Reflections on Indonesia

Address given at the Annual Pre-Christmas Dinner
Allan Walker College of Evangelism
Sydney - 2 December 2000

As we approach Christmas the situation in Indonesia today is a grave
concern. Throughout the archipelago in Sumatera, Java, Kalimantan,
Sulawesi, Maluku, Lombok, Timor and Papua ordinary people have become
the victims of political manoevreing, corruption, religious extremism
and military power-play.

What's emerging is what I call a dreadful form of tyranny. Peasant
farmers, urban traders, government workers, students, indigenous forest
dwellers, refugees, slum dwellers, and Chinese business people have all
been targeted. The tyranny I speak of is evil because it destroys the
human spirit and ridicules any sense of decency, justice and peace. This
tyranny is turning people against one another, pitting Christian against
Muslim and Muslim against Christian, turning indigenous people against
landless migrants and pro-autonomy people against those who seek
independence.

Such tyranny decimates communities and destroys all forms of communal
life. It's a tyranny that denigrates God and confronts everything that
is holy and good. Theologians have been saying, for a long time, that
the world is on a "collision course with disaster". This comes as no
surprise. Jesus himself had some strong things to say on the matter and
the words "collision" and "disaster" ring loud as I consider the
situation in Indonesia today. Allow me to reflect on my story over the
past six months or so.

My work takes me to the islands of the Indonesian archipelago on a very
frequent basis. In August this year I spent time in Kupang in West Timor
where armed militia, with Indonesian army backing, still control refugee
camps. Here around 100,000 East Timorese people live in very poor
conditions. These people have no land yet they are too frightened to
return to their homeland because they fear retribution. They are caught
up in web of violence that saw two United Nations refugee workers
brutally hacked to death in September.

Then about 5 weeks ago I was in Irian Jaya or the Land of Papua. Tension
among indigenous Papuans is very real. I witnessed a strong military
presence in the region where there are now 10,000 Indonesian troops and
some 7,000 Indonesian police stationed to maintain Jakarta's unwelcome
rule over this remote province. I listened to lots of stories concerning
the senseless murder of many people and I was taken to the spot where
three Papuan men had been recently shot in the back by security forces.

Papuan people are now preparing for further confrontation and violence.
Yesterday, 1 December, was a sensitive day as some indigenous people
dared to declare their independence from Jakarta. Meanwhile anger,
resentment and the notion of "pay-back" looms large in the psyche of
many indigenous Melanesians. It means the violence will simply spiral.

Then early in November I flew from Papua back to Makassar and Jakarta
via Ambon. From the air I could see huge areas of Ambon city had been
destroyed by fire. In this city, the size of

Canberra, we know that hundreds of shops, houses and institutions
including hospitals and the Christian university have been destroyed.
Tens of thousands of people have fled the city while armed militia
groups wage war on a once peaceful community. While at the airport
terminal in Ambon I was escorted by armed soldiers in what seemed to be
a huge security operation that clearly indicates Ambon is a city under
siege. Just this week another 50 Christians were massacred in the
region.

We also know that hundreds of thousands of local people from other parts
of Maluku and North Maluku have been attacked and have fled their
villages. In July I visited large refugee camps in North Sulawesi that
house around 30,000 Christians from Tobelo and other parts of Halmahera.
We know that in Ternate there are similar numbers of Muslim refugees
living in the same kind of conditions.

The stories I listened to mentioned violent incidents of a most brutal
and senseless kind that targeted even young children, women and old
people. There were horrific stories about the murder of small children
whose bodies were dumped at sea. I spoke to a young woman who had lost
her husband in an attack on her village. She was nine months pregnant
and gave birth in jungle while literally on the run from Jihad militia.

Official figures indicate that around 5,000 people have been killed in
the violence throughout the Maluku Islands over the past two years.
Unofficial figures suggest the number killed is much, much higher.

Friends, its indeed been a challenging year for anyone who has links
with Indonesia. A really disturbing dimension to all this trouble is the
division and the hatred that is erupting in local communities. Just
before East Timor's referendum in August 1999, the Timorese community
was deeply split between pro-autonomy and pro-independence factions.
This even impacted on the life and leadership of the church. Also in
West Timor there is now division between local Kupang communities and
East Timorese refugees.

In Kalimantan there is conflict between Dayak people and immigrants from
the island of Madura. Some Dayaks have tragically reverted back to
ancient pagan headhunting practices as they attacked Javanese newcomers,
severed their heads and paraded their "trophies" through the town.  In
the Baliem Valley of Papua violence has seen local Dani people shot and
many immigrants from other parts of Indonesia driven out of the area.

