would mean pointedly informing certain religious groups that they are no longer welcome and opening the doors to those agencies having no religious message on their agenda.
According to The Washington Times’ Sharon Behn, "Christian groups and some other private relief agencies are being asked to halt their work in the tsunami-ravaged Indonesian province of Aceh and leave the area by March 26, Indonesia's defense minister said yesterday.
"The decision likely will target Western and smaller church groups as the government moves to tighten control over reconstruction work in Aceh, the home of a decades-old separatist insurgency.
"Bruce Campbell-Janz of the Christian Reformed World Relief program said there were some things Christian relief groups can do ‘to increase [their] validity in the eyes of the government. ... There needs to be significant sensitivity around religious issues.’ Mr. Campbell-Janz said he had heard reports of some Christian agencies setting up large banners with Christian references, something he said would be considered disrespectful."
"Human Rights Watch has said that both sides in the conflict have violated human rights with impunity. The organization has documented the security forces' role in extrajudicial executions, ‘disappearances’ and torture, as well as the separatists' role in killings, unlawful detentions and forced expulsions."
For more: http://conservativeposts.us/ <http://conservativeposts.us/>
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