bernini said:
Yes. I have been to a Muslim country. Several of them in fact. It changed my life. And it was those experiences that really opened my eyes to the People and the Faith. They are passionate, educated, reasonable people. And if you think that they are out of line with what it is that YOU find to be acceptable behaviour, consider some of the abuse they have suffered under foreign Christian facsist governments from overseas. Dropping bombs, murdering innocent civilians, stealing oil, overthrowing governments. A few thousand people singing and chanting in the streets and burning a few flags is to be expected. Even encouraged. I would be throwing rocks too. Who the can blame them?
If a militia moved into your neighborhood and destroyed your communities and killed and tortured your neighbours, friends or even your children, how would you react? Would you sit back and welcome the invasion? Or would you fight for your land, your money, your women? They are human beings just like you. And why should they accept what it is that we are trying to force on them?
I have not only been in a Muslim country, I was born, raised and grew up in the biggest muslim country in the world. I still have extended family and friends living there too. There are mosques in very blocks. There are 4 speakers in each corner of the mosque to boradcast what the clerics preach. I couldn't avoid not hearing what he said since my house was located right accross from the mosque and the speakers were so loud, I kid you not these clerics actually encouraged their people to kill the non believers for each non believer that he/she ( the muslim) kills it'll earn them right to go to meet Allah in heaven. The clerics preach are so full of so much hatred against anybody who is not Islam and these hatred speech are broadcasted daily in to the audience in the mosque and to everyone else who could hear it through the speakers. What did I end up with? Dead friend in a process attending a Misa on Christmas Eve. Discrimination, cruelty, etc. Have you ever been to the orphanage of Moluccas children who witnessed their parents slaughtered by the Muslim militiamen in their own homes while sleeping? And what about the East Timorese people which are Catholics who got invaded by Indonesia and 1/3 of their population were killed by the Indonesian millitary who are Muslim? Remember Dili Massacre where hundreds of students were shot and killed while they were praying in a cemetary and other hundreds are still missing. Or what about the Chinese Indonesians who are not Muslims but majorly discriminated they even have these legislation law called pp 10/1959 which is a discriminatory law against Chinese Indonesians.
-PP 10/1959, which forced Indonesian Chinese to close their businesses by 1 January 1960 and relocate in urban areas.
-Presidium Directive 127/U/Kep/12/1966 that explicitly requires Indonesian Chinese to adopt Indonesian-sounding names.
-Cabinet Presidium Instruction No. 37/U/IN/6/1967, which prohibits further residency or work permits to new Chinese immigrants, their wives, or children; freezing any capital raised by "foreigners" in Indonesia; closure of "foreign" schools except for diplomatic corps and their families; the number of Indonesian students must be the majority and in proportion to "foreigners" in any state schools; and that implementation of the "Chinese issue" will henceforth be the responsibility of the minister for political affairs.
-Presidential Instruction No. 14/1967 (Inpres No. 14/1967) on Chinese Religion, Beliefs, and Traditions, which effectively ban any Chinese literatures and cultures in Indonesia, including the prohibition of Chinese characters. Although Chinese names are not explicitly mentioned, "newly naturalized" Indonesian Chinese were strongly advised to do so. (Annulled by former president Abdurrahman Wahid in Keppres No. 6/2000; annulment supported by former president Megawati Soekarnoputri in Keppres No 19/2002 by declaring Chinese New Year as national holiday)
-Resolution of the Provisional People's Consultative Assembly no. 32, 1966 (TAP MPRS No. 32/1966) expressly bans the use of Chinese characters in public.
-Presidium Directive No. 240/1967 (Inpres No. 240/1967) which mandates assimilation of "foreigners" and support the previous directive of 127/U/Kep/12/1966 for Indonesian Chinese to adopt Indonesian-sounding names.
-Home Affairs Ministry No. 455.2-360/1988 on Regulation of Temples, which effectively and severely restrict building or repairing Chinese temples.
-Circular of the Director General for Press and Graphics Guidance in the Ministry of Information No.02/SE/Ditjen-PPGK/1988, which further restrict the usage of Chinese language and/or characters.
