US bishop sentenced for church bell noise

[michaeljw]

I work with one of the lay sub-deacons at this Episcopal church here in Phoenix, and I’ve met Bishop Painter so I have some of the “inside scoop” on this issue.

The church rings the bells simply as a form of public worship. It’s not intended to notify people of the time, nor is it to mark the beginning of services (they don’t have them every hour). It’s just an expression of praise. Our Catholic parish does the same exact thing as do many others in the diocese. We can hear Catholic church bells ring 2 miles from our house. We like the regular reminder to keep God in the midst of our day.

According to my colleague, when the complaints first came in Bishop Painter offered many suggestions for compromising with the neighbors. The neighbors insisted that the only solution that would satisfy them with would be the permanent silencing of the bells. After fruitless attempts to compromise the neighbors sued.

The judge in the case did not seem to be interested in protecting the church’s freedom of religious expression, nor did he care that the decibel readings were within a normal range. He believed every story the neighbors told - they couldn’t hear themselves think, they couldn’t sleep during the day, the noise was causing serious harm to their well being, blah, blah, blah. Hook, line, sinker.

During sentencing, the judge dictated to the church the specific days, times, duration and volume of the church’s public religious expression. The bishop was given 3 years probation. If the bells are reported sounding outside of the narrow allowances dictated by the court, the bishop faces jail time. If this isn’t a slippery slope beyond the separation of church and state, I don’t know what is.

Now that this case has been decided, it sets a precedent that could be used against my parish or any other in the city by any anti-religious person who wants to silence this form of public worship and wreak financial havoc on a parish through expensive lawsuits.

A video is up on YouTube with a sample of the bells. Be sure to adