In the latest series of cases involving blasphemy laws in Indonesia, a TikToker with more than than 2 million followers is found guilty and jailed for two years for saying an Islamic phrase before eating crispy pork skin.
Religion is nonsensical - anyone claiming supernatural abilities or visions or prophethood today is rightly treated for a mental disorder
The only way to keep people under the influence of religion is to enforce it as the norm. It's like the horse tied to a plastic chair - once you see the reality of it all, you're free
Religion is nonsensical - anyone claiming supernatural abilities or visions or prophethood today is rightly treated for a mental disorder
It seems everyone is prone, though. Even those who are supposedly the enlightened. Just look at the religion of post-secondary education – promising supernatural abilities to magically increase one's income, even going as far as threatening to forever stricken you to the hell of flipping burgers at McDonalds if you don't give praise to the deity. Meanwhile the data clearly shows that the promises have never materialized. Incomes are stagnant, job quality has declined, etc.
I agree that there are major issues with the cost of education, but I don't see similarities between belief in religion and belief that education is a worthwhile investment
Seven years ago, Jakarta's former Christian governor, Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, was charged with insulting Islam and sent to jail after citing a verse from the Koran to mock his political opponents during an election campaign.
I don’t see that this is jailworthy, but at least this one might actually be insulting Islam. The one in the headline is nuts.
For a Christian equivalent, in case that helps anyone: Imagine listening to a speech about how gay rights are important, responding at some point with “amen, sister!” and getting jailed and fined for insulting Christianity. “Bismillah” is straight up idiomatic among plurality Muslim populations, like “wallah” is or “oh my god” among christians.
It’s the commonality of bismillah that’s difficult here. Where I am, Muslims who drink say it to cheers. I don’t know if that’s common in Muslim majority countries though. Here, lots of non Muslims say bismillah, inshallah, wallah, and probably more I’m forgetting, but that could be an anomaly.
Lots of christians consider homosexuality banned by the Bible and “amen” to be inseparable from religion, as it’s derived from an affirmation of belief and is used to certify the truth of religious statements. I gave the analogy intentionally, but my understanding of bismillah could be too local.
I think that "amen" has become detached from its religious meaning in that context and is more just an expression of support. There are even churches that are pro gay rights. To me this is more purposely combining something deeply sacred with something deeply profane. If you imagine the religious right's reaction to a video of someone masturbating while reciting the Lord's prayer I think you get a bit closer to the cultural significance of this act.
I’m not Indonesian or Muslim, so I may have overstepped.
In my area, which has a large Muslim population, it is said by observant and non observant Muslims, as well as by non Muslims who hang in Muslim circles frequently. To the point that people say it when they cheers with alcohol. Where I am, it seems to be about as disconnected from true religious expression as wallah is. Perhaps that’s the sort of thing that happens more with a diaspora group, or I’m just surrounded by blasphemers.
Should I stop saying it in case I offend more religious Muslims?
Wallah, the sound, has a number of roots. I'd only heard it used as an anglicized version of voila, which is relatively recent in the English language and started as a joke.
Here's a link from someone who put in more work researching this than I can bother with.
According to the article, the law is about spreading blasphemy. It doesn't say whether committing blasphemy is sufficient on its own, so the number of followers may have been instrumental in the charging, conviction, or sentencing.
It's also possible that it was merely showing that being famous is no protection.