Priest fined for ringing bell

[Caveman]

What an amazing story. The Catholic priest get hammered for a few seconds worth of bell ringing to signify the start of Mass… but I wonder how many moslem muzzies are even asked to turn down the volume for the first screeching “call to prayer”. By the way, that’s just before sunrise. Depending on the time of year, that could be as early as 5 AM. Also keep in mind that one out of every eight “Dutchmen” are moslems, and fully one third of Rotterdam is moslem.

But it’s the Catholic priest that the secular officials go after. It’s time for the Dutch to put away the hash-pipe, quit chasing prostitutes, cease coddling the moslems… and start defending their Christian heritage before it’s too late.

Priest fined for early morning bell-ringing
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch priest has been fined 5,000 euros ($6,800) for ringing his church bells too loudly in the morning.

The Catholic priest began ringing the bells at just after seven in the morning soon after arriving in Tilburg about six months ago, a spokesman for the town council said. This prompted dozens of complaints from residents and the council in the southern town agreed the priest was breaking the rules.

“The priest can ring his bells whenever he likes but he has to keep within noise regulations. People don’t appreciate it,” the spokesman said. The priest risks further fines if he continues. “We are still trying to find ways to make him stop,” the spokesman said.

 

[WanderAimlessly]

We should all boycott the Netherlands because of their perverted society. I am glad my bank will no longer belong to a Dutch bank in a few months.

 

[Palladio]

We should all boycott the Netherlands because of their perverted society. I am glad my bank will no longer belong to a Dutch bank in a few months.

I would propose now what I’ll call the Dutch test: if your city or town looks more like Amsterdam than Rome, you’ve been Dutched.

Flee for your lives!

 

[tom.wineman]

For whom the bells toll ?

 

[Dale_M]

Here is a bit more information:

Following complaints from residents, municipal officials in Tilburg, 115 kilometres south of Amsterdam, urged Rev. Harm Schilder for months to stop ringing the bell of the Holy Margarita Maria Church each weekday at 7:15 a.m., municipality spokesman Thomas Heesters said Friday.

The message said the church was taking the complaint so seriously it was investigating whether it could install a smaller bell.

“Legally, the parish has a right to ring the bell,” the statement said, adding that the morning service - usually attended by between five and 15 people - allowed school children and people who work during the day to celebrate mass.

cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2007/08/17/4426003-ap.html

 

[Lost_Found]

Don’t stop ringing the big bell Father Schilder.
Most noise by-laws restrict time of day, not loudness.
Even if they came up with a bylaw limiting decibels there’s still the legal fact that the bell had been there and mostly ringing since before any of the residents were born or moved there.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

mass - is something in Physics

Mass - is the Eucharistic Sacrament-Sacrifice of Christ

 

[Vigis]

I am glad I am not that priest. I would probably winde up telling them that I would make as much noise as I wanted to, and start shooting off fireworks all across town.

God bless.

Vigis

 

[Lance]

None of you who support this priest have ever worked a night shift and been woken by church bells in the middle of you sleep. I have and once you are awake it is almost impossible to get back to sleep because every little noise annoys you.

One man’s music is another man’s noise. Mass is not about ringing bells, it is about the Eucharist.

 

[ALLGIRLS]

None of you who support this priest have ever worked a night shift and been woken by church bells in the middle of you sleep. I have and once you are awake it is almost impossible to get back to sleep because every little noise annoys you.

One man’s music is another man’s noise. Mass is not about ringing bells, it is about the Eucharist.

I do feel for you, because my husband used to work the midnight shift, and a few years ago I worked a 2nd job that was overnight, as well. However, society is geared toward the 9 to 5ers. Several of my neighbors have lawn services that mow their lawns b/f 8:00 a.m. during the spring, summer, and early fall. Everyone else gets up at the crack of dawn on Saturday or Sunday (when you would assume most people are sleeping in) to do it, as well as to replace roofs or do other building projects (very loud tools). The trash and recycling trucks also come extremely early on weekdays, and they’re loud enough to wake you (I know I’ve actually been grateful for this on occasion, when I’ve forgotten to put my trash out the night b/f ). Should these not be allowed, either? Also, no one seems to care about the amount of noise they make mid-morning or afternoon, when babies and toddlers are napping (the attitude there seems to be “well, you chose to have kids, deal w/ it”, but that’s a whole other thread! )

My point is (yes, I do have one!), if we have to take EVERYONE’S work and sleep schedule into account when resricting noisy activity, there not only would be no church bells, but no trash pick up, home improvement projects, backyard bbqs, or anything, we’d have to have complete public silence at all times. It’s just not realistic.

I am curious, though: Is it true that muslims are allowed to do their call to prayer at all hours, w/ no restrictions, or was the OP just being facetious? If that’s the case, then fining the priest is religious discrimination, plain and simple, and he should take legal action.

I actually find it rather amusing, watching the culture clash in the Netherlands. The super liberal anything goes sex and drug wise culture is slamming right into the super conservative muslim culture, which is there as a result of the anything goes let anyone who wants to live here off of our socialism policy. I wonder which will prevail?

