October 24, 2004
BEER CEREMONY VIOLATED
A religious practice familiar to many Australians has been disrupted in Jakarta:
Muslim militants in Indonesia's capital today vandalised a cafe in an area popular with foreigners because it was serving beer during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
Around 300 members of the Islamic Defenders Front ordered customers at the Star Deli in south Jakarta to leave, before smashing the building's windows and doors, said Alawi Usman, a spokesman for the group.
"We are against immorality," he said. "The guys saw the beer on the table and what happened, happened. We are doing this for the future of the country's youth."
In Jakarta, you truly do have to fight for your right to party.
Posted by Tim Blair at October 24, 2004 02:39 AMKind of reminds of SA Brownshirts ordering patrons to leave a Jewish cafe...
Posted by: Tony at October 24, 2004 at 02:56 AMThe first thing I tell Americans living in Austrailia is this: Buy a lot of beer BEFORE Good Friday. This country is a lot more christian than you might initially expect.
Posted by: AuSkeptic at October 24, 2004 at 03:00 AMYou know what is disturbing about this?
There were social-progressives in America who did this in the half-century leading up to the Prohibition. They often quoted religious reasons, although I think it was a combination of other forces that drove Prohibition on.
But occasionally, some woman would take a hatchet through a bar, and smash every bottle in sight.
Of course, it wasn't part of a larger movement to tame the entire world into one religious model. No, it was progressives who thought that alcohol was liquified evil.
You live, you learn, I suppose.
Posted by: steve h at October 24, 2004 at 03:55 AM"Immorality"?
So if I decide to smash up a muslim business because I don't like some quaint Islamic customs, such as chopping people's heads off or blowing up school kids, do I get a pass? To keep within the religious theme it would be ok to do this between Ash Wednesday and Good Friday - would that gain some understanding from the Islamic "community"? Of course I only have the protection of youth's virtue at heart...
They sound like the psychos who murder prostitutes because they are "immoral." Hmm.
Posted by: ushie at October 24, 2004 at 04:12 AMRamadan is the holy month when all good Muslims fast (no food, no water) between sunrise and sunset. I'm convinced Ramadan is what makes them so g******d mean.
Posted by: Rebecca at October 24, 2004 at 04:56 AMSee, this is why Islam is not going to catch on in America. Can you imagine this happening in a Brooklyn tavern or Texas roadhouse?
Posted by: richard mcenroe at October 24, 2004 at 05:25 AMSteve H,
The woman with the ax was named Carrie Nation. She was one of the more prominent prohibitionists.
BTW, the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) still exists in Evanston, Illinois
(shudder).
time to market a new AK47 beer to protect those expats at the star deli.
flick open the tab and it sprays pig fat on the attackers!
Richard McEnroe: I can imagine it happening. Once.
Posted by: Andrea Harris at October 24, 2004 at 10:05 AMSounds like the family first party's indonesian vacation.
Posted by: marklatham at October 24, 2004 at 11:30 AMSounds like the family first party's indonesian vacation.
Ahahahaha, get it? Family First is EXACTLY THE SAME as fundamentalist Islamic groups.
bleh.
Posted by: Quentin George at October 24, 2004 at 11:42 AMAhahahaha, get it? Family First is EXACTLY THE SAME as fundamentalist Islamic groups.
Let's just remind marklatham that FF will likely have a Senate seat based on Labor preferences, shall we.
Posted by: PW at October 24, 2004 at 11:58 AMFor the first time I can agree with people saying "the IDF are terrorists".
Posted by: Andjam at October 24, 2004 at 01:02 PM"See, this is why Islam is not going to catch on in America."
Well yeah, but then there's all the new prisons.
Posted by: Jim Treacher at October 24, 2004 at 04:55 PMYeah,the good ole labor party sure do have sense of humour.
Posted by: marklatham at October 24, 2004 at 04:56 PMHuh. I came here because a friend suggested it was a good weblog for conservatives - but I see you are nothing more than a bunch of red-neck KKK-type people.
Don't *ever* call yourselves conservatives or Republicans because we do not want you.
Stop ruining our great party and great country.
Posted by: gatheringplace at October 25, 2004 at 03:02 AMGod what a pathetic fake "conservative." By the way "gatheringplace", you need to learn to spoof IP addresses better: yours, 61.95.145.226, resolves to Calcutta, India. "Our great party and great country" my ass.
Sounds like gatheringplace needs a beer. May I suggest the Star Deli in south Jakarta?
Posted by: The Real JeffS at October 25, 2004 at 05:42 AMI am in Egypt right now and just had a fresh case of the local brew discreetly delivered to my door by some Christians who run the nearby liquor store. I would have gone m'self, but the liquor store is "closed" for the entire month of Ramadan. Looks like the transaction better be much more secretive next time.
Never thought I would say that it is better to be in Cairo than Jarkarta...
Posted by: Jordan at October 25, 2004 at 07:29 AMEr, gatheringplace, I rather doubt that Tim calls himself a republican :-) (OK, maybe he does, I wasn't reading him during that debate a few years ago; but somehow I doubt it.)
Posted by: Zev Sero at October 25, 2004 at 08:59 AMKKK? Isn't that a Victorian beer?
Hey you know what they call a 2 litre bottle of beer in Darwin?
A stubbie. Figures.
And before I forget it, "gatheringplace", wanna guess who was a member of the KKK, and failed to support major civil rights legislation?
Since you are actually from Calcutta, that "D" stands for "Democrat", not "Republican". So KKK membership is not exclusively for [sarcasm] Rethuglicans [\sarcasm], despite whatever myths you may have heard.
Posted by: The Real JeffS at October 25, 2004 at 11:51 AM