-Instruction of the Ministry of Home Affairs No. X01/1977 on Implementing Instructions for Population Registration and the confidential instructions No.3.462/1.755.6 of the Jakarta government January 28, 1980 both authorize special codes in national identification cards to indicate ethnic Chinese origin. The code was "A01" prefix.
-Cabinet Presidium Circular SE-06/Pres-Kab/6/1967 on Changing the Term China and Chinese, requires the usage of the term "Cina" (which is considered a derogatory term by many Chinese Indonesians) instead of "Tionghoa" (as ethnic Chinese refer to themselves).
Most Indonesian Chinese are not Muslim, further fomenting negative sentiments from the mostly Muslim native Indonesians. This is ironic in light of the fact that some of the earliest Muslim evangelists in Java (who were called the Wali Songo or 'The Nine Ambassadors') were of Chinese ancestry. A historical theory even suggests that the first people who brought Islamic faith to Indonesia were the Chinese traders, especially those who came to Semarang under the leadership of Sam Po Kong or Admiral Zheng He (Zheng He himself was not a Han, but a Muslim from a minority ethnic group in China).
Various government policies banned Chinese language teaching, speaking, and publication. Established schools and colleges run by Chinese-Indonesian foundations were nationalized and their facilities seized without compensation and converted to state or pribumi-run schools, such as Universitas Res Publica, which became Universitas Trisakti. A presidential directive forced Indonesian Chinese to abandon their Chinese names and adopt Indonesian names. Anti-Chinese sentiments increased among the pribumi Indonesians and anti-Chinese pogroms were frequent.
In identity cards, all Chinese Indonesians were designated as "WNI" (Warga Negara Indonesia = Citizen of Indonesia), a euphemism for "ethnic Chinese" as opposed to just "Indonesian" for the pribumi Indonesians. This made it easy for government officials to extract bribes and side payments, and has been compared to Jews under Hitler being required to wear the Star of David badge on their chests. Ethnic Chinese must hold certificates of having rejected Chinese citizenship, despite being native-born and having lived in Indonesia for generations.
These highly discriminatory laws are believed by some as a concerted government effort at cultural genocide
Those Chinese Indonesians who could not stand the discrimination fled. The Totoks returned to mainland China (only to catch themselves trapped in Cultural Revolution), and the Peranakans to the old masters' country, the Netherlands.
In 1998, preceding the fall of Suharto's 32-year presidency, big riots targeted the Chinese Indonesians, pogrom style. It is verified and confirmed that Chinese homes were looted and burned, and many Chinese people were raped or killed[3]. The events in 1998 were significant because unlike earlier pogroms against Indonesian Chinese, due to the Internet this incident spread world wide in real-time, arousing the interest and feelings of the ethnic Chinese in China and other countries, leading to demonstrations against Indonesia in many countries with significant Chinese populations and protests to the government of Indonesia. After the tragedy, a large number of Chinese Indonesians fled to other countries, such as USA, Australia, Singapore, and the Netherlands. Adding insult to injury, Habibie, the unpopular president after Suharto, ridiculed the fleeing Chinese as being unpatriotic. Ironically, Habibie himself left Indonesia to live in Germany after his performance report (pidato pertanggungjawaban) was rejected by the new, democratically elected parliament in 1999.
Because of discrimination, most Chinese Indonesians were not politically active and could not lobby for legislation to protect their own interests despite their economical affluence.
These very racist law were invented by the Muslim Indonesian government. And yet no one speak up about these mistreatments the Chinese Indonesians have gone through for almost 50 years. And what about the Chinese Indonesians massacre during the 1998 riot in Indonesia that killed hundreds if not thousands of Chinese Indonesians, their cars, houses, businesses looted and burnt down, their women even little girls and old women raped?
Chinese Indonesians couldn't openly celebrate Chinese traditions, be proud of and embrace their cultures. They can't even have Chinese names or speak Chinese. Notice why so many Indonesians Chinese have no Chinese last names nor do they speak any Chinese?