 merrie says: "The church bells chime a short, ancient melody of praise to God," commented Stanley. "It's too bad that the value of the bells is lost on many in our society. In a busy neighborhood full of sirens, heavy traffic and loud motorcycles, these chimes are a sound of peace that do not exceed the noise level of an average conversation. Certainly, that should be at least as acceptable as the sound of an ice cream truck." Bishop Painter defended the bells as a constitutionally protected freedom of religion issue. 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. "We're expressing our religion," he told KNXV. "We glorify God by the bells." The Associated Press reports Painter plans to appeal the conviction, and the ADF states that it is examining legal options for best defending Painter's rights. — Comment removed by clipper — They should have jailed him! I say we feed the man to the lions along with all citizens who refuse to recycle. How long had the ringing been going on, and how loud exactly were they? "Christians shouldn't be punished for exercising their faith publicly."They're not. He (not Christians) is being charged with deliberately breaking the noise ordinances of the town on purpose. The people of that town complained about the noise, and there is a remedy for it. And "tradition" is no excuse to break a law. Religious tradition does not trump secular law or we'd still have stoning as a family value. 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." The ADF pointed out the Phoenix noise ordinance does not include an exemption for religious worship,... Just more of the unending senseless pursuit of attacking religion anywhere it dares to show itself by some little insignificant insect If the bells were below the level of any sort of excessive decibels, I fail to see why there was a problem. Just more of the unending senseless pursuit of attacking religion...? Uh, no. There seems to be a noise problem in the community and the good Bishop thinks religion should be above the law. FAIL . — Comment removed by clipper — Wait until someone complains about a noisy, early A.M. Muslim call to prayer. Then, it won't be about a noise problem. |
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