In Ambon and Halmahera together with other locations including
Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, Lombok and Java, communal conflict has
taken on a tragic religious dimension. Christians and Muslims have been,
and continue to be, engaged in serious sectarian violence. Thousands of
people have been slaughtered, churches and mosques have been burnt, and
communities have been blown apart.

It is at the point of religious sectarianism and religious violence that
Indonesia's tyranny appears to be at its worst. Much of the violence,
hatred and division is centered on the terrible tension that has
developed between Christian and Muslim.

Its true to say that Indonesia is a nation of immense cultural, ethnic
and religious difference. Normally, this difference is valued and
respected. I lived in Kupang, West Timor from 1985 to 1990 with my wife
and children. In my kampung our neighbours at our rear were Balinese
Hindus while our neighbours to our right were Minahasan Pentecostals.
Our neighbours to our front on one side were Javanese Muslims and our
neighbours to our front on the other side were Maluku Catholics. Our
neighbours to our left were Timorese Protestants. Then, of course, all
our neighbours had interesting neighbours themselves in the form of an
Australian family with an Anglo-Celtic cultural identity and a
Methodist, now Uniting Church, heritage.

Our kampung was a safe, tolerant, courteous community. We respected,
valued and sometimes even laughed at our differences. At the conclusion
of the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan and during the celebration of
Idul Fitri we would visit our Muslim friends and bring them greetings.
At Christmas our Muslim friends would visit us and bring their
greetings.

But this situation has now tragically changed. I find it quite
disturbing to know that the courtesy and trust I experienced in Kupang
has broken down in many places. Religious identity has become a focus of
the tension and a source of the conflict. It has even become the focus
and the source of communal hatred. For example, in the Maluku Islands
the colour of headbands worn by young men  (red if you are Christian or
a white if you are Muslim) determines one's fate. Children taunt one
another about their religion. Young men form armed militias in the name
of God and go on crusades to "cleanse" their respective communities. A
system of "religious apartheid" now  operates as separate Christian and
Muslim enclaves develop.

As I try to understand what is really going on in Indonesia, it appears
to me that religious traditions and religious identities are being
deliberately targeted and manipulated.  Religious faith and religious
passions are being subverted by those who come with an agenda to create
havoc and destroy the good things of life.

Christians and Muslims are therefore being set up as local Christian and
Muslim communities are pitted against one another and are being forced
into a spiral of violence and hatred. I believe this tyranny is being
orchestrated by the Indonesian military together with extremist Islamic
forces. Their purpose is to create chaos and, out of the chaos, to
assert their own form of sinister power and control.

The Indonesian military are largely a force seemingly answerable to
no-one except themselves. Leading generals have been involved in
business enterprises that include logging, minerals, oil, transportation
and manufacturing. These business interests have funded military
activities independent of the state. One could argue that aspects of the
Indonesian military really seem to function like independent agents
doing their own thing. The military sit uncomfortably with the
democratically elected President of the Republic of Indonesia,
Abdurraham Wahid while the disgraced former president of the Republic,
General Suharto, still exercises considerable influence through his
military connections.

Meanwhile the unstable political situation and the uncertain economic
climate throughout Indonesia provides a platform for the rise of
extremist Islamic forces in the region. I need to say that most Muslims
in Indonesia are not extremist. They do not support radical Islam and,
in fact, have great fears concerning this movement that appears to have
strong links with Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Middle East and also with
liberation movements in the Southern Philippines. This fear was manifest
in the recent Indonesian elections where radical Islamic groups polled
extremely poorly.

Yet, in collusion with military interests, radical Islamic groups are
engaged in an active push to assert their dominance and to eliminate
Christianity in a number of areas of Indonesia. They are pursuing a
radical Islamic agenda with the ultimate intention of changing Indonesia
from a secular state that embraces a number of religious traditions to
an Islamic state based on Islamic law.

The formation of a "jihad" in Java earlier this year is a case in point.
As many as 10,000 young Muslim young men were recruited, trained, armed
and sent to Christian areas on what now appears to be a missionary
venture to either convert Christians to Islam or eliminate Christianity
all together. I believe many of these young men are misguided. Most are
victims of the economic crisis. They are vulnerable as they have no
work, little income and a very uncertain future.

Despite this, Christians are understandably terrified and traumatised by
what is happening. As recent as this week, there were reports indicating
that another 50 Christians were massacred in Maluku. This is a tragic
addition to the hundreds already massacred earlier in the year. We have
evidence that the Indonesian military are actively supporting the Jihad
as the Jihad attack, kill and burn Christian communities. Christians in
Maluku have told me that they feel defenseless against these unrelenting
attacks. They have no security, no protection and no rights.

