Church tent noise level now a religious liberty test

[CopyBoy]

METAIRIE, La. (BP) – Vintage Church, a Louisiana Baptist congregation, has filed a lawsuit against the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office and Jefferson Parish in a dispute over sound levels during Sunday worship services in a tent serving as the congregation’s temporary meeting area.
The tent, erected in August, is intended to be a short-term arrangement while the church expands attendance capacity in its permanent building – a project estimated for completion in nine or 10 months.

The petition filed jointly by local attorney Roy Bowes and the Liberty Institute, a nonprofit law firm which focuses on religious liberty issues, accuses Sheriff Newell Normand and his officers of intimidation tactics in attempting to essentially shut down Vintage Church’s weekly worship services because of noise complaints by a single individual. The suit also describes the noise level ordinances as flawed.

bpnews.net/46011/church-tent-noise-level-now-a-religious-liberty-test

 

[PJH_74]

I’m not there so it is really hard to accurately comment. I don’t really know the sides involved or the intent even of the article writer. That said, if the village ordinance really is 60dB, that is going to be really hard to meet. We’re talking the sound level in your average office or restaurant.

Is it a test of “religious freedom”? I doubt it. It’s really a test of neighborliness and negotiating between two group’s rights; one to worship the other to sleep in. This country is not about enforcing your rights to the bitter end, it is having your rights and having the space to work out a compromise when people’s rights overlap.