PETER SCHWEIZER OVER-ESTIMATES INDONESIA'S COMMITMENT TO DEMOCRACY AND PLURALISM

The pretentious editor of Big Peace, the lemon in the pack, writes about how Judeo-Christian values are compatible with democracy, whereas Islam is not. But just when I thought this man, who's done some surprisingly galling things before, had found a winning argument, he blows it with a naive view of Indonesia when he says:

Indonesia is often cited as an example of a democratic, predominantly Muslim state. As Hillary Clinton has put it,‘‘If you want to know whether Islam, democracy, modernity, and women’s rights can co-exist, go to Indonesia.’’ But Indonesia is vastly different than the Middle East. It has strong Asian influences that temper its brand of Islam. There is no official mosque or spiritual leader in the country. And the Chinese minority in the country exerts considerable cultural influence. Indonesia and the Middle East have very little in common culturally.

Wrong! If the following article at Pajamas Media by Raymond Ibrahim tells anything:

...I refer to anti-church policy by Middle East governments deemed “moderate.” Consider: Kuwait just denied, without explanation, a request to build a church; so did Indonesia, forcing Christians to celebrate Christmas in a parking lot — even as a mob of 1,000 Muslims burned down two other churches. If this is the fate of churches in “moderate” Indonesia and Kuwait — the latter’s sovereignty due entirely to U.S. sacrifices in the First Gulf War — what can be expected of the rest of the Islamic world?

Don't think for even one second that Indonesia is a place where you'd want to live so long as Islam reins supreme. Nor Kuwait. Schweizer has only proven once again why he's the rhinestone among the Breitbart contributors, and I think he should be replaced by Frank Gaffney instead. Schweizer is only embarrassing the site, and they'd do well enough to dump him from their staff.

RELIAPUNDIT ADDS: AVI IS RIGHT:

ON 2/8/11 I POSTED ON INDONESIA WITH SEVERAL LINKS EXPOSING IT AS ANTI-WEST, ANTI-JUDEO-CHRISTIAN AND ESSENTIALLY NO DIFFERENT THAN OTHER MUSLIM NATIONS.

THE IDEA THAT INDONESIA IS MODERATE IS AS FALSE AS THE IDEA THAT AT ONE TIME ISLAM WAS TOLERANT OF NON-MUSLIMS, NAMELY THE ERA OF ANDALUSIAN OCCUPATION.

THE FACT THAT THE HOUSE OF SAUD HAS ANNOUNCED THAT FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND DEMONSTRATIONS ARE INCOMPATIBLE WITH ISLAM PROVES THAT ISLAM IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH MODERNITY AND DEMOCRACY AND PLURALISM AND A SECULAR STATE.

INDONESIA IS NO EXCEPTION - AND CAN'T BE AS LONG AS IT IS NOT APOSTATE TO ISLAM.