JPB... I think you missed the point. But then whats new.....

It is however nice to see you acknowledge the depth that Islamic Radicalism has reached here instead of your usual denials or blame.... Groups like the FPI will in time destroy this nation JPB and the freedoms we have won, just like similar groups have done in the majority of the Muslim world. The result will be the same

What is it Islam fears that makes many of you so damned aggressive and violent?

Dont hold your breath. Those liberal/anti Muslim groups mentioned by RTumenggung is a very insignificant minority, whose voices are just amplified by western aid fund. The majority of people do not support the like of JIL, even their (JIL's) own neighbor in Utan Kayu constantly agitating for their closure.

Here is a trivia: Habib Rizieq, boss of FPI, is actually a NU member! aknowledged by top NU boss Hasyim Muzadi. So I dont think expecting a showdown between a so called "moderate" muslims (represented by NU) and FPI is realistic. Sorry to burst your dream.

Thanks DrDez. I agree with your observations. The loud mouths and aggressive behaviour of FPI and other groups need to be directly resisted and, when it becomes criminal, prosecuted. The government is failing to do this; the police are failing to do this; the courts are failing to do this; SBY is as weak in this area as in so many others. It doesn't require ignorance about Muslim discourses or daily personal testimony about the evilness or backwardness of "Islam" to attack social problems in Indonesia any more than resisting Christian extremism in the US requires deep personal animosity towards the 2000 year old Christian tradition.

apakatadunia - What, you mean like you farted?

RT

Whilst I understand & to some extent agree with your point, the reality many of us see and face is a hardening of many Indonesian Muslims in their attitude & action, towards each other & more obviously towards minorities. The truth that we see daily is an administration & national agencies who via duplicitous application of the law, turning a blind eye or worse via the law itself compound a problem that should not even exist

The President being the leader of the nation has a duty not only to Muslims but to us all - he fails. He makes regular speeches but I cannot think of one instance where he made a difference.

FPI/Garis etc may not be mainstream Islam in Indonesia but they act with such impunity that they are setting much of the agenda whether you like it or not.

You may see yourself as a true face, but so do they. They are attacking the fabric of what you and others believe. Soon they will take that attack still further and what then? The silent mainstream are already kowed