Imagine traveling halfway around the world at your own expense for a religious vocation. A handful of Indonesians are doing just that to join the Islamic State, while some Americans were quietly come to Indonesia to talk about the Mormon religion -. If asked about it
race to beat traffic jams in Jakarta it a few weeks ago, I boarded a bus and noticed a couple of white faces. They do not look like tourists to the old quarter of the city. Clean-cut and impeccably dressed in black pants, shirts and white ties, and clutching what looked like Bibles, these two young men stood out as what they were: Mormon missionaries in the largest populated Muslim country in the world
."Even if there are differences, there are similarities between the two religions," one of them said happily a local Muslim man sitting next to him. The man agrees politely without much enthusiasm.
I had never seen a Mormon before, so I start talking about one of them. He is Elder Hayes. We exchange phone numbers and make an appointment more late for an interview.
Elder Hayes
My knowledge of Mormons had come from far an episode of the series of American cartoon drawing of long term South Park , which made fun of the origins of religion, but noted that Mormons are such nice people they are difficult to criticize. South Park creators later created a musical that elaborates on this theme
for those unfamiliar with Mormonism, here is a precis. in 1820, a man named Joseph Smith was struggling on which the name of Christianity that should follow. He said that God appeared to him in a vision and told him that all churches had "turned away from the Gospel." Then, Smith said, in 1823, an angel appeared and told him of a book made from gold plates and some "seer stone" (to translate the book) - all hidden in a hill in New York . In 1827 he said he had recovered the plates and stones, which were initially not allowed to show everyone. He dictated the later of (having hidden in a hat) and The Book of Mormon was published in 1830.
So what is The Book of Mormon all about? In short: A small group of Israelites left Jerusalem around 600 BC at the request of God and went to America. They eventually divided into two factions: the Nephites (who followed the Law of Moses) and Lamanites (who were wicked). God cursed the Lamanites giving them dark skin. Then Jesus came to America and converted to Christianity everyone. Later the feud resumed and the Lamanites killed nearly all the Nephites (which became American Indians). All this was forgotten until Joseph Smith came to explain that mainstream Christianity had deviated from the true teachings of Jesus. The early Mormons were persecuted and Smith was murdered by an angry mob 38 years of
Mormon missionaries always travel in pairs - for safety reasons and to provide moral support. I met Elder Hayes and his partner Elder Tuttle to their church unadorned hidden in the back of a block of nondescript shops, homes near the hub of busway Harmoni in Central Jakarta.
Hayes Elder to a Busway stop in Jakarta
We spend a few hours talking about Mormonism and the comparison of experiences in Indonesia. They were so friendly, upbeat guy he is easy to see why Mormonism uses those aspiring to fill a spiritual abyss yawning.
Mormon men must complete two years of missionary service, usually after age 18 and before the start of higher education. They can be used in America or abroad. Hayes and Tuttle seniors were selected to go to Indonesia. They first underwent eight weeks of intensive Indonesian language study at the Missionary Training Center south of Salt Lake City, Utah.
In Indonesia, missionaries are allowed to send email to their families one day a week and just two families of Skype calls per year (usually on Christmas Day and Mother's Day). This may sound harsh, but it is even more communication that some expatriates in Indonesia worth doing it.
permission to preach?
A group of Mormon officials visited Indonesia in 1969 and sent the first missionaries of the following year. After complaints from Muslim groups as well-funded Christian missionaries were a threat to Islam, the government in 1978 prohibits proselytizing and has decided that the foreign missionaries should be replaced by locals.
In 1980, the Mormons had only about 500 active members in Indonesia. Mormons have become more active in Indonesia since 2001 with the former president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.
The story goes that in the mid-1990s, when the near-blind Wahid led the largest Muslim organization in the nation, he received a visit from a man in California business, Hal Jensen, ask for advice about business in Indonesia. When Jensen was offered a cup of tea, he replied: "I do not drink tea. I am a Mormon. "
Mormons are not allowed to consume tea, coffee, alcohol or tobacco. The curiosity of Gus Dur was piqued.
always a moderate Muslim and a champion of tolerance and inter-religious learning, he became friends with Jensen. This resulted in Gus Dur in 1999 making two trips to the Moran Eye Center in Utah for treatment his poor vision. While there, he met with Mormon leaders. After being elected president in October 1999, he opened the way for other Mormon missionaries to visit Indonesia.
the missionaries still not allowed to go actively proselytize and can not operate near mosques. All they can do is talk to people and offer English courses. If you are asked for their faith, they are happy to answer questions. But they do not push their faith on others. their Sunday services run for three hours, one hour of recreation, such as music and games.
Elder Hayes has spent most of his two years in Indonesia in Jakarta, Central Java city of Solo and the capital of East Java Surabaya. While some people may consider intimidating to talk to Muslims in an obscure Christian sect, Elder Hayes considers his work a "blessing". He was also able to spend some time in the capital of North Sulawesi Manado, where people mainly Christians were more welcoming.
One of the most amazing things Hayes brother told me is that he paid his own way to come to Indonesia and supported with the money he earned in part-time jobs in America. All Mormon missionaries should be borne by themselves and / or their families. They believe they are doing God's will by traveling abroad to talk about the joy of their faith.
also believe they are doing God's will are young Indonesians who travel to Syria to join the militant fundamentalist group Daesh (also known as the Islamic State, ISIS), which seeks to establish a caliphate world by killing people. Some Indonesian recruits, eager to fight the oppressive West and earn looting and sex slaves, are disillusioned to find that they are supposed to kill other Muslims into civil war.
It may seem absurd to compare Daesh and Mormonism, but about all religions have a history of violence, sex crimes and racism. One of the spots on the Mormon story is the Mountain Meadows Massacre, where a Mormon militia in 1857 killed about 120 men, women and children in a wagon train in Utah. More recently, a Mormon fundamentalist offshoot called Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints saw his polygamist leader Warren Jeffs receive a life sentence in 2008 for several counts of child rape accusation.
The traditional Mormon Church of Latter-day Saints as Jeffs excommunicated extremists. The Mormon religion is ready to adapt to become more progressive, in contrast to radical Islam, there is no death penalty for those who leave the religion.
In 2015, the Mormons have registered over 75,000 missionaries serving in 418 missions around the world. More than double the estimated 30,000 foreign fighters who joined Daesh.
scoring points aside, there are still dangers to follow orders from people who claim to speak for God. Religion can be beneficial when kept personal, but when people travel abroad to share their faith, it is better when they are friendly, even in the face of rejection.