Jakarta, Indonesia - More Christian places of worship have been vandalized or forcibly closed by local Muslims because they have failed to meet the requirements of a controversial ministerial decree.
Critics of the 2006 Decree on Places of Worship say the incidents only show the regulation is causing more violence than it is preventing.
Weinata Sairin of the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI) said Monday that last week a church in Mojokerto, East Java, was closed by local residents because it did not have a permit to operate from the local administration.
On Sunday, hundreds of residents in Gunung Putri, Bogor, also sealed off a house and shophouses they said were used to worship by local Christians.
The closures caused heated arguments, with members of the congregation insisting they would continue their activities because there were no churches nearby and residents threatening to stop them.
"We're worried there would be religious deviation if worship is not carried out in a church," a resident named Wardi told the tempointeraktif website.
The congregation, some of them crying, later dispersed. Afterwards, members said intolerant mobs in the area had made it difficult for them to practice their faith.
"We asked for leniency so that we could be given a place (to worship in while a church was constructed)," a member said.
After sealing the first shophouse, residents then forced their way into others they said were also used as places of worship and boarded them up.
Weinata said the incidents proved the effectiveness of the decree was in doubt.
"We hope that there will be leniency for the already existing churches that have yet to obtain permits. The decree stipulates that such churches will be given two-year (amnesty) periods," he said.
"This decree is only legitimizing violence."
Weinata said the PGI had sent a letter to National Police Chief Gen. Sutanto asking for protection.
Religious Affairs Minister M. Maftuh Basyuni and Home Minister M. Ma'ruf signed the ministerial decree in March, replacing the one issued in 1969, which required consent of local administrations and residents to build houses of worship.
Religious minorities have complained that the requirements in the old decree made it nearly impossible for them to get licenses in majority-Muslim areas and most say the revised decree does little to change the situation.
Data from the Indonesian Committee on Religion and Peace (ICRP) shows that more than 1,000 churches nationwide have been destroyed or vandalized because they failed to meet the requirements of the old decree.
Meanwhile, around 100 activists from the hard-line Muslim group the Nationhood Alliance for Freedom of Religion and Faith congratulated Maftuh on Monday for his comments that the Islamic sect Ahmadiyah was heretical.
The alliance urged the minister to ban the sect along with all other groups he believed had deviated from the teachings of Islam.