Young atheists on the internet, and eradicating atheism and communism in Indonesia.
Governor of North Sumatra, Syamsul Arifin, said on 8th October at an occasion marking Pancasila Day that all elements of the nation must continually fight against and eradicate atheist beliefs among the people.
Atheism, which seeks to erase Pancasila and which once threatened the nation in the guise of the Communist Party of Indonesia (PKI), and still does, has to be guarded against, particularly because it still finds support among sections of the poor.
Syamsul said children should be taught from primary school through to university to hate atheism, so that the creed could as far as possible be obliterated.

A 4th ‘T’ – Rakyat tidak ateis.
The butchery of the atheist-PKI backed murderers of the September 30 Movement of 1965 (G30S PKI) could not be allowed to happen again, he said, hence the need to struggle against atheism. beritasore
Young Internet Atheists
On the internet at least some Indonesians seem happy to declare themselves as unbelievers.
Running an “affiliation” search on the social network site Friendster.com for “atheist” brings up about 144 matches friendster.com, while “ateis” produces 185 odd results friendster.com, although more than a few seem to be claiming to be atheist as some kind of joke.
On the same site, created on January 23rd, 2007 is the “Atheist Indonesia” group friendster.com, with 76 members and a fairly active message board, and some of its members seem to be active in an Indonesian language Atheist Wikipedia. ateisindonesia.wikidot.com
@ Oigal – actually Eisenhower gave the French $400 million and not billion in 1952 but by the war’s end in 1954 the USA was said to be financing upwards of 80% of the total war cost incurred in Vietnam by the French. Yes, Vietnam did fall and yes neighboring countries didnt necessarily fall to communism but the War did effect negatively upon Cambodia and Laos as you, no doubt, read about in your history books. However, I still don’t understand exactly what your trying to convey about the Domino Theory being disproven, so that it couldn’t possibly have been a reason to go to war? Well WMDs were disproven in Iraq but it was still one of the primary reasons that America invaded Iraq. As far as Irian Jaya was concerned I thought we reached agreement but apparently,not so, as you think Sukarno and the PKI were in cahoots together against the British for establishing Malaysia.
You are complaining that I don’t supply you with “links” to prove the existence of statements made by Eisenhower and Nixon. As you must be aware, I have been on this site for more than a few years and I don’t supply links as a personal policy. I will tell you that the man who directed most of the action and knew everything the USA was doing in Indonesia was Richard M.Nixon, who in his capacity as vice-president, chaired the Clandestine Commitee known as Special Group 54102/2. This would have included the CIA massive effort to overthrow the Sukarno Government in Sumatra in 1958. An operation that size, involving almost 50,000 small arms, submarines, bomber planes, bases in Okinawa, Philippines and Indonesia and tens of thousands of rebels was somehow kept secret from the American public though the rest of the world knew. You said follow the moneywell dearest Oigal, calculate the time, effort and expense America and it’s allies put into discrediting Sukarno and finally overthrowing his government. Add those figures to the size able American investments in the country,then add up all the raw materials American companies were raking in at the expense of the Indonesian people. What America established in Indonesia was a new type of colonialism that involved keeping in power a brutal military dictatorship that was supportive of American interests as long as their pockets were full as well.
@ Oigal – You asked what threat does Indonesia pose to its neighbors? Well let’s look as ASEAN more closely as they just met not long ago in Phnom Penh. The meeting ended without a group consensus how best to deal with increased aggression to toward some ASEAN members. It was said that this was the first time in 45 years that ASEAN failed to conclude a joint statement on an issue. The Phillippines even went so far to criticize the host nation, Cambodia, for the way it handled the sensitive topic during the minister’s meeting. As you likely know, Indonesia has always tried to keep a neutral stance and, as reported in the Jakarta newspapers, it was sending its diplomats to ASEAN member states to try to mend fences over the issue. The problem remains that China has been courting Indoniesia in recent years and has offered a great amount of military assistance and training to the Indonesian military. This includes building a factory to produce missiles in Indonesia and being supplied with jet fighter planes and gun boats. All this looks suspicious to ASEAN countries such as he Philippines and Vietnam who increasingly see Indonesia getting too cozy with China. This relationship brings into question Indonesia neutrality and indeed leadership in ASEAN as the largest economy among the member states. Tension are definitely rising in the South China Sea and it remains to be seen if China will be successful or not in dividing ASEAN to the point where it becomes dysfunctional and breaks apart.
The Jakarta Globe recently reported on a story that got my interest. It was about the Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto giving a lecture in Singapore concerning his position that Indonesians needs to become more nationalistic in their outlook. This in itself is rather benign as he means that the country must become more focused on issues that are critical to its future success. Mr. Subianto included natural resources and food security as priorities for the government to tackle. He then provided statistics that warned that Indonesia’s oil reserves will likely be depleted in 12 years and it’s gas reserves gone in about 32 years. As Indonesia continues to modernize and the country therefore becomes more dependent on fossil fuels how will it cope having to import almost 100% of its energy needs? Will this realization pull Indonesia further into the China camp at the expense of its ASEAN membership? Remember that the current posturing over small islands, in the South China Sea, is about the tremendous amount of oil and gas believed to be under the sea beds. This is all conjecture on my part of course but now we have a scenario where lack of fossil fuels starts to halt the biggest economy in ASEAN. We have already witnessed in recent months the reaction of the Indonesian public when fuel prices were going off subsidy and the counter-reaction of the government to reverse itself. What will it be like when inflation brought on by rising fuel prices becomes a permanent part of life in a country of 240 million plus people? The clock is indeed ticking on Indonesia so the question is who will lead the country and in what direction?
