Indonesian Mayor Decides Churches Can’t Be Built on Streets with Islamic Names

BOGOR, INDONESIA (Worthy News)– Bogor’s mayor has a new reason not to allow the Yasmin church to open: the name of the street on which it is built bears an Islamic name.

Bogor Mayor Diani Budiarto — who continues to defy rulings from both the Supreme Court and Ombudsman Commission to open the church — told Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi that a new church can’t be built on a street bearing an Islamic name.

However, Muhammad Mustofa – a local Muslim cleric whose father is the street’s namesake — has no objection to the church. He said differences between religions were not new and similar problems had occurred since the time of Prophet Mohammad.