By Catriona Croft Cusworth
Christmas is a time of year when Indonesia's state motto of 'Unity in
Diversity' is really put to the test. The holiday provokes a variety of
responses from the Muslim-majority population, ranging from taking
selfies with shopping mall Christmas trees and celebrating with
Christian friends to refusing to wish others a 'Merry Christmas', or, in extreme cases, violently interrupting church activities.
hristianity accounts for two of the six officially recognised faiths
in Indonesia, split into Protestantism and Catholicism. Some pockets of
the country are majority-Christian, especially in the eastern islands
and in parts of Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. Major cities also have
substantial Christian populations, including many ethnic Chinese
Indonesians. Among communities where Christianity is a long-established
faith, Christmas is celebrated openly with a mix of Western and
indigenous traditions.
In Jakarta's city centre, Christmas lights can be found everywhere,
along with banners wishing citizens a happy Christmas and New Year.
Competition is high among the capital's most extravagant shopping malls
to out-do one another with their holiday displays, involving forests of
spangled Christmas trees, mountains of fake snow and the obligatory pop
Christmas albums on repeat.
But in areas where Christianity is seen as expanding into new
territory and gaining converts, the atmosphere is entirely different.
In parts of Java, newspaper headlines regularly warn against
'Christianisation', despite Islam's unquestionable dominance among the
Indonesian population as a whole. In Bogor, a town in West Java that
brushes the edges of Jakarta's urban sprawl, a Protestant congregation
has been battling for the right to open a church.
The planned church building was sealed in 2010 by a former mayor who
said it lacked the required permits and community support. Four years
and two favourable Supreme Court rulings later, the congregation has
still not been allowed to enter their church building. They plan to
spend yet another Christmas worshiping on the footpath in front of the
sealed church, potentially under threat of confrontation with opponents
of the service, as has been the case in past years.
Christmas and New Year celebrations are guarded across the nation by
security forces as part of an activity known as 'Operation Candle'. This
year, almost 146,000 security personnel will
be stationed at churches and other sites for worship and celebration
across Indonesia. Throughout the year, churches around Indonesia come
under attack by hardliners, usually under the pretext of accusations
related to a lack of building permits and community endorsement. One of
the major criticisms of former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's 10
years in office was his lack of action on growing religious intolerance
in Indonesia.
During this year's election campaign, rumours calling the
now-President Jokowi a closet Christian were designed to detract from
his widespread popularity. This in itself signals a poor state of
interfaith relations, suggesting that voters were expected to be swayed
by a candidate's religion over his credentials. To Jokowi's credit,
rather than distancing himself from the rumours surrounding his faith,
Jokowi plans to celebrate Christmas in Papua, where Christians are the
majority.
These plans were made before a deadly clash occurred between civilians and security forces in the province last week, in which five locals were killed.
Now some church leaders have withdrawn their invitation to the
President, in protest over his refusal to make a statement on the
incident. Nonetheless, government representatives have claimed that the visit will go ahead on 27 December.
It seems unlikely at this point that Jokowi could get away with
visiting Papua and not making a statement on last week's deaths. In this
way, the visit has the potential to address two important areas said to
have suffered under the previous government: religious tolerance and
recognition of human rights abuses. The question now is whether Jokowi
will take the opportunity to deliver a Christmas message of peace and
goodwill among all Indonesians.
Catriona Croft-Cusworth works as a media professional in Jakarta. Her article originally appeared 18 December in The Interpreter.
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