Christian leaders in Indonesia met recently with the leaders of a Muslim extremist group to censure the plan of a church in the U.S. to burn copies of the Koran on Sept. 11.

Bishops from Protestant and Roman Catholic churches met with Habib Riezig, the leader of the extremist Islamic Defender Front (FPI) at Cikini II, Central Jakarta to engage in friendly dialogue and to boost understanding, AsiaNews said.

The meeting was also attended by Bishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi (president, Inter-religious Commission of the Bishops Conference of Indonesia [KWI]), Rev. Andreas Yewangoe (head, Indonesian Protestant Christian churches of the Synod [PGI]), and Bishop Johannes Pujasumarta (KWI Secretary General), AsiaNews said.

The intention was to hopefully avoid violence that may result from the Florida-based Dove World Outreach Center’s proposal to make Sept. 11, 2010 “International burn a Koran Day.” The move was initiated to protest the attack on the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001, AsiaNews said.

Dove’s leader, Pastor Terry Jones, is known for media-grabbing moves including distributing t-shirts that say “Islam is the devil,” and writing on his blog, “Ten reasons to burn a Koran,” AsiaNews said.

The initiative has been condemned by Christians and Muslims all over the world. Last Aug. 27, some 100 Muslims gathered in front of the U.S. embassy, Jakarta and threatened to retaliate severely if Dove burns any Korans, AsiaNews said.

Participants in the meeting noted that what Dove is doing is not representative of Christians, and particularly those Christians who are living in Indonesia. Bishop Mandagi expressed best wishes to Muslims and said he felt “strong regret to have learned of such provocative actions that want to strike our Muslim brothers,” AsiaNews said.

Pastor Yewangoe also condemned the action which he noted was only being done by a small group of Christians in the U.S. Yewangoe exhibited a letter that would be sent to U.S. President Barack Obama, requesting that the initiative is stopped or cancelled, AsiaNews said.

Rizieq said he was grateful for the sympathy that was shown by the Christian churches and called the meeting an important move towards reconciling differences through dialogue. Rizieq said, “Nothing is impossible through dialogue,” AsiaNews said.

Despite Indonesia’s secular constitution, a recent rise in tension between hard-line Muslims and Christians threatens to tarnish the moderate reputation that the country now enjoys.

Indonesia is the most Muslim populated country in the world, but most of the people are moderate Muslims. They have a secular constitution which gained them global acceptance and importance to the U.S. and their Western allies, who see enhanced relations with moderate Muslim nations as an important part of its war against terrorism, the Global Post said.

Recently Islamic hardliners in Indonesia have stepped up their aggressions. The extremist Islamic Defenders Front has formed militias to prevent alleged Christian proselytizing of Muslims, and they conduct raids against minority religious groups, Global Post said.

This group has stoned and burned down churches, closed down places of worship and mobbed Christians. Most recently, on August 8 some 20 parishioners of Batak Christian Protestant Church were beaten down by extremists wielding clubs, the Global Post said.

Such actions have negatively affected international perception of Indonesia as a moderate Muslim nation and the rising acts of religious intolerance may harm its standing in the global community, the Global Post said.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chair of the Setara Institute, an NGO, said Indonesia follows the principles of Pancasila which sanctions six official religions—Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Protestanism, Catholicism and Confucianism, the Global Post said.

In 1978 the government ruled that it is forbidden to try to convert anyone who already has a religion. However Naipospos said Christians and Muslims largely ignore the regulation and that most conversions happen through marriage or personal choice, the Global Post said.

Naipospos also noted that many Indonesian families have multi-religious backgrounds due to migration which resulted in mixed marriages. When democracy was introduced 12 years ago, there was more freedom to practice one’s religion, the Global Post said.

Yoshua Pitoy, a pastor with the Christian Brotherhood Church said a double standard exists, however, in that while Christians may convert to Islam without persecution, Muslims who become Christians must deal with threats and potential violence from relatives and community members, the Global Post said.

In his own church, Pitoy is reluctant to name new members because some have not yet told their family about their beliefs due to fear for their personal safety and wellbeing, the Global Post said.

The Global Post does tell the story of Diena, a 20-year-old former Muslim who converted to Catholicism. Although she has not yet informed her parents, she is attending catechism classes prior to her baptism.

Her classmates are mostly converts through marriage. Others are elderly who were once Catholic and now want to go back to the faith. Diena was drawn to the Jesuit run Dnyarkara School of Philosophy because her love for the subject matter, Global Post said.

Her life is described as typical of many Indonesians. When she was young her parents separated. Her stepfather is a former Christian who converted when he married her mother, a Java Muslim. Her biological father is a Muslim from Yemen, Global Post said.

A new book is scheduled for release in October with the theme that Christians and Muslims may have a meeting of minds about Jesus, because they share more common beliefs about him than they realize.

The book, Jesus: One Man, Two Faiths, written by MTSU professor emeritus Ron Messier, proposes that Christians and Muslims may dialogue about points of agreement about Jesus as a way to begin to ease tensions between the two faiths, the Daily News Journal said.

A member of Bible Study Fellowship International, Messier is also a longtime professor of Islamic and Middle East studies. He said the idea for the book came to him after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The incident spurred greater public interest in Islam leading to weekly speaking engagements for Messier for the next two years.

Messier was also struck when, while teaching an “Introduction to Islam” class at Vanderbilt University, a Pakistani student wrote an essay that said even Muslims underestimate the role Jesus plays in Islam. She noted that the Qur’an says that “Jesus—not Mohammed—will lead Muslims to judgment on Judgment Day,” the Daily News Journal said.

