U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Indonesia, the place of his childhood, in March. It is important that the President does not waste this opportunity and uses his good relations with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to raise the issue of religious tolerance in Indonesia. Late last year Obama stated that "Indonesia is important... as one of the world's largest democracies, as one of the world's largest Islamic nations... it has enormous influence and really is... a potential model for the kind of development strategies, democracy strategies, as well as interfaith strategies that are going to be so important moving forward." While his statement is no doubt true in some respects, the essence of Obama's remark is at odds with the current situation in Indonesia. In recent years the United Nations has expressed disquiet at religious discrimination and intolerance in the country. There is continuing concern at the distinctions made in legal d...