@Stevo – you said “I am not to concerned about specifics…” How true.! How true! But didn’t anyone ever tell you the devil is in the details. : )
@Oigal – Speaking of not paying attention to the details your not thinking the Chinese strategy through to see how and why they would want to draw Indonesia into their camp rather than risk war as an adversary. First, ASEAN is made up of 10 countries with a combined population of 650 million people or so which means. 1/3 of them live in Indonesia which is by far the largest Economy in ASEAN. As you know, Indonesia controls the most important shipping lane in Asia, the Straight of Malucca. We already showed in earlier posts that 80% of China’s oil and other important economies of Asian including Japan, Taiwan and South Korea travel through the Straight. The strategic location of Indonesia from a military view can never be taken for granted. Indonesia position on the map enables it to have an advantageous flanking position against all its neighbors if it aligns with China. It s location also means it could isolate Australia and New Zealand in the event of a wider conflict. Do not ever think that the Chinese have not considered all this. Ask yourself why would the Chinese be upset by Australia allowance of a small attachment of Marines to be based in its Northern Territory? Have you considered Chinese investment in Indonesia to be approximately $6 billion in the last seven or so years with $3billion of that coming during the last 12 months. In case you are wondering they are investing in agriculture, energy and food. The very same areas that Prabowo Subianto said Indonesians needed to become nationalistic. I read Mr. Subianto’s biography and he is a man who Indonesians needs to scrutinize very carefully before empowering him with the presidency.
Going back to the question why the Vietnam War was fought, Oigal seems to believe that Indonesia was irrelevant as a reason. My initial arguments said that the protection of Indonesia from falling. Into communist hands was as good a reason as any for the involvement of the USA in the conflict. To no surprise, Oigal, was of the position that Indonesia was at best a footnote in the War as he could find nothing to persuade him otherwise. With that in mind I decided to approach the question of Indonesia’s importance toward Australia foreign policy during the period and with particular emphasis with the decision to support the USA in Vietnam.
Honestly Oigal, how could you ignore all the evidence pertaining to the fact that Indonesia’s perceived threat to Australia’s security forced it to discern that the USA was the only military power operating in Asia that was capable of offering significant protection from its Northern neighbor. The Canberra government led by PM Robert Menzie pursed a “quid pro quo” policy of helping the Americans by becoming an ally in Vietnam would result in American defense of Australia should that need ever arise. The historians Peter Edwards and William Pember both agree with this premise. “The China threat is hyperbole, Indonesia, not China, was the real concern…”
@Oigal – If you wish to find the quote attributed to President Eisenhower speaking about the importance of the French – Iundochins War please see President Eisenhower’s remarks at the Governors’ Conference, August 4. 1953, p. 540.
“All of the weakening position around there is very ominous for the United States, because finally if we lost all that, how would the Free World hold the ricjh empire of Indonesia. So you see somewhere along the line, this must be blocked. That is what the French are doing.
“So when the United States votes $400 millon to help the war, we are not voting for a free giveaway program. We are voting for the cheapest way that we can to prevent the occurence of something that would be of the most terrible significance for the United States of America – our security, our power and ability to get certain thngs we need from the riches of the Indonesian territory, and from Southeast Asia.”
@Oigal – Seriously dude, did you read the post I made on August 24th? I think it spoke of at least one scenario where China may attempt to draw in Indonesia as any ally against its neighbors. What would Indonesia gain from such an alliance? Continued Chinese investment, favourable trade status with China,military hardware and training, a healthy share of some of the petroleum reserves as found under the sea beds and as a spoil of war, and maybe pursuing Sukarno’s dream of a united Malay state made up of Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia. I realize it all conjecture on my part but you must admit their is motive and opportunity for the possibility of Indonesia acting belligerent towards its neighbours in the future should it choose that direction.
@Oigal – You are probably right. Nothing makes sense anymore. Thank you for your frank criticism of my argument.
@Oigal – I am still bewildered by your thinking process sometimes and honestly it stunned me the first time I read your last post and you said ” Oh sorry the Malay state, I think the Philippines and it’s Christians might have some issues. Seriously Patrick your groupings make little cultural or ecomomic sense.” Simply stunning thinking on your part old chap as of course why didn’t the peoples of Timor and Papua think of that and what about the Balinese? All the blood shed and forced annexations in history could have easily been avoided if only someone would have said “hey don’t conquer us because we are different culturally and it won’t make good economic sense if you just exploit our labor and natural resources. I am going to get Oslo on the phone as you should definitely be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. I hear they practically give them away nowadays as one only needs the potential for peace and not the real proof.
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Well if you are Indonesian, a fair bit to worry about, however externally probably not too much on the Military Expansionist side anyway.
You still have not provided a link for these key speeches, so I assume they don’t exist. Not sure that a one liner throw away at a governors conference actually supports your rather big call that the major reason the USA to enter Vietnam was to save Indonesia from communism.
Although pretty safe to say
He pretty much missed the mark on all levels, firstly not Millions but billions, secondly Vietnam fell anyway and lastly the fall of Vietnam did not end up with the entire region including Australia and New Zealand turning communist.
Many things worry me much more than an improbable Indonesian military aggression (standard border spats excluded). In fact, the ugly and destabilizing lurch to the looney religious right by the USA is far scarier than anything Indonesia is doing.
On Papua, your knowledge of Indonesia would again appear to be fairly superficial. Actually, the annexation of was started with fairly equal doses of Nationalist and PKI agendas. Curiously, I note you skip over the East Timor debacle.
Anyway, I think I have had enough fun with this. Thanks.
Seriously Patrick, lets be honest to finish off. What is it that makes you think that Indonesia would be a larger threat to the stability of the region than say China, North Korea or even Burma for that matter? All of which have standing armies that Indonesia will only dream about for generations combined with nutty leaders or a distinct aggressive external posture? Come on fess up…its a religious thing isn’t it?