In Christ,

Ellen

 

[Lance]

I do feel for you, because my husband used to work the midnight shift, and a few years ago I worked a 2nd job that was overnight, as well. However, society is geared toward the 9 to 5ers. Several of my neighbors have lawn services that mow their lawns b/f 8:00 a.m. during the spring, summer, and early fall. Everyone else gets up at the crack of dawn on Saturday or Sunday (when you would assume most people are sleeping in) to do it, as well as to replace roofs or do other building projects (very loud tools). The trash and recycling trucks also come extremely early on weekdays, and they’re loud enough to wake you (I know I’ve actually been grateful for this on occasion, when I’ve forgotten to put my trash out the night b/f ). Should these not be allowed, either? Also, no one seems to care about the amount of noise they make mid-morning or afternoon, when babies and toddlers are napping (the attitude there seems to be “well, you chose to have kids, deal w/ it”, but that’s a whole other thread! )

My point is (yes, I do have one!), if we have to take EVERYONE’S work and sleep schedule into account when resricting noisy activity, there not only would be no church bells, but no trash pick up, home improvement projects, backyard bbqs, or anything, we’d have to have complete public silence at all times. It’s just not realistic.

I am curious, though: Is it true that muslims are allowed to do their call to prayer at all hours, w/ no restrictions, or was the OP just being facetious? If that’s the case, then fining the priest is religious discrimination, plain and simple, and he should take legal action.

I actually find it rather amusing, watching the culture clash in the Netherlands. The super liberal anything goes sex and drug wise culture is slamming right into the super conservative muslim culture, which is there as a result of the anything goes let anyone who wants to live here off of our socialism policy. I wonder which will prevail?

In Christ,

Ellen

The only thing we have before 8 is the garbage truck, other than that our city ordenance says no construction, lawn mowing, church bells, etc before 8 AM and no outside parties after 10 PM Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday.

 

[rr1213]

What an amazing story. The Catholic priest get hammered for a few seconds worth of bell ringing to signify the start of Mass… but I wonder how many moslem muzzies are even asked to turn down the volume for the first screeching “call to prayer”. By the way, that’s just before sunrise. Depending on the time of year, that could be as early as 5 AM. Also keep in mind that one out of every eight “Dutchmen” are moslems, and fully one third of Rotterdam is moslem.

But it’s the Catholic priest that the secular officials go after. It’s time for the Dutch to put away the hash-pipe, quit chasing prostitutes, cease coddling the moslems… and start defending their Christian heritage before it’s too late.

Priest fined for early morning bell-ringing
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch priest has been fined 5,000 euros ($6,800) for ringing his church bells too loudly in the morning.

The Catholic priest began ringing the bells at just after seven in the morning soon after arriving in Tilburg about six months ago, a spokesman for the town council said. This prompted dozens of complaints from residents and the council in the southern town agreed the priest was breaking the rules.

“The priest can ring his bells whenever he likes but he has to keep within noise regulations. People don’t appreciate it,” the spokesman said. The priest risks further fines if he continues. “We are still trying to find ways to make him stop,” the spokesman said.

Churches generally are not, nor should they be, immune from the application of neutral laws. If a Church violates the noise ordinance it should be penalized like anyone else who violates the ordinance.

 

[ALLGIRLS]

The only thing we have before 8 is the garbage truck, other than that our city ordenance says no construction, lawn mowing, church bells, etc before 8 AM and no outside parties after 10 PM Sunday through Thursday and midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Oh, how I wish our city would pass something like that. I don’t know how many times we’ve been woke up at 1:00 a.m. Friday or Saturday night by our former neighbors (who had no children) playing music and talking LOUDLY on their patio (yes, we’re old fuddy duddies who are usually in bed b/f midnight, even on weekends ), not to mention the teenagers coming home w/ their car stereos blasting at all hours, and then having loud arguments w/ their girl or boyfriends who they were dropping off. We did call the police several times, only to have the offenders gone by the time they showed up . But enough derailing the thread…

In Christ,

Ellen

 

[Dale_M]

As an update, the bells did not sound on Monday, on Tuesday they were under the legal decibel limit, but exceeded the limit on Thursday, prompting another 5000 Euro fine.
expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=43176
expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=43018

 

[ALLGIRLS]

As an update, the bells did not sound on Monday, on Tuesday they were under the legal decibel limit, but exceeded the limit on Thursday, prompting another 5000 Euro fine.
expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=43176
expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=43018

I didn’t read the entire original article-are these electronic bells? It sounds like the priest may be having some trouble w/ the sound system, given the above articles. If he “fixed” the problem on Tuesday, but then it was too loud again on Thursday? I also find it interesting that someone is just waiting around to measure the decibels, and then immediately slap him w/ a fine. Don’t they have to wait for a complaint, or has the agency assigned someone to do nothing but monitor the church bells every morning? They’re probably loving all the money they’re making off this church.

In Christ,

Ellen

 

[Moneo]

None of you who support this priest have ever worked a night shift and been woken by church bells in the middle of you sleep. I have and once you are awake it is almost impossible to get back to sleep because every little noise annoys you.

One man’s music is another man’s noise. Mass is not about ringing bells, it is about the Eucharist.

I sympathise. I have had periods of time when my sleep cycle has been disrupted and I have had difficulty getting to sleep, or back to sleep once I was woken. Have you tried ear plugs? They’re intended for people who have difficulty sleeping due to noise or because they sleep on odd cycles, and they’re normally available at pharmacies, I think.

In the village in which I live, I live about thirty steps from the door of our parish church. The bells ring on the hour, every hour, all of the day and all of the night, as well as ringing half an hour before the start of Mass to announce the celebration of the Liturgy, and at the consecration. It forms a part of the rhythm of daily life here in the village, and it never keeps me awake all. Quite the opposite; I find it comforting because when I hear them, my mind is drawn to Our Lord in the tabernacle of the church.

But I do sympathise …