Last Friday’s suicide bomb attack on the Ritz Carlton and Marriott hotels in Jakarta was a stark reminder that terrorists operate according to a logic that is entirely their own. Indonesian public opinion polls have consistently shown widespread aversion to violence against innocent civilians. The leaders of the country’s major religious groups including its largest Islamic organizations have unequivocally condemned terrorist activity.
Moreover, public support for Islamic political parties has ebbed as secular political parties won a decisive victory in this year’s national elections. The most fervently religious parties even failed to cross the 2.5% threshold of support required to contest the next election in 2014.
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