Aceh "bans" NYE

A few things to say on the bolded portion. I am not an Acehnese. I don't hate anyone who isn't Acehnese. I don't hate Indonesians. Can you show where I held such sentiments? I'm calling people out for their commentary on Aceh, that's all.

Your posts seemed so angry which led me to presume you hated those who don't have the same sense of outrage that you feel over the issues raised.

You also said, "I don't get why the insistence that the indigenous peoples of Aceh, the only people whose opinion actually matters when it comes to holidays celebrated in Aceh, adhere to holidays of your choosing? "

I don't think anyone is insisting that Acehnese "adhere to holidays of your choosing? " The issues are to do with Shariah law adherents denying other people's rights to celebrate in ways relevant to their own cultures. Similarly using extreme punishment to try and control others who do not follow Shariah law is hard to understand where the call for national unity indicates embracing tolerance for others with different beliefs and customs. Just as it is difficult for people to understand how a love of God would lead Sunnis or Shias to kill members of the other factions of Islam or so called "infidels" because they don't have the same set of beliefs. These kind of fundamentalist extremes were held across different versions of Christianity but these days most Christians manage to accept that others can worship according to their consciences.
 
Well, well, @Dan, IMHO a dads first priority is the security and wellbeeing of his kids (whatever religion, color or race). If you have even the slighest doubt about the country / place you live in can provide that, than it is time to grab them (the kids) and move on to more secure places.
As simple as that.
PS : With only 2 y in Bali I am a newbie here, but sure not a newbie in Asia ot the world. And I have 3 kids, multi racial.
You sound angry, bitter etc.....

Sorry mate, dont blame others.
All the best.

We live in the United States. We visit Aceh in the summer.

Holding governments accountable is not "blaming others." If someone is murdered, you'd want their murderer held accountable for that action, right? You wouldn't say to yourself or others, "well, I suppose I shouldn't blame the guilty party for that murder..."

Similarly, wanting justice for the victims of crimes committed by Indonesia or any entity is not being "bitter" or "angry." It's not asking for too much. It's not unreasonable or unhinged.

I have skin in this game. This is real life for people close to me. If you can't empathize with that, fine.
 
Your posts seemed so angry which led me to presume you hated those who don't have the same sense of outrage that you feel over the issues raised.

You also said, "I don't get why the insistence that the indigenous peoples of Aceh, the only people whose opinion actually matters when it comes to holidays celebrated in Aceh, adhere to holidays of your choosing? "

I don't think anyone is insisting that Acehnese "adhere to holidays of your choosing? " The issues are to do with Shariah law adherents denying other people's rights to celebrate in ways relevant to their own cultures. Similarly using extreme punishment to try and control others who do not follow Shariah law is hard to understand where the call for national unity indicates embracing tolerance for others with different beliefs and customs. Just as it is difficult for people to understand how a love of God would lead Sunnis or Shias to kill members of the other factions of Islam or so called "infidels" because they don't have the same set of beliefs. These kind of fundamentalist extremes were held across different versions of Christianity but these days most Christians manage to accept that others can worship according to their consciences.

Aceh has seen Indonesia's call for national unity. It was enforced with torture and murder. There's a body count for that. Indonesia preaches tolerance, but what it really means by tolerance is submission to its nationalist ideology or suffer.

So while you're upset that Aceh's government engages in corporal punishment, ass whuppin' people, Indonesia has been busy ACTUALLY MURDERING PEOPLE. These things aren't in the same league, hell, it's not even the same sport. That's my problem with the criticism you and the others have for Aceh's government. You're blaming the victim, not the aggressor.

I'd be much more amenable to your appeal to religious pluralism and diversity if that was actually what was on offer from the government of Indonesia. What Indonesia means by respecting diversity is the imposition of the culture of the plurality elsewhere and the export of their plurality to far flung provinces to ensure that the indigenous people can never again exert their independence. Their (and by default your) definition of diversity is more akin to how Europeans effectively wiped out the American Indians than it is a legitimate appeal to tolerance and diversity.

The Acehnese and other indigenous ethnic groups of Aceh are no fools. Their resistance has won them some time whereas areas like West Papua now have no hope.

Their moves serve to resist assimilation. That you advocate for their assimilation should give you pause.
 
To put this to you another way: if you could go back in time and prevent the imposition of European colonial power across the globe... you'd do it, right? I certainly would.

And yet here is the same thing, happening now, and you support it by telling yourself and others that this is a strange species of respect for pluralism and diversity and tolerance and all manner of liberal minded dreck.

And all of it is a lie.
 
Is it really happening now, Dan? At this moment? My Google-fu isn't very good and I couldn't find any news. None of my team members doing projects in Aceh or friends from various NGOs living in Aceh have told me that there's systematic killings of Acehnese by Indonesian military RECENTLY (last decade or two?). Dunno...
 
Mr Dan ,chill man , no one I know likes radical areas ,me included .
I have had the pleasure of a few for work reasons , booooooring !
I would never spend time in these places for fun including Aceh .
But ya thats my personal opinon ,you think another way thats fine ,but I notice you and yours are in the USA :unsure:
 
Wow Dan. Can you imagine if we would still teach our children to hold a grudge against the Germans, Japanese, British, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Belgians, Danish, ..... for what they have done to members of our families in the past? What a bigoted society it would be.

And you can say what you want about Indonesia's artificial unity and nationalistic need to keep everything together, but it's what our own western countries agreed upon a long time ago*. And Aceh -besides having a rebellious nature- is not really unique in all these (ex)sultanates that form the country. (Even including the obligatory corrupt governor.) On possible independence you can make the same -and perhaps even a better- case for other areas like Bali, NTT, etc.

Now holding people responsible for their actions and asking for fair punishment of (war) crimes, has nothing to do with independence. But don't forget that freedom fighter for one, is terrorist -with all consequences- for the other.

With national ideology (which sounds rather communist) I guess you mean Pancasila. Well, in my opinion that philosophy is the best this country has ever constructed and the (mandatory) adaptation has prevented that extremists in any religion or political movement were able to take over.

Personally I think the Acehnese are rather lucky that SBY at the time was fed up with the situation and that the Indonesian government went so far in providing this unique position (daerah istimewa) for the province. Currently in Papua they are not that flexible.


* Obviously the whole Malayu split at the time between British and Dutch was completely arbitrary. And the US forced the Netherlands to agree to let go of the implemented confederation some time after independence.
 
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Dan, the fact that you now live in New Orleans says a lot about Aceh and its future. I think the hypocrisy and corruption of the Aceh leadership and their control over the people using draconian religious rules will only lead to a further brain drain and further poverty and misery for its people. The fact that someone that obviously loves Aceh and its people with the intensity that you show can't live there for financial reasons is very telling that they are on the wrong path. I do hope they can someday improve the livability of the region so you and your family can return.
 

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