Mengapa Baru Sekarang? (Why only Now?)

This essay presents a criticism of the general discussion of deadly conflicts in contemporary Indonesia that have taken explicitly religious overtones. It argues that theological differences have little relevance in these protracted conflicts, and analyses that focus on faiths miss the point. Religious diversity has been the remarkable feature of this society, but public expressions of intolerance towards religious difference on a mass scale and over a long period of time have taken only in the past several years.