Messier, a former Catholic, said that 99.9 percent of Muslims believe they worship the same God that Christians do. They also believe Jesus was born from Mary, and although they don’t mention the Holy Spirit, they say Jesus was conceived by the “spirit of God,” the Daily News Journal said.

They also devote a whole chapter in the Qur’an to the birth of Jesus which is very similar to that in the New Testament. They believe Jesus performed miracles, healed, raised the dead, and believe he was raised to heaven by God to lead the people to judgment on Judgment Day, the Daily News Journal said.

In researching the book Messier studied Christian scripture, the Hebrew bible, both Qur’an and Christian exegetical writings, and talked to many Christians and Muslims, the Daily News Journal said.

The book focuses on concepts that overlap with, at the very least, some Christians and some Muslims. However Messier adds that there are two points of difficulty which Christians and Muslims will struggle with. One is the concept of the Crucifixion which Muslims do not believe happened. The other is the trinity, the Daily News Journal said.

Nonetheless, Messier contends that despite these points of disagreement, Christians and Muslims can be enriched by engaging in discussions about their different understanding of the two concepts, the Daily News Journal said.

Young Christians and Muslims clashed recently in Ambon, Maluku in Indonesia leaving one dead and two injured.

The violence resulted in the death of Arman Syukur, 21, and injury to a soldier and a police officer. A local police officer opined that the violence may have been inflamed by a match between Holland and Brazil, Philippine News said.

Police stopped the fight and intensified control to prevent further bloodshed. The clash has inflamed long simmering enmity and tension between the two religious factions since a fragile peace agreement in 2002, Philippine News said.

The Moluccas has a past of strong sectarian clashes resulting in thousands dead and mosques and churches demolished, Philippine News said. It heightened after Suharto’s fall, and was stoked as a diversion from economic difficulties leading to 200 dead, more injured and 30,000 displaced, the World Socialist Website said. By 2002 some 10,000 had died, The Star said.

Today young moderate Muslims are often targeted by extremist groups for recruitment. One, Anis Sulchanudin, came from a moderate Muslim family and sold SIM cards for a living. After a friend invited him to a talk in a mosque, Anis was swayed by the charismatic preacher who talked about suicide bombing. At age 24 Anis was arrested for complicity in the 2005 Bali bombings, The Star said.

Another who was convinced by charismatic mosque preachers was Noor Huda Ismail who was taught by Abu Bakar  Bashir of the Jemaah Islamiah. Today Huda is executive director of the International Institute of Peace Building, and he runs a program to de-radicalize extremists, The Star said.

A third recruit, the late Dr. Aza hari Husin of Malaysia, was a former long-haired secular and liberal student of Australia who rode a Harley Davidson. When he was radicalized through radical religious classes he became a bomb maker, The Star said.

Because Indonesian police now closely monitor radical schools and mosques, militants now recruit through Facebook and their websites. A friend usually invites a friend to a Jihad book launch, or to a website talk. Culturally, Indonesians do not like to turn down a friend’s invitation, The Star said.

At book launches or talks militants target those who seem most interested and invite them to other events. Recruitment also is ongoing in prisons, the handiwork of extreme Muslims who are jailed, The Star said.

Liat Collins wrote in The Jerusalem Post that no other city in the world inspires its own medically recognized syndrome.  She refers to the Jerusalem syndrome, a psychosis where normally sane tourists begin to hear voices and believe they are people in the Bible.

The JTA mentioned an episode of The Simpsons, where Homer Simpson traveled to Israel, and was diagnosed with the Jerusalem syndrome.  Homer, dehydrated, believed he was chosen to bring Jews, Christians and Muslims together in a new religion called Chrisjumas.

JTA quoted Dr. Gregory Katz, a psychiatrist of Jerusalem’s Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center, who said 30-40 patients a year are treated with the Jerusalem syndrome.

Most of them have had a history of mental illness, but a few experience it for the first time, likely triggered by experiencing biblical Jerusalem for the first time.  For many, it is a way to reconcile their biblical impressions of the city with the modern city that Jerusalem is today.

According to JTA, Christians predominantly tend to get the Jerusalem syndrome, specifically Protestant tourists from the United States and Scandinavia.  However, Jews and Israelis have been treated, too.

Commonly, they identify with a character consistent with their faith.  Jews will identify with King David, Christians with Mary Magdalene or John the Baptist.  Jews fantasize about bringing redemption.  Among Israelis, the Jerusalem syndrome is gradual, most commonly afflicting Jews who want to build the Third Temple, JTA said.

Christian Today Australia said the syndrome is believed to affect 100 people annually.  Quoting Mark Tronson, chairman of Well-Being Australia, it is a type of obsession, similar to “overboard enthusiasm” for a sport or hobby.

Which leads to the question:  Is Jerusalem a city that drives people crazy?  Considering that most of those afflicted with the syndrome have a history of mental illness that is not likely.

As for the minority who get the syndrome for the first time, one must note that unlike other tourist sites, which people are drawn to for shopping, or adventure or a love of history, people come to Jerusalem primarily for religious reasons.

In religion you will find passion.  And too much passion can drive a very small minority overboard.  The Jerusalem syndrome therefore could well be a natural outflow of a small population of tourists who are drawn there because of the religious links to the city and whose passion may have gone berserk.