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A Phoenix bishop has been sentenced to jail for ringing church bells.
For years, the bells at the Cathedral of Christ the King have rung hourly from eight in the morning until eight at night. That was until recently, when Bishop Rick Painter was sentenced to a suspended sentence of ten days in jail and three years probation for violating a city noise ordinance. Neighbors complained the bells are too loud and ring too often.
But Dale Schowengerdt of the Alliance Defense Fund says a local television station conducted an independent test to see how loud the bells were. "A local TV station did a story on it, checked the level, said it was barely above road noise, the sound of road noise -- so we're talking about just normal church bells," he points out.
Schowengerdt admits the sentence surprised him. "The judge let them ring the bells twice on Sunday and certain other religious days, like Easter and Christmas," hr notes. "[But] if somebody makes a mistake and the church bells go off at some other time, he'll spend the ten days in jail."
The attorney says Painter plans to appeal the case.
Despite objections, the Muslim prayer call will soon resound over loudspeakers all over Hamtramck, Michigan. From AP, with thanks to EPG and Cathy J. Palmer:
HAMTRAMCK, Mich. Over some residents' objections, the City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to allow a mosque to send out a call to prayer to Muslims on a loudspeaker.
The Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque asked for permission to air the Arabic call to prayer via loudspeakers five times a day, though it compromised by agreeing not to air the call before 6 a.m. or after 10 p.m.
Some Muslims say the call is the equivalent of church bells. Opponents argued that church bells have no religious significance and that allowing the Arabic call, which lasts less than two minutes, unfairly elevates Islam above other religions
These are all local ordinances not national laws, and in different states no less. Hardly enough to come to a conclusion. I bet they wouldn't allow the loudspeakers in Phoenix and that they'd be fine with bells in the Michigan area.
Although the loudspeakers raise interesting quarrels over free expression that bothers the public.
Do Muslims have more rights than Christians in this country?
In Seattle street musicians are not allowed to use amplifiers, though sometimes they let it slide if it's not too loud, but the religious rallies (so far all I've seen are christian ones) are allowed to use full audio systems and broadcast their stuff several blocks ... different cities have very different laws as you pointed out.
