From Jihad Watch:
Indonesia: Muslims oppose building of churches
Why no hand-wringing about "tolerance" and "religious freedom"? Of course, in Indonesia few people are concerned about such things, and if anyone makes a comparison with the resistance to the construction of Islamic supremacist mosques in the U.S., someone will be quick to pipe up and say, "Are you saying that the U.S. should imitate Indonesia (or Saudi Arabia, etc.) in its intolerance?"
Of course not. The differences in the two situations need to pointed out and brought to public attention. Non-Muslims oppose the mosque at Ground Zero because it will be regarded in the Islamic world as a triumphal mosque, and because of the duplicity of its organizers. They oppose other mosques elsewhere because of their ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is dedicated in its own words to "eliminating and destroying Western civilization from within." Muslims in Indonesia, in contrast, oppose the building of churches out of the Islamic supremacist notion that non-Muslims in Muslim countries must "feel themselves subdued" (Qur'an 9:29).
"Muslims in Bekasi, Indonesia Oppose Another Church Building," from Compass Direct News, October 13 (thanks to Twostellas):
JAKARTA, Indonesia, October 13 (CDN) -- Islamic organizations have mounted a campaign against the planned construction of Mother Teresa Catholic Church in West Java Province, where Christian leaders report 20 other churches have faced Muslim hostility since 2009.
Muslim leaders said plans for the Mother Teresa church in the Lippo Cikarang property project in the Cikarang area will make it the largest church building in Bekasi City. Adang Permana, general chairman of the Bekasi Islamic Youth Movement, said Bekasi area Muslims oppose the church building because they fear it will become "a center of Christianization," according to the Islamic website Hidayatullah.com.
"This church will become the center of apostasy and clearly disturb the faith of Bekasi citizens, who are mostly Muslims," Permana said, according to the website. "In addition to rejecting this parish church, we also call for the disbanding of all unauthorized churches in Bekasi Regency [City]," he stated. A church leader, however, said area residents had approved the presence of the church.
Adang said opposition to the church was based in the Islamic roots of the city.
"Historically, sociologically, and demographically, Bekasi cannot be separated from Islam, with the cleric K.H. Noer Ali as one of the founders and developers of the city," Adang told Hidayatullah.com. "Because of this, we reject the church."
H.M. Dahlan, coordinator of United Muslim Action of Bekasi, also expressed fear that the church would become a center of Christianization in Bekasi.
"Bekasi Muslims reject the presence of this church," Dahlan said in a letter that he has circulated among mosques in the Bekasi area. In it he states that plans for the Mother Teresa church would make it the largest church building in southeast Asia. The letter has reportedly generated much unrest among area residents.
At a recent press conference, Dahlan said Unified Muslim Action of Bekasi, along with "all Muslims, mosque congregations, leaders of women's study groups, Quranic schools, and Islamic education foundations have firmly decided to reject the construction of Mother Teresa Catholic Church in Cikarang and request that the Bekasi Regency cancel all [construction] plans."
The Islamic groups also called on Bekasi officials to clamp down on "illegal churches" meeting in homes and shops and to block "all forms of Christianization" in the area. Local government officials frequently stall Christian applications for building and worship permits, opening the way for Islamic groups to accuse churches of being "illegal."
The Mother Teresa church applied for a building permit in 2006, but the Bekasi government has not yet acted on the application, said a clergyman from the church identified only as Pangestu. He added that his church has met all requirements of 2006 Joint Ministerial Decrees No. 8 and No. 9, but the permit has still not been granted. The 2006 decrees require at least 60 non-Christian residents to agree to the construction of a church building, and the congregation must have at least 90 members....
Posted by Robert on October 14, 2010 9:29 AM
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