Religious leaders condemn cartoons and violence in Jakarta

A group of Indonesian religious leaders gathered in Jakarta to express their unity. They condemned the cartoons of Prophet Mohammed as well as the violence that followed.

There are extremist groups ho are trying to fan the cartoon row into a major rallying cry for fundamentals. The religious leaders were representative from Muslim, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist and Confucian faiths.

One interesting point raised was that by burning the Danish flag, protesters were in effect, burning a Christian symbol as the Danish flag is a white cross on a red background. Muslim intellectual “This is not a religious conflict,” Azyumardi Azra said “We in Indonesia have to watch this closely. We have to continue to work to build greater understanding between people of different religions.”

Speaking of cartoons, my friend Dallas Finn, of Bali Peace Park, sent me the latest Brokeback Mountain cartoons. I haven’t seen the movie yet but a friend lent me the DVD. Looking forward to seeing a much talked about movie.