Fall of Indonesia Into Islamism Demonstrates Domino Theory
In the world's most populas Muslim country, moderate Islam is in freefall:
Across this most religious of Indonesia’s provinces, brown uniformed policemen in black wagons enforce Shariah, or Islamic law. They haul unmarried couples into precincts and arrest people for drinking or gambling. Increasingly, many of the cases are pushed to the ultimate conclusion, public canings at mosques in front of pumped-up crowds. In mid-July, a 27-year-old man sentenced to 40 lashes fainted on the seventh stroke of a rattan cane from a hooded man in the yard of a mosque here in the provincial capital. The caning was televised nationally, with an announcer reporting that the man, who had been arrested for drinking at a beachside stall, would receive the remainder of his punishment once he had recovered.
These people are actually moving backwards in time. It's the death of a culture, as it sinks from civilization and activity into an ocean barbarism and stagnation. But cultures aren't small things - they don't just slip quietly under the water. They create a whirlpool that traps and drags down everything around them:
Aceh is undergoing a profound transformation that is likely to have considerable impact on the nature of Islam in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country. For centuries Indonesia has been known for the open-minded, sometimes freewheeling, interpretation of its dominant religion. That is changing as moderate Muslims find themselves under siege from more orthodox proponents, and as the moderates are hesitant to push back. Aceh... put Shariah law onto the books. Special Shariah courts established to mete out punishments have been operating for a year. Now, some of Indonesia’s other provincial governments are looking to Aceh as a model for how they might more formalize Shariah laws already on the books. More than a score of townships across Indonesia have introduced Shariah-like laws that fall short of the precision of the religious laws here.
This kind of effect can't be contained within countries. Masses that drag their societies into Islamism will serve as models for populations across their borders. The War on Terror has to be global - either it will be fought in other countries or it will be fought just outside our front door, with fifth columns inside the living room.
Across this most religious of Indonesia’s provinces, brown uniformed policemen in black wagons enforce Shariah, or Islamic law. They haul unmarried couples into precincts and arrest people for drinking or gambling. Increasingly, many of the cases are pushed to the ultimate conclusion, public canings at mosques in front of pumped-up crowds. In mid-July, a 27-year-old man sentenced to 40 lashes fainted on the seventh stroke of a rattan cane from a hooded man in the yard of a mosque here in the provincial capital. The caning was televised nationally, with an announcer reporting that the man, who had been arrested for drinking at a beachside stall, would receive the remainder of his punishment once he had recovered.
These people are actually moving backwards in time. It's the death of a culture, as it sinks from civilization and activity into an ocean barbarism and stagnation. But cultures aren't small things - they don't just slip quietly under the water. They create a whirlpool that traps and drags down everything around them:
Aceh is undergoing a profound transformation that is likely to have considerable impact on the nature of Islam in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country. For centuries Indonesia has been known for the open-minded, sometimes freewheeling, interpretation of its dominant religion. That is changing as moderate Muslims find themselves under siege from more orthodox proponents, and as the moderates are hesitant to push back. Aceh... put Shariah law onto the books. Special Shariah courts established to mete out punishments have been operating for a year. Now, some of Indonesia’s other provincial governments are looking to Aceh as a model for how they might more formalize Shariah laws already on the books. More than a score of townships across Indonesia have introduced Shariah-like laws that fall short of the precision of the religious laws here.
This kind of effect can't be contained within countries. Masses that drag their societies into Islamism will serve as models for populations across their borders. The War on Terror has to be global - either it will be fought in other countries or it will be fought just outside our front door, with fifth columns inside the living room.
