An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Freedom OF….
Court sentences bishop for ringing church bells
Ding, dong, the bells are dead – at least on weekdays.
By court order, the electronic chimes that were rung each day by Cathedral of Christ the King Church in Phoenix, Ariz., are now confined to Sundays and special occasions, while the cathedral’s leader, Bishop Rick Painter, faces potential jail time for playing the daily melodies.
Responding to complaints that the electronic bells at the northern Phoenix church were rung too loud and too often, a municipal court gave Painter three years probation and a suspended 10-day jail sentence on charges of violating city noise ordinances.
The judge further ordered that the church – which had been ringing the bells daily on the hour from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. – may now only ring the bells on Sunday mornings and a court-ordered list of select religious holidays.
“It’s ridiculous to be sentenced to jail and probation for doing what churches have traditionally done throughout history,” said a statement from Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel with the Alliance Defense Fund, which has been retained by Painter. “Christians shouldn’t be punished for exercising their faith publicly.”
I have to ask the question: Do the mosques in the area have loud speakers for their ‘call to prayers’? I couldn’t find any information on that, so it’s a serious question. If they do, will there be an outcry?
The ADF statement claims the bells registered only 67 decibels at the nearest property line, about as loud as a conversation, which ranges from 60-70 decibels. An investigation by KNXV-TV found the bells, even in the church’s parking lot, were quieter than street traffic and failed to even register on a sound level meter in some parts of the neighborhood.
Nonetheless, the court opted to restrict when the bells can be played, ordered their level lowered to less than 60 decibels and convicted Bishop painter of on two counts of creating “an unreasonably loud, disturbing and unnecessary noise.”
Do the good folks of Phoenix complain about the loud thumbing stereos wandering through their neighborhoods, or is it just the church bells, the church itself, they object to? Not being a Constitutional scholar, I read this as a violation of the 1st Amendment.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
This violation seems to be occurring more and more, at all levels.
Bishop Painter defended the bells as a constitutionally protected freedom of religion issue.
“We’re expressing our religion,” he told KNXV. “We glorify God by the bells.”
I miss church bells. As a young sprout, I could always tell what time it was without a watch. There are some churches around here that have bells, but none close enough to hear when at home. Is it so wrong to be reminded, daily, from where our freedoms truly come?
What happens when the muezzin call the neighborhood to prayer at 5 a.m.?
This is a sore spot for me. I used to live across the street from a church that used those electronic chimes. They are *extremely* annoying. Several of us in the neighborhood wrote a very nice letter to the Minister of the church, and he responded by INCREASING the volume, and ringing them more often!
DUH!
It finally got put back to a more reasonable volume and schedule when even more of us wrote another nice letter to his superior.
I have nothing against the free expression of religion, but geez…please be nice to your neighbors!
Heather, I don’t think that would go over too well ’round these parts.
Well drjim, that would annoy me too, but this guy wasn’t doing that….quite music that obviously wasn’t making anyone’s windows rattle.
Christ the King is another in a long list of churches in the Phoenix area that have been targeted by a – shall we say less than hospitable? – group of council members.
The church I attend, in order to build the new sanctuary, had to run an end-around play – apply for a 2000 sq. ft. garage, apply to have it changed to enclosed storage, apply to have it changed to a gameroom and media room. If not for these hoops, the building would not have been built at all, since the neighbors don’t want any trace of religion in their lives – and we don’t have a bell tower!
I know where the church in the story is, I work that area quite a bit driving cab. In all the time I’ve worked around there, I’ve never known the bells to be sounded. I am surprised to learn they have a tower with the electronic bells.
I will start paying attention to the mosques in the area, and find out if they have loudspeakers for the calls to worship. I’ll let you know.
Thank cary, I’d appreciate that.
I honestly see no reason, no LOGICAL reason, for any church to have to go through such nonsense. What is with people??