May 12, 2017

The Christian governor of Jakarta was convicted of blasphemy for arguing that the Quran does not bar Muslims from voting for a non-Muslim.

Basuki Tjahaja Purnama was given a 2-year sentence (which he will appeal), and he is now in jail, the NYT reports.
Bivitri Susanti, head of the Jakarta chapter of Indonesia’s Association of Constitutional Law Lecturers, criticizes the application of the law: “It’s not about the speech itself and whether it’s condemning Islam itself. It’s about whether society believes it’s wrong or annoys them.”

Mass rallies were organized calling for his arrest, with some zealots demanding that the governor be put to death. Many analysts said that the protests had been orchestrated by his political rivals and that they were a strong factor in his 16-point defeat in last month’s election....

Among Indonesia’s population of 250 million are more than 190 million Muslims, but there are also smaller, influential minorities including Christians, Hindus and Buddhists.

“First, this verdict is really intimidating for minority groups,” said Tim Lindsey, director of the Center for Indonesian Law, Islam and Society at the University of Melbourne. “Second, it tells Muslim politicians that they should try to use the religion card in other elections. Religion has never been absent,” he continued, “but this is a real shift. This has been building up for a long time.”

32 comments:

exhelodrvr1 said...

It certainly simplifies the voting process. Also makes it much easier to tell if there has been voter fraud.

Couldn't we do something like that here? For instance, make it illegal for women to vote for a male Republican?

That's why we should increase Muslim immigration - it would speed up the process of implementing those ideas.

Jim S. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
William said...

I busted our host's chops for making an issue of the Steven Fry incident in Ireland but ignoring this story. Glad to see she has acknowledged it.

fivewheels said...

I became aware of this case because an Indonesian artist just got fired off the X-Men for referencing the protests with "easter eggs" in the artwork. He was basically advocating the point of view that the Quran says Christians and Jews should not be allowed as leaders. He put a notation of the verse on a character's t-shirt. This was seen as unhelpful for a book in which a Jewish woman becomes the leader of the X-Men.

It was also probably unhelpful that he drew her in one panel next to a "Jewelry" store so that her head blocked most of the word, but not the "Jew" part.

They're fighting on every front.

rcocean said...

Must muslim societies don't believe in the separation of mosque and state.

sorry about that.

Jim Gust said...

Guess I won't be going to Indonesia. Or any other muslim majority country.

Ann Althouse said...

"I busted our host's chops for making an issue of the Steven Fry incident in Ireland but ignoring this story. Glad to see she has acknowledged it."

I saw the story for the first time today and had no hesitation about blogging it.

You idea of criticizing me is absurd unless you knew I knew about it. I can't read every comment. I appreciate suggestions of things to look at but you should not assume I've seen every suggestion.

robother said...

Next thing you know, this governor will be telling Muslims the Koran does not approve beheading non-believers. Glad this guy was stopped in his reckless appropriation of Koran-reading/interpreting before any more Indonesian Muslims experienced micro-aggressions.

Etienne said...

I read the news today, oh boy...

Indonesia is a shit-hole, and has more holes than Blackburn, Lancashire.

But at least the holes in Blackburn, Lancashire aren't shit-holes.

I'd love to turn you on...

buwaya said...

16-point victory is the point.
Now its established that this stuff is political dynamite.
The next general elections (2019) there (this was just Jakarta governor) will be interesting.
Jakarta is the big city, full of secularized people and non-Muslims. If this can work there, it can work anywhere.

Part II will be anti-Chinese laws, because the former Gov is actually Chinese (regardless of his name), besides not being a Muslim.

Bay Area Guy said...

And this is one of the more saner Muslim countries......

Temujin said...

Meanwhile, back in the good ole USA, Sen. John Cornyn was disinvited from being the commencement speaker at Texas Southern University because.....he's a white, male, Conservative Republican. Can't have that. Cannot have that on school grounds.
While across the country, Linda Sarsour, who finds Sharia Law comforting, and Jews...not so much, is the featured speaker at CUNY's graduation for the School of Public Health. (one can only wonder what ISIS has to do with public health).

sane_voter said...

