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Palti Panjaitan / Reuters
Members of the congregation of Batak Christian Protestant Church (HKBP) cry as an excavator demolishes their church in Bekasi, on the outskirts of Jakarta, Indonesia on March 21, 2013.
Adek Berry / AFP - Getty Images
An Indonesian civilian policeman takes photographs while an excavator demolishes an under-construction building of the Taman Sari Batak Christian Protestant Church in Bekasi on March 21, 2013.
Adek Berry / AFP - Getty Images
Police watch while an excavator demolishes the church building on March 21, 2013.
Agence France-Presse reports — An Indonesian city government demolished a church in front of its weeping congregation on Thursday, as Muslim protesters egged on workers and branded the Christians "infidels."
The local government had ordered the demolition of the church for being built, in October 2012, without a legal permit.
However the congregation said the permit was repeatedly and unfairly rejected after they had spent 13 years worshipping at the site unopposed in a temporary shelter. Read the full story.
Adek Berry / AFP - Getty Images
A Muslim man gestures during a protest against the Taman Sari Batak Christian Protestant Church on March 21, 2013. Around 100 Christians held a counter rally to demand the government halt the demolition of their church.
Enny Nuraheni / Reuters
Members of the congregation of Batak Christian Protestant Church sit near the ruins of their church after an excavator demolished it on March 21, 2013.
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Do not feel sorry for the Christians, God Almighty will defend them and His justice will ultimately prevail.
"Vengeance is mine, I will repay." says the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
The grace of God is sufficient to with stand all persecution and injustice.
And Muslims consider the god of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob (and Jesus) to also be the god of Mohammed.
Amen! Herald9. Our God is a mighty God, greater than any evil force this world can produce. Hold on to Jesus dear Indonesian Christians...hold on..don't faint... "keep on keepin on" for Jesus!
Amen Herald9! Our God is greater than any force the enemy can bring against Christians.
It's always darkest before the night but, JOY comes in the morning. Dear Indonesian Christians, hold on to Jesus, don't faint...
I lived in Indonesia in early 1990's. So sad to see how it has changed. People then were very tolerant and accepting of each other. Extremist Muslims and the US military invasions as responses to 9/11 have pushed people apart and are tearing at so many communities all over the world.
One thing to remember when it comes to Indonesia, religious differences are also along ethnic lines. (This particular church community is Batak, an ethnic minority who were pagans until Dutch and German missionaries began converting them in the late 1800's). So religious intolerance is also bringing out old ethnic animosities.
Makes me sad being part Indo, but Muslim extremists wont stop me from eating Sate Babi....muhahahha
My family blamed General Suharto for kicking out the Euro's and Mixed breeds post WW2
Leave it to the Muslims to "egg on the demolition crew". I think that all these so called "Muslims" should stand back and take a hard look at this and say, "what if it were a Muslim place of worship"? Do you think Christians would be egging on the demolition crew? I think not. These Muslims are hell bent on destroying the Christian world and should be shown the same tollerance that they show Christians. So remember when we were at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, we were told not to shoot a mosques. To hell with that philosophy!! level them and move on!
P!ss on them people,and mohammed,allah,muslims in general.
They want to die so they get get those old virgins.
How long will it be before the world wakes up and sees how intolerant and Evil this Muslim religion really is. How brave these 100 Christians must be ,to live in a world surrounded by people who believe their God wants you dead. Us Christians in the west really do take our freedom of religion for granted. I pray for all Christians who have to live surrounded by Muslims ,they really need all of our prayers.
I think the world already knows it, but it is still hard to Justify any action against a religion. We saw what happened when Hitler tried that. There are millions of Muslims who peacefully coexist with people of all other religions, so where does a line get drawn if anyone decides to take action? It's a very confusing and hard situation but it needs something other than prayers to solve it, Christians have been praying for the solution for 2000 years already.
Pre date, Am I really a peace loving and coexist with my neighbors , if I stand by and watch them get killed and burnt out , just because of their Religion. I would not call that Coexisting or peaceful. They are just as much to blame and in the back of their minds ,their glad to see the Infidels go.
