ArticlesIslamophobia, Mosque on Ground Zero, Burning of Qoran

As I’m currently watching live CNN interview with Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, I want to write a blogpost with my view as a Christian living in Indonesia, a country with the most Moslem population in the world.

First of all, I still cant understand the Imam’s logic of ‘national security’ that prevents him from relocating the mosque. I believe the mosque should just be relocated to appease the anger and sensitivities of the New Yorkers.

Americans are sensitive about Islam, despite the fact that Islam and terrorism are two separate things. It may be true that most terrorists are moslems, but it’s false to say that most moslems are terrorists.

I’ve been living in Indonesia for most of my life, and I can see for myself that almost none of the moslems here are terrorist at heart, except for the few radicals, which I believe is much much less than even 0,1% of the moslem population.

Anyway, I am a bit surprised of the similarities between Indonesians and Americans, who supposedly are more educated. Indonesians, including the government, oppose / make it difficult for / demonstrate against the buildings of churches just like the current American issue.

The difference is Obama, who basically represents the US government, to act unlike the Indonesian government. He has the balls despite political risk, to allow the Manhattan mosque project to go ahead, because he believes that indeed Islam and terrorism are two separate things.

The plan to burn Qorans the day after tomorrow is also a concerning issue. I’m sure if that goes ahead, there will be a firestorm of protests in the moslem world, including Indonesia. And that will only serve as an excuse to the radicals here to again storm the US and other Western embassies, and creating headache to the police and the government.