The Lesson of Ground Zero

One fact that cannot be denied of the Republic of Indonesia, whose 65th birthday we just recognized, is its religious diversity or complexity. We are divided up by thousands of islands large and small, but we are united by the same “sea.” We do live on different islands, but we can still share and dock at the same harbors.

We are born into various ethnicities, cultures and languages, but we also have a lingua franca that unites us: Indonesian. Additionally, we have a variety of religions and beliefs. Still, for a long time we have had a great tolerance for accepting compatriots of different religions.

Our constitution guarantees citizens the ability to worship according to the faith and religion that they follow. On the other hand, force and violence in the name of religion is not allowed.

In this regard, we feel concerned. After 65 years of independence, there are still some components of the nation that act outside the values that we have already agreed upon, i.e. the values that were put in place by the founding fathers back when they built Indonesia.

One example is the violence aimed at the place of worship and followers of Ahmadiyah in the regency of Kuningan in West Java at the end of this past July. The beatings of several members of the Batak Christian Protestant Church, who wanted to pray in Ciketing in the regency of Bekasi, on Aug. 8 is also evidence that there are still those who try to harm matters that we agree upon as a society and a nation.

What we regret about those two incidents is that state apparatuses — whether it was the provincial government or law enforcement — appeared unable to do anything, despite the fact that this violence occurred in front of their eyes. In the words of Din Syamsuddin, leader of PP Muhammadiyah, the state’s indifference allowed this violence to happen.

The implication of the state’s absence during that incident is very large: The law is not upheld, the people feel uncertain and we worry that violence in the name of religion will increase.

That is because the aforementioned indifference leads the groups committing that violence to feel that they are in the right. They don’t care that what they have done actually destroys freedom of religion, breaks the law and disturbs the harmony among religions that we have protected all this time.

We need to learn from the controversy over the plan to build a mosque near ground zero, where the tragedy of Sept. 11 occurred in New York. Some families of the victims killed in the attacks of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, who are also supported by a large portion of New Yorkers, oppose this plan. The reason is that this building is seen as insensitive toward the feelings of those who lost family members due to an attack by a radical Muslim group.

In the midst of that controversy, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, later supported by President Barack Obama, strongly reminded New Yorkers of the American values they greatly revere: the law and freedom of religion.

Bloomberg stated that every American is allowed to build a place of worship as long as that building is located at a place that is compatible with its zoning and is bought and built with legal funds.

Both Bloomberg and Obama warned citizens opposing the plan — mostly conservative Christian and Jewish groups — not to be trapped by a narrow point of view. It must be remembered that al-Qaida and other radical groups who carried out the 9/11 attacks do not represent Islam, which, in large part, has a moderate perspective.

We in Indonesia need leaders like Bloomberg and Obama who are brave enough to say what is right, even if it means opposing the point of view held by most of their constituents. The lofty values of the nation should not be defeated by group pressures or momentary concerns.