The Bali bombings and the August 5 bombing of the Marriott hotel in Jakarta highlight radical Islam's tightening grip on Indonesia. Less visible, however, is the daily terror directed at the Christian minority in the world's largest Muslim nation.
Christian Freedom International President Jim Jacobson said, "As next year's first direct elections of president and vice-president, Christians worry that this underreported violence will only escalate."
This country of 234 million people having an 88 percent Muslim population is a tough place for the 7 percent who are Christian or for the smaller numbers of Hindus, Buddhists and others.
An archipelago comprising some 17,000 islands, Indonesia provides a natural haven for terrorist groups such as Laskar Jihad and Jemaah Islamiyah, but also a backdrop for score-settling and anti-Christian violence.
A source, his name withheld for security reasons, told Christian Freedom International (CFI) what he needed to do to get a promotion: convert. "My boss told me, 'you must become a Muslim' if I want to be promoted." His employer is the government of Indonesia.
Currently, even Christians with professional credentials and advanced degrees are being denied employment and advancement in the job market. "If you are a Christian, you have many problems," said another source who asked CFI not to publish his name for fear of reprisals.
"Now [potential employers] ask you 'are you a Muslim or Christian?' If you are a Christian, you will not be hired. This never happened under Suharto." Under 32 years of Suharto rule, the country was at times almost tolerant of Christians.
According to Jacobson, "Mob violence against Christians has also become a business tool." CFI interviewed a Christian accountant [we cannot use his name] who formed a partnership with a Muslim "friend" five years ago. Christian entrepreneurs, who have low incomes or no jobs, often seek investment capital from wealthy Muslims. His "friend" provided seed capital for the creation of an accounting firm. Last year, as the firm became financially successful, the "friend" wanted more money than what had been agreed upon. When the accountant refused, the "friend" accused him of supporting separatist Christian guerrillas, and spread this rumor at a nearby mosque.
Extremists from the mosque then destroyed the accountant's car, ransacked his office, and beat him with sticks. A marked man for his alleged support of Christian guerrillas, he has abandoned his firm and is desperately seeking asylum in a non-Muslim country.
CFI also found unfair local regulations relating to the construction of Christian schools and churches. Several pastors in Jakarta told CFI that it is almost impossible to build a new church in Jakarta. As one pastor explained about the local government, "They will issue a permit for the construction of a church only if no one near the proposed site objects. If one person objects -- no church." There are no such requirements for the construction of mosques.
These unreasonable regulations also apply to the renovation of existing churches. CFI visited one church near Jakarta that had been burned in 1996 by a mob of Muslims from a nearby mosque. Although what is left of the facility is a major eyesore, the church cannot obtain a permit for renovations because of the objections of a close-by resident.
Next year Indonesia will hold its first-ever direct elections for president and vice-president. Under the new system enacted last year, Indonesians will be able to choose their leaders directly, in a two-round election. The pairs of candidates for president and vice-president who get the most votes in the first round will face a run-off for the positions in the next round.
According to Jacobson, "Christians here are very concerned. They should be. Muslim extremism is growing as militant groups attempt to solidify their constituencies for the election."
"We will know if we have a future here," said a Christian merchant about the upcoming election. "If the extremists win and enact Sharia law, what shall we do? Where can we go?"