All this scheming, power-play and manouervering is incredibly serious
because it could lead to the kind of conflict that goes on for
generations and generations. We are looking at another Middle East and
the situation is so serious that it threatens the future of Indonesia.

So the news is not good.  Its not good for Indonesia's 20 million
Christians. It's not good for people who yearn for democratic reforms.
It's not good for those who are committed to a modern, secular state.
And it's not good for the majority of Indonesia's Muslims who simply
want to live in peace with their neighbours.

If people are to have a future in Indonesia then I believe the
manouervering, manupulation and power-play that is going on must be
challenged. The international community and the worldwide Christian
community have a vital role here in raising the issues and keeping the
issues before governments and strategic authorities around the world.

If people are to have a future in Indonesia then I believe there must
also be an emphasis on peace and reconciliation. This is indeed a
priority among the Christian churches and also among an increasing
number of local Muslim organistions in Indonesia. I am, for example,
aware of important negotiations that have already taken place between
local Christian and Muslim communities in Kupang, West Timor, and in
Tual, Southeastern Maluku.

The Evangelical Christian Church in the Land of Papua, like many
churches across the Indonesian archipelago, is particularly aware of
these issues. During their recent General Assembly in Sorong, Irian Jaya
(which I attended), the Evangelical Church identified this time in terms
of "kairos", a critical moment in time when the church must reach out to
the community and play an important role in bringing people together.
The purpose of this bringing together is to nurture and encourage people
to work for peace and reconciliation.

Likewise in Manado, North Sulawesi, I encountered some young ministers
who saw this as a critical time when the church must affirm its
solidarity with the poor and prioritise its ministry with those who are
traumatised and hurt. In East Timor I saw the church using this as
critical time to demonstrate God's incredible grace as warring parties
learn the power of forgiveness. In Halmahera I have seen how the love of
Jesus can radiate in the lives of church leaders as they pick up the
pieces and just get on with it despite the evil that has been done
around them and despite the evil that has been done to them.

Good things are happening in times that may only be seen to be bad
times. There are things to praise God for.

And this brings me to my most important point. When I was asked to speak
this evening it was suggested I bring a Christmas message. The great
advent text from Isaiah 9: 1-7 was suggested.  Little did people know
that this is a text that really sustains me and keeps me going during
these most difficult times. Isaiah 9:1-7 is one of those texts that
simply will not leave me alone. I find myself coming back to it to time
and after time after time.

The New International Version introduces the text with the words: "To Us
a Child in Born" and we all know what is meant here as we prepare for
the coming of the Christ child.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light, those who
lived in a land of deep darkness - on them light has shined."

And what a light this is!  For it is a light that brings peace and
justice. The one who comes is named as: "Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace"

These are magnificent words with a powerful promise. Here is a strong
statement about God and the mighty works of God among God's people. Here
is a promise for those who are burdened. Here is a promise for those who
are trod on and for those who have been plummeted into the shadow of
death.

I have no doubt that today many Christians in Indonesia and East Timor
are sustained and encouraged by these powerful words of promise. I have
no doubt that these words will be as powerful as ever this Christmas as
the realities of life are faced by our brothers and sisters across the
Indonesian archipelago.

And there is more because in all of this we, as the family of Christ
around the world, also find hope in these words. We all find hope when
there may be little ground for hope. We all discover there is a future
when there may little evidence to suggest otherwise.

Tonight and as we approach Christmas I believe God reaches out to the
Christian community in Indonesia and God reaches out to members of this
community with the ongoing challenge to live with a particular
conviction.

And the conviction goes like this: The hope and the future of the world
lies in the birth of the Christ child. The turmoil, the fear and the
trauma of what is happening to our north can be, and will be,
challenged. There will avenues reconciliation and there will ways for
peacemaking. There will be an end to the violence.  This is God's
promise.

As we hear all these stories and work with our Indonesian brothers and
sisters, I believe this is our reason for being as Christians today. Our
reason for being is to live with the conviction that the light is here,
that the darkness holds no power over those who love the Lord, that
God's reign of justice and peace is upon us.

It's a challenge for me and it's a challenge for you. As we prepare for
Christmas I pray your reason for being and your conviction to follow
Christ will embrace and live out this great promise.

"For a child has been born for us, a son given to us: authority rests on
his shoulders: and he is named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Thank you.

Rev John Barr
Secretary for Indonesia and East Timor
Uniting Church in Australia National Assembly
PO Box A2266 Sydney South 1235

Stephen Webb - Media Officer
Communications Unit - NSW Synod, Uniting Church in Australia
Box A2178, Sydney South, NSW  1235, Australia
email: stephenw@uca.org.au
Phone: +61 2 82674308; Fax: 92674716
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