I would make fun of this, but we also have major issues with political insanity and freedom of speech. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it's hard to get it back inside.

traditionalguy said...

Mohammed's Army Manual is all rules all the time over every detail in life. That creates a disciplined Army of conquest that follows orders to kill infidels and and steal their stuff.

Prayer Towers are screamed orders to obey or else.

It is no more a religion than the USMC is a religion. It is designed for war. But don't tell the Ninth Circuit.

PackerBronco said...

Religious blasphemy or politically correct blasphemy. What's the difference?

Gahrie said...

...and Indonesia, that bright shining example of secular Islam, falls into Islamic fundamentalism, as some of us predicted.

Sebastian said...

“First, this verdict is really intimidating for minority groups . . . . Second, it tells Muslim politicians that they should try to use the religion card in other elections. Religion has never been absent,” he continued, “but this is a real shift. This has been building up for a long time.” Yeah, it's been building up since, what, the 600s? So third, it tells us that there is no escape from the real implications of real Islam, wherever Muslims hold power. We should respond in kind. Let's call it the Martel option.

buwaya said...

Indonesian politics since independence wasnt very Muslim at all. In Sukarnos day it was instead very secular, leftist, and authoritarian; in Suhartos day the same, except for the socialist. Political Islam, outside of Aceh, mainly, is a development of the last 20 years.

Gahrie said...

Political Islam,... mainly, is a development of the last 20 years.

Very similar to Turkey..no? The two shining examples of secular Islam are both turning fundamentalist. I prefer fundamentalist, because the problem isn't Islamic government per se, the problem is the religion of Islam.

Gahrie said...

By the way, someone with a microphone and a camera needs to ask Keith Ellison if he believes the Koran forbids Muslims from voting for non-Muslims.

Hyphenated American said...

This is what moderate Islam looks like. Religion of peace.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Islamic theocracy -- approved by leftists everywhere.

Hyphenated American said...

"Political Islam,... mainly, is a development of the last 20 years."

Self-proclaimed prophet of Islam, Mohammed, strongly disagrees.
Btw, Moslem brotherhood was created in Egypt in the 1920ies.
Islamists took over Iran in 1979.

Anonymous said...

More evidence, in case you needed it, that even "mainstream"/"democratic" Muslim countries are are pretty GD strange. For instance, brutal misogyny is routine and unpunished in Indonesia (http://asiapacificreport.nz/2016/07/27/women-still-not-safe-from-sexual-abuse-in-indonesias-rape-culture/) as it is in many parts of the Middle East.


Me? I don't want much to do with them. But then I guess I am an Islamophobe.

Anonymous said...

Meanwhile, the democrat party treats Islamists as just another interest group to accept buckets of money from in exchange for political favors.

eddie willers said...

I hope there is a Rapture in Islam. And I hope it happens tomorrow.

Gahrie said...

Self-proclaimed prophet of Islam, Mohammed, strongly disagrees.

I believe he was talking specifically about Indonesia, which has always been held up as an example of a secular Muslim-majority country.

Clyde said...

"Mass rallies were organized calling for his arrest, with some zealots demanding that the governor be put to death."

And these are the so-called 'moderate Muslims.' Yeaaaah,riiiight.

Rusty said...

I'm waiting for the lefts stupid comparison with Ireland.

Jupiter said...

Etienne said...

"But at least the holes in Blackburn, Lancashire aren't shit-holes."

Don't be so sure about that. They have been importing Muslims for some time now. A lot of Merrie Old England is turning into Muslim shitholes. France and Germany too.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

But but but the Handmaid's Tale is a shockingly timely reminder of the kind of Christian theocratic patriarchy that's juuuuust about to descend on the American people! We all know white Western Christians are the people who are most likely to impose religious-based oppressive governments. The Media tells us so, daily.

Skippy Tisdale said...

Muhammad never walked on the water,
Muhammad never made a blind man see,
Muhammad never raised a girl from the dead,
Or died for you and me.

- Skippy Tiesdale