And this is what it looks like to be the religious minority in a country that doesn't protect your freedom of religion.
If you don't understand WHY the concept of "Separation of church and state" is so important, then you don't understand religious persecution at its worst. Currently, roughly 70% of our nation identifies with the Christian faith in some form or another, whether it be Catholic, Protestant, or Latter Day Saints.
Now imagine if that were reversed and the Islamic faith was the majority (as it is in Indonesia). Now let's say that the Muslims decided to bulldoze your church. If this country was NOT founded on principles of religious freedom, then the primary religion (in this hypothetical the Islamic faith) would be the state religion. The state would then look the other way if your church was demolished, because there would be NO protection they could offer you.
As it is, we DO live in a country that's founded on religious freedom. So please, stop telling me this is a Christian nation simply because the majority of the people that inhabit it are Christians.
And please stop telling me that ALL Muslims are evil. 3 of the kindest people I've ever met were Muslim. and I grew up in a Christian church, so imagine that. I'm sure Jesus, who held up a Samaritan (not a Jew) in one of his parables, would LOVE that you hate another religion so unabashedly, Joe.
Casque, why don't you just pick up a Koran and read it. then you will understand why it is so easy to turn a Muslim into a terrorist , their beloved Mohamed says " If you cannot convert them with the word, convert them with the sword". Rage Jihad or holy war against the infidels.He was also a very feared warrior. I also don't recall saying anything about hating anyone, I am a Christian and my lord says to" love your enemies". My neighbor is a Muslim and a very nice man, but he also is concerned about his own religion and what it is doing to its young people. As far as Jesus goes , I'm sure he would not have anything good to say about any religion that preaches hate and murder..
do not be sad for the building it's just a material building!! don't you remember when jeuscrist our savior said "destroy this temple and in three days i "will" rebuild this temple" don't be sad be glad for the lord our god of abraham, isaac, jacob said justice is mine i will repay all the evil will be done away with.
We all can learn from the Muslims. We can learn how to burn thier mosques and kill thier believers, we can trump up charges of blasphemy and legislate capital punishment as treasonous apostasy for anybody who converts to Islam. We can create random acts of terror, perhaps even attack the Kaaba. They are good teachers, and reciprocity is part of human nature.
But then I refuse to go there, and accept that reason and tolerance will be my guiding light, and hope they eventually see it the same.
The funny thing is. If the Muslims continue down this path of hate and destruction this will be what they will face in the future. Christians and other religious and non-religious sects will end up responding in kind if they eventually feel their way of life is at threat.
no Veni , Yahoshua (Jesus) said forgive , 7 x 70 & to love your enemies , vengeance is His & His alone , but , do not equate His patience for indifference.
If we are the temple of the God of abraham, Isaac, and Jacob how can we have such evil hearts this people are showing by there fruits that they are lieyers Because the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob is a God of peace, love and JesusCrist said "Love your neighbor as your self." " He also said, if you don't love your neighbor whom you can see, how can you claim to love me whom you can not see; you are a lieyer" and this are the words comming straignt for Yahwe's word.
Yeah whatever, keep on hatin' people. How's that working out for you?
Sad how some cannot see the forest for the trees. Every human being has their own journey and it is not our place to judge. But as the saying goes... "if you cannot be a good example...at least you can be a terrible warning."
Ahh ! The "Religion of Peace" in action, no less ---- tearing down a church. I am sure Indonesia will get SANCTIONS thrown at it now! ( Yeah, right ! )
Indonesia seems like a good place to dump nuclear waste !
"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Corinthians 5:1
Jesus said,
"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you." "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." John 15:18-19
"But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me." "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin." "He that hateth me hateth my Father also." "If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father." John 15:21-24
Obama must have gotten a tingle up his leg when he heard about this.
So much for religious tolerance.
Intolerance always really just points to extreme ignorance...
I feel that the Christians should still keep praying at the site and set up a temporary camp site and use it as a church or place of worship. To show you make be able to break our church but you will never break our faith.