Marguerite Afra Sapiie, Jakarta – On the heels of a series of intolerant acts by hard-liners, including the recent mob attack on a Christmas service in Bandung, West Java, Christian groups have said they will celebrate Christmas as usual and will not bow down to pressure.
The Gereja Kemah Abraham (GKA) church, whose congregation performs its religious activities in a hall in the ITC Permata Hijau shopping center in South Jakarta, said they would not change their Christmas service schedule despite concerns about rising intolerance in the country.
"Even though there are a lot of issues [regarding intolerance], our [Christmas] services will take place as usual because we hope that everything will be safe," GKA secretary Sozawato Telaumbanua told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
He added that the GKA and other churches had been coordinating with police personnel to ensure the security of the services it is going to hold, including the Christmas Eve service on Dec. 24 and the New Year's Day service on Jan. 1, 2017.
Similar statements were made by business entities in the capital, including the management of Hotel Indonesia Kempinski, who said the hotel would promote tolerance by running its business as usual and decorating its building in a Christmas theme, as it did for all major religious occasions.
Kempinski's public relations director Rebecca Leppard told the Post that the hotel would stage special events for their clients who celebrate Christmas, such as buffets, dinner and choir performances, just as they did every year.
"Our staff are also repeatedly reminded that we serve our clients without discrimination and that they should also show professionalism in their relations with each other [of whatever religious background]," she said.
In the past week, Indonesia has seen two incidents where hard-line Muslims intimidated people from other religious groups and forced them to give in to their demands.
Last Tuesday, an Islamic group calling themselves the Ahlu Sunnah Defenders (PAS) forced a Christian community to cancel a Christmas service at the Sasana Budaya Ganesha, a popular auditorium in Bandung. The protesters, who stormed into the building and broke up the service held by the Reformed Injili Indonesia Church, claimed the event to be "illegal" because it was held at a public facility.
The following day the Muslim People's Forum (FUI) of Yogyakarta forced Duta Wacana Christian University (UKDW) to take down billboards that featured a student wearing a hijab, claiming that the billboards "insulted Islam".
The acts of intimidation carried out by hard-line groups come amid escalating sectarian tension surrounding the blasphemy case involving Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama, who is a Christian of Chinese descent.
The secretary-general of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), Gomar Gultom, called on Christians to remain vigilant, saying that every church should ensure security during Christmas services.
"I hope people will understand that [Christmas] is only once a year and even though some congregations perform the services in public halls, they have obtained all legal permits," Gomar told the Post.
Executive secretary of the Bishops' Conference of Indonesia's (KWI) Justice and Peace Commission, Paulus Christian Siswantoko said the government should ensure that all religious groups were able to perform their services peacefully.
The KWI would intensify its communication with other religious communities and the government to strengthen harmony amid concerns of a weakening of Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity), the nation's philosophy, he said.
"We should safeguard harmony within all these differences. We should use Christmas time to spread peace in society, which is now on the brink," Paulus said.
Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/12/10/christians-in-indonesia-refuse-to-give-in-to-fear.html