Heresy-reporting app may undermine Indonesia’s religious liberty

December 3, 2018 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

Jakarta, Indonesia, Dec 3, 2018 / 02:48 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Human rights groups are criticizing a smartphone app being rolled out by the Indonesian government which would allow citizens to file heresy reports against groups with unofficial or unorthodox religious practices.

The app, “Smart Pakem,” is available for download in the Google Play store and was launched by Jakarta’s Prosecution Office, which said it aims to streamline the previously-tedious and complicated written heresy reporting system.

Users can report from their phones the practice of any unrecognized religion, or unorthodox interpretations of the country’s six officially recognized religions: Islam, Catholicism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Hinduism, and Protestantism.

“The objective…is to provide easier access to information about the spread of beliefs in Indonesia, to educate the public and to prevent them from following doctrines from an individual or a group that are not in line with the regulations,” Nirwan Nawawi, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, told AFP.

While Indonesia has a secular government, about 87 percent of the population is Muslim, making it the largest Muslim nation by population in the world. The remaining population is mostly comprised of Christians (10 percent) and Hindus (2 percent).

The constitution of the country officially invokes “belief in the One and Only God” and guarantees religious freedom, but strict blasphemy laws embedded in its criminal code have been criticized by national and international human rights groups.

Critics worry that the new heresy app could further undermine religious tolerance and freedom in a country where discrimination and attacks against religious minorities, and even among different sects of Islam, are not uncommon.

“This is going from bad to worse – another dangerous step to discriminate religious minorities in Indonesia,” Human Rights Watch researcher Andreas Harsono told AFP.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, vice chairman of human rights group Setara Institute, told AFP the app was “dangerous” and will “create problems” if a majority of people decide they don’t like any particular religious minority.

Earlier this year, multiple attacks on Catholic parishes in the country led to Church leaders asking Catholics to be on high alert during Holy Week. On May 13, three bombings at Catholic churches in Indonesia left 11 dead and at least 40 others injured.

Attacks and persecution against adherents to indigenous religions in the country have also increased.

According to AsiaNews, Komnas HAM, an Indonesian human rights group, has called for the removal of the app and requested a meeting with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which told the group that further evaluation of the app was needed before the meeting could take place.

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Australian bishops: Assisted suicide is the opposite of health care

April 25, 2017 CNA Daily News 0

Melbourne, Australia, Apr 25, 2017 / 12:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Proposals to legalize euthanasia in the Australian state of Victoria are based on “misplaced compassion,” the local bishops said.

“Euthanasia and assisted suicide are the opposite of care and represent the abandonment of the sick and the suffering, of older and dying persons,” the bishops said April 18.

“We ask Victorians to continue to love and care for those who are sick and suffering rather than abandoning them to euthanasia or supporting them to suicide. Our ability to care says much about the strength of our society.”

Their pastoral letter was signed by the four bishops with dioceses in Victoria state, including Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne.

Lawmakers in Victoria aim to allow “assisted dying,” meaning both euthanasia and assisted suicide, in limited circumstances.

In 2016 a parliamentary committee recommended that Victoria advance towards legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia. The Government endorsed the proposal and at present there is a consultation to determine how such laws can be made “safe.”

The bishops countered: “We should be clear – there is no safe way to kill people or to help them to their own suicide.” The commandment “You Shall Not Kill” is central to both biblical and civil law, they said, encouraging the Catholic faithful and others to pray and act against the bill.

“While it is never easy to face the end of life of a loved one, we cannot support this kind of legalization however it is described,” they continued.

“Assistance in our time of dying is something that we should all want for ourselves and for others – however, this should not involve a lethal injection or offering a lethal dose.”

Instead of legalizing assisted suicide, everyone should respond to the sick and the suffering with “truth and compassion,” the bishops said, affirming that everyone has the duty “to protect, nurture and sustain life to the best of our ability.”

The bishops cited Pope Francis’ Nov. 15, 2014 speech to Italian physicians, which contrasted the false compassion of assisted suicide with “the compassion of the Gospel” that accompanies us in times of need and the compassion of the Good Samaritan who “draws near and provides concrete help.”

According to the Victorian bishops, euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation has been “continually rejected” since a short experiment in Australia’s Northern Territory state.

“Why? Because when parliamentarians take the time to debate the issue fully and to consider all the consequences they realize that to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide would threaten the lives of vulnerable people,” the bishops said.

The bishops warned that the legislation could create a lower threshold of care and protection for the sick, the suffering and the vulnerable.

“Such a law would serve to exploit the vulnerability of those people, exposing them to further risk,” they said.

Even limited legalization would be a first step towards further expansion, the pastoral letter continued. Where assisted suicide and euthanasia have been legalized, their legality has been broadened to apply to children or psychological illness.

“In Holland, there is pressure to allow assisted suicide for people over the age of 70 who have simply become ‘tired of life,’” said the bishops.

The bishop stressed the blessings the elderly provide for society. Care for them should be done in gratitude, as “part of a culture of love and care.”

The Victorian bishops thanked the government for its commitment to palliative care and encouraged more investment in this path instead of assisted suicide or euthanasia. They pointed to Catholic contributions in networks of hospice care, hospitals, aged care, and other services, encouraging further support for these.

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