MUMBAI, India – After Rata Thalisa was sentenced to 2 years and 10 months in prison for “hate speech” against Christianity in Indonesia, Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of the Archdiocese of Jakarta said “to live out our religion, we have to have a sense of humor,” and called for the release of the trans activist.
“We among interfaith close friends used to make jokes about our own and other religion. And these kinds of jokes make us closer to each other,” the cardinal told Crux.
The March 10 conviction against the trans artist relates to the comments made in TikTok on Oct. 2, 2024, where Rata said about Jesus Christ’s hair.
Two days later, five protestant Christian groups filed a complaint to the police accusing her of blasphemy, which is a crime in Indonesia.
Indonesia is the world’s largest Muslim nation, where roughly 87 percent of the overall population of 275 million adhere to Islam. Just 10 percent of the population is Christian, with 3.1 percent identifying as Catholic, amounting to an estimated 8 million people.
“Not everything is to be taken very seriously. Jesus would laugh if he heard the suggestion to cut his hair,” Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo told Crux, after Rata’s trial.
“In my opinion as a follower of Jesus Christ, the Catholic Church is actually not at all tarnished and does not feel insulted by the actions and words of Ratu Thalisa through her/his Tiktok ‘asking Jesus to cut her hair.’ The Catholic Church upholds the principle of freedom and therefore opens up space for all forms of expression, including Ratu Thalisa’s freedom to express her opinions,” the cardinal said.
“It seems that only people who are unable to celebrate diversity feel disturbed by this, which cannot be generalized as the universal Church. Throughout the history of the Catholic Church, the dynamics of Christian life have been colored by thorns and various insults and even persecution,” he added.
Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo noted that Jesus told his followers, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. For in this way you will become children of your Father in heaven, who makes his sun rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”
“Therefore, the case that ensnared Ratu Thalisa, who asked Jesus to shave her hair, should not have been brought to the legal realm. Even if it had to be included as a crime of insult or blasphemy, as demanded by the prosecutor, it should have been resolved with advice or at most with a warning,” the cardinal said.
He told Crux that the current laws against blasphemy in Indonesia “must be reviewed.”
“The use of all forms of blasphemy law and its derivatives is fundamentally dangerous, because it gives the state the opportunity to exercise theological understanding – doing theology – something that should be avoided, because it is not its domain,” the cardinal said.
“Therefore, I hope that Ratu Thalisa will appeal, and hereby I urge the high court to correct the Medan District Court’s Decision and acquit Ratu Thalisa. Theologically, the principle of Christian faith that prioritizes forgiveness may indeed be inconsistent with the socio-juridical principles of civil,” he added.
“Once again, the Catholic Church has never felt demeaned or insulted even when it had to endure martyrdom. Instead of legally processing cases of blasphemy like this, the state and its apparatus must be more assertive in dealing with intolerant attitudes that hinder and/or prevent people from worshiping and expressing their faith properly and correctly. Punishing people who are considered to have insulted the Lord Jesus Christ is not in line with the law of love taught by the Lord Jesus Himself,” Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo said.
“In fact, didn’t the Lord Jesus Himself ask us to love those who are our enemies, to pray and ask for blessings for those who insult us? This is my reason why I propose that Queen Thalisa be forgiven and released,” the cardinal continued.
“While still respecting every choice and attitude that exists, even though and perhaps different; for cases that attack the faith and the Catholic Church, let us hold on to the principle of love as taught by Christ. Let us not easily bring the case to the realm of blasphemy. Even if it is truly blasphemy, let us return to the law of Christ’s love, namely forgiveness and reconciliation,” he explained.
“That there is a positive legal realm that is enforced, in principle we respect every legal process and the rights and obligations that accompany it. I will take the example of the case when Pope John Paul II was shot in the Vatican Basilica field. The legal process for the shooter continued according to applicable procedures. However, look at how Pope John Paul II with the full authority of Christ still forgave and even visited the shooter? This is a testimony of Christian love. The point is that the implementation of positive law occurred objectively because the perpetrator was proven guilty of shooting the Holy Father John Paul II. And the process was free from interests and intentions of revenge. Proven by the existence of forgiveness. This is the coolest real example! The same principal mutatis mutandis can be applied in various existing cases,” Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo said.
The cardinal told Crux the Christian faith prioritizes forgiveness.
“Christianity never feels belittled or insulted even when it has to endure martyrdom. The spirit is to maintain a harmonious and peaceful life, not revenge under the guise of civil law,” he said.
“The path of reconciliation is through rebuke no matter how harshly based on love that liberates, not one that imprisons the person deemed guilty in cases like this. Solve every problem with dialogue in truth and love, that is where the Kingdom of God is presented with Christ who suffered, died and rose to save everyone without discrimination,” he continued.
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