Subject: Re: Persecution’s ten hot spots
Date: Thu, 18 Nov 1999 09:04:34 +1100
From: Richard Kerr < 
Newsgroups: aus.religion.christian,aus.religion

Rowland Croucher wrote:
> 
>  wrote:
> > From Rowland’s list, my main complaint
> > would be Indonesia, where the Muslim/Christian violence is
> > rather two-way. Again, I’d like to see the Catholic church
> > call on its own people to refuse to retaliate
> 
> The good Bishop Belo (is that his name?) in East Timor has been doing
> that recently I think...

There’s no “I think” about it. Every 
public building (including hospitals and schools), 90% 
of commercial buildings (i.e. shops), and 70% of 
private buildings were burned to the ground by the 
explicitly Islamic militia and nilitary, and the East 
Timorese were instructed by Church leaders not to react 
with violence.

Despite over ten thousand East Timorese deaths 
(documented so far, who knows how high the figure will 
eventually go) none of the militia were killed, or even 
wounded AFAIK.

Since the UNIFET intervention there have been two 
documented cases of attacks on Indonesians who remained 
in East Timor, but these individual actions were 
immediately condemned by all Church leaders from Belo 
down.

The much publicised case of the community remaining in 
the Mosque in Dilli did not involve any violence. It 
pointed out that some Muslims remain in East Timor, and 
that they fear for their future (who wouldn’t in 
their situation) but as yet there have been no attacks 
on them.

> Now name a Muslim leader who’s said anything like that...

Muslims believe in “contention” (Jihaad), armed 
or unarmed, in defence of the structures of their religion. 
It’s a completely different mindset and should be 
expected to produce different responses in times of crisis.

-- 
Regards,

Richard Kerr