Suryadharma Ali on Discrimination

Sep 27th, 2010, in News, by Patung

Who is winning the race to build the most houses of worship: proof minorities are not discriminated against.

Suryadharma Ali

In the light of recent forced closures of churches in Bekasi and Bogor, West Java, minister of Religion Suryadharma Ali has denied that the law on the building houses of worship was discriminative towards religious minorities.

According to Ali from 1977 to 2004 the growth in Islamic places of worship was the lowest of all, with the complete figures being:

• Hindu temples: + 475%
• Buddhist temples: + 368%
• Catholic churches: + 152%
• Protestant churches: + 131%
• Mosques: + 64%

The raw numbers as of 2004 stood at:

• 640,000 mosques
• 44,000 Protestant churches
• 24,000 Hindu temples
• 12,400 Catholic churches
• 7,100 Buddhist temples

He said

You can see from these figures that the law is not discriminative, so please don’t get that impression.

Meanwhile on the recent stabbing of two Huria Kristen Batak Protestan (HKBP) officials in Ciketing, Bekasi, Ali said the matter had nothing to do with inter-religious conflict, but was a question of abiding by the law. vivanews

There have to be rules. Don’t think that religious freedom entails that you can do whatever you please.

6 Comments on “Suryadharma Ali on Discrimination”

1. Chris says:

   September 27, 2010 at 12:56 pm

   Some people disagree, pointing out that e.g. the data is from 1977 to 2004 before the current law was even enacted.

   Here is their rebuttal, published in The Jakarta Post:

   Gaffe-prone minister’s data flawed
   http://bataviase.co.id/node/392557

   I don’t remember what makes him gaffe-prone. Can anyone remind me?

2. Lairedion says:

   September 27, 2010 at 5:29 pm

   Flawed data or not, this creep appeals for a ban on Ahmadiyah. Reason enough to get rid of this bigot.

3. Anthead says:

   September 28, 2010 at 5:33 pm

   I just think his name is amusing – Suryadharma literally means the sun-worshipping faith. Guess what religion that is? Definitely not Islam.

4. Dafar Suratinojo says:

   October 24, 2010 at 12:00 pm

   Ass. pak, saya adalah prngurus PPP ditingkat ranting. meskipun hanya pengurus ditingkat bawah, namaun upaya saya dalam merekrut suara terbanyak pada pemilihan umum kemarin cukup signifikan. itu karena kepercayaan masyarakat terhadap saya masih sangat besar. Oleh karenanya untuk menjaga kepercayaan tersebut saya mohon pada bapak selaku ketua umum PPP kiranya berkenan mengaomodir aspirasi yg berkembang ditingkat bawah.
   antara lain aspirasi tersebut adalah :
   beberapa hari yang lalu saya ditemui beberpa orang mahasiswa S2 Pascasarjana Universitas Sriwijaya. mereka mengatakan bahwa mereka adalah pegawai kementerian agama yang mendapat beasiswa dari biro kepegawain kementerian agama sebanyak 14 orang. selanjutnya mereka mengatakan bahwa dari sekian mahasiswa yang mendapat beasiswa dari kementerian agama hanya mereka yang tidak mendapatkan biaya hidup. sudah berapa kali mereka mengirim surat kepada kepala biro, sekjen kementerian agama, bahkan kepada bapak selaku menteri agama, namun hingga saat ini balasan surat tersebut tidak ada. kata mereka (mahasiswa s2 pascasaraja Unsri), saat ini kuliah mereka dah hampir selesai, namun hutang-hutang mereka makin menumpuk. apalagi waktu perkuliahan molor, sehingga mengakibatkan tambahan biaya selama di Unsri.
   mereka ibarat kelinci percobaan beasiswa di biro kepegawaian (itu kata mereka)
   bahkan ada diantara mereka sampai beberapa hari tidak makan, hanya banyak minum air. sangat menyedihkan.
   oleh karenanya, saya selaku penguru PPP, sangat menyesal dengan perlakuan biro kepegawaian yang tidak lain adalah bawahan bapak.
   Saya mohon kiranya dapat ditindak lanjuti, agar mereka dapat kembali ke kampung halamannya masing-masing tanpa beban hutang dan dapat bekerja di Kementerian Agama dimana mereka mengabdikan diri pada masyarakat..
   demikian hal ini saya sampaikan, semoga beroleh respon positif dari bapak. terima kasih. Wassalam.
   Djafar Suratinojo

5. nabs says:

   November 4, 2010 at 9:51 pm

   @anthead EXCUSE ME HIS NAME DOESNT RELATE TO THIS TOPIC, so if you can use your brain, notice that it is not at all amusing. And no one cares what you think.

6. Sibule says:

   February 7, 2011 at 6:11 pm

   Well…..look how CUNNING people plays with statistics!!!!

   He used the baseline because he knew that stronger baseline (larger number) will be a good balancer to percentage.

   Of course Mosque’s growth is low because there are just too many mosques already since 1977.

   Let us take the REAL NUMBER HERE!
   Among new worshiping places being built so far:
   249700 or 81% of the new places are Mosques,
   24950 or 8% of the new places are Protestant Churches,
   19820 or 6% of the new places are Hindu Temples,
   7480 or 2% of the new places are Catholic Churches,
   5580 or 2% of the new places are Buddhist Temples.

   Well…look at the statistics NOW!!!! Tell me about that no discrimination then….
   While my statistics is relevant, HIS statistics is just a message to say that there has been too much non-Moslem’s worshiping places….And he is a National Minister of religion? WOW!!!!! Why not just say he is the Minister of Islamic Religion then???
   Afterall, his opinion is definitely leading to defending his personal believe only and not the national interest.