Indonesia Mayor: If Street Name is Islamic, Church can't be Built on it

If you've ever heard the term, 'creeping sharia' this is how it works. It is the incremental ratcheting up of Islamic law. Here is a prime example in Indonesia. If you're a Christian who would like to build a church on some land you already possess in the city of Bogor, Indonesia, you'd better check out your street sign first. If the name of the street is Islamic, you are not permitted to build that church. Are there mosques constructed on streets with Christian names? Apparently so.

Via Jakarta Globe:

Bogor’s controversial mayor says he has a new reason not to allow the GKI Yasmin church to open — the name of the street on which it is built has an Islamic name.

Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto — who continues to defy rulings from the Supreme Court and Ombudsman Commission to open the church — had told him that a church should not be built on a street with an Islamic name.

“[Diani] said that it is a fact that the street is named after a noted Islamic Ulama,” Gamawan said at the Vice Presidential Palace on Friday.

GKI Yasmin is located on Jalan Abdullah bin Nuh, an Islamic leader from Cianjur in West Java.

Local cleric Muhammad Mustofa, whose father is the street’s namesake, has previously stated that he has no objection to the church.

Mustofa, who said that Islam was a religion that promoted peace, said differences between religions were not new and similar problems had occurred since the time of Prophet Mohammad.

“Mecca is an example of pluralism during the prophet’s time. Every problem has its solution and hopefully the problem [surrounding the church] will be settled immediately,” he said.

Though it's good to hear the son of the street's namesake support the right of the church, it's interesting that he referred to 'pluralism' in Mecca during the time of Mohammad but not in the present day.

The Home Affairs Minister agrees with the mayor and his logic is similar to that of Al Capone:

“This is the political reality in the field and it could cause disturbances to security and peace,” Gamawan said. “It would not be healthy in the long run, even for the congregation members themselves. [Diani] told me that he has offered an alternative location with the same [dimensions].”

Gamawan said he would summon Diani next week to discuss possible solutions to the conflict.

“We need to mediate ... but we also need to maintain security and peace,” Gamawan said.

Church spokesman Bona Sigalingging said Diani’s reasoning was unacceptable given that a number of churches were built on streets with Islamic names and mosques were built on streets with Christian names.

Bona said the church would refuse to accept any offer of alternative premises.

“The problem is it against the law, against the court ruling and against the recommendation of Ombudsman. It also breaches legal certainty.”

Ombudsman Commission chairman Danang Girindrawardana told the Jakarta Globe on Friday that the street name issue was a “made-up excuse.”

Made-up excuse? In Islam, there is a reason for everything. If you can prevent churches from being built on streets with Islamic names, one day you can have existing churches on streets with Islamic names torn down OR you can have a lobbying arm to re-name the streets to reflect an allegiance to Islam.

Creeping sharia...

h/t Weasel Zippers