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November 24, 2009
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Home > 2009 > AprilChristianity Today, April, 2009  |   |  
Shari'ah Spreads
Islamic laws creep into half of Indonesia's provinces.




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"This law will only empower vigilante groups like the Islamic Defender's Front (FPI)," Eva Sundari, a member of the Democratic Party of Struggle (PDIP), told reporters. FPI is widely regarded as a self-appointed moral vigilante group, often raiding bars and nightclubs, but also responsible for multiple attacks on churches.

"Many of the members are preparing for elections and looking for support among the Islamic community," she added. "Now they can point to this law as evidence that they support Islamic values."

Shari'ah-based laws may become an even hotter election issue this year, as a change to the voting system means more weight will be given to provincial candidates.

Political analysts believe President Yudhoyono must form a coalition with most if not all of the country's Islamic parties in order to win reelection against the Golkar Party, allied with former president Megawati Sukarnoputri's PDIP. Such a coalition would likely come with strings attached. As Elizabeth Kendal of the World Evangelical Alliance observed, "The more the president needs the Islamists, the more they can demand of him."



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[Reader Reviews]
Average User Rating: 

Anna   Posted: March 11, 2009 10:44 PM
Interesting how Shariah law seems to insist that (loitering) women are to be controlled and enslaved by the men loitering on the other side of the street (those in favor of Shariah). I think the women's movement better wake up, kick out the homosexuals (their supposed friends) and start doing what the women's movement was meant to do, free the woman, that is before Shariah gets here if it isn't already here in some cities. Once Shariah is in you ain't going to get rid of it. Even Afganistan has it, for now just for the muslims even though tourists are told to cover their heads (for their own safety, of course). And don't feed me that line about interfering with other cultures. If western man hadn't interfered with other cultures, wives would still be burned alive with their dead husbands to keep them from finding happiness with another man, women and children would be dragged to the enemy to be married off or raised as dead children replacements. You condone crap by not stopping it.

Stan   Posted: March 11, 2009 6:23 PM
Never mind Indonesia...it's creeping into our own countries of USA and Canada, right under our noses, and we're not recognizing it.

Ralph Gaily   Posted: March 11, 2009 4:56 PM
Could it be possible that Islam, or a variation of it, will be the world religion implemented (forced upon all by fear) in the last days? Question: What is the punishment administered to those who oppose Islam? What is the punishment administered to those refusing the end time world system as recorded in scripture?

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