BALI, Indonesia — Japan and India stand as beacons for democracy that surely inspire many of their Asian neighbors. For its part, Indonesia has been struggling with its own experiment with democracy that has enormous implications for the region and the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, the news media has contributed to confusion about the nature of the Indonesian state that clouds interpretations of events unfolding there.
Recent examples of misleading remarks were made by Tom Plate on this page in his Nov. 18 article "Stoking democracy in a Muslim giant" when he described Indonesia as the "largest Islamic country on Earth," and in his Nov. 26 article "Upbeat band of moderates keep the faith" when he referred to Indonesia as "the most populous Muslim state."