Information and misinformation about Aceh
There have been lots of incredible stories floating around about the tsunami in Aceh. Two in particular are getting a lot of attention.
The first is called, Miracle at Meulaboh or sometimes A Praise Report. It is an e-mail that has been going around about how the Muslims would not allow the Christians to celebrate Christmas in Meulaboh so they went up to a hill and were spared the wrath of the tsunami. I can positively say that this is a hoax. I have talked to at least 6 people that have come back from Aceh and been to Meulaboh and all of them think it is rediculous. One I talked to was in Meulaboh a week after the Tsunami and talked with the Christian leaders there. None of them mentioned anything of this nature to him. All of the rest of the people I have talked to said the same thing. Not only that but there are plenty of questionable things in the e-mail. First, there are many denominations in Indonesia and to get them all together for one Christmas celebration would be next to impossible. Secondly, one version I read claimed that many Muslim Communists were coming converting to Christianity. There aren't any Muslim Communists here. By definition the two groups are at odds with each other and don't agree on anything. I can't imagine there being very many of them, if any. Finally, it says that the Muslims were saying that it was a punishment from God that they didn't allow the Christians to celebrate in the city. This is also false. The general feeling up there is that the Tsunami, like everything in our lives, was their fate or the will of God. None of them think of it as a punishment. They are very fatalistic in this. For more on debunking this myth, go to Urban Legends: Miracle of Meulaboh.
The second is a story about how indiginous people survived the Tsunami because of folklore handed down about how massive tremblings of the earth are followed by huge walls of water. This one is actually true. Many indiginous groups had no casualties because after the earthquake they all headed inland. There is an article about it in The BBC.
Be careful about what you read about in an e-mail or even what you hear about on the news. Recently Newsweek reported that fighting between GAM and the Indonesian Military (TNI) had flared up in Aceh. The truth is that a gunshot was heard somewhere in the city and nothing has happened since then. Just because it is in the news doesn't mean it is true.
The first is called, Miracle at Meulaboh or sometimes A Praise Report. It is an e-mail that has been going around about how the Muslims would not allow the Christians to celebrate Christmas in Meulaboh so they went up to a hill and were spared the wrath of the tsunami. I can positively say that this is a hoax. I have talked to at least 6 people that have come back from Aceh and been to Meulaboh and all of them think it is rediculous. One I talked to was in Meulaboh a week after the Tsunami and talked with the Christian leaders there. None of them mentioned anything of this nature to him. All of the rest of the people I have talked to said the same thing. Not only that but there are plenty of questionable things in the e-mail. First, there are many denominations in Indonesia and to get them all together for one Christmas celebration would be next to impossible. Secondly, one version I read claimed that many Muslim Communists were coming converting to Christianity. There aren't any Muslim Communists here. By definition the two groups are at odds with each other and don't agree on anything. I can't imagine there being very many of them, if any. Finally, it says that the Muslims were saying that it was a punishment from God that they didn't allow the Christians to celebrate in the city. This is also false. The general feeling up there is that the Tsunami, like everything in our lives, was their fate or the will of God. None of them think of it as a punishment. They are very fatalistic in this. For more on debunking this myth, go to Urban Legends: Miracle of Meulaboh.
The second is a story about how indiginous people survived the Tsunami because of folklore handed down about how massive tremblings of the earth are followed by huge walls of water. This one is actually true. Many indiginous groups had no casualties because after the earthquake they all headed inland. There is an article about it in The BBC.
Be careful about what you read about in an e-mail or even what you hear about on the news. Recently Newsweek reported that fighting between GAM and the Indonesian Military (TNI) had flared up in Aceh. The truth is that a gunshot was heard somewhere in the city and nothing has happened since then. Just because it is in the news doesn't mean it is true.
posted by Randall Knutson at
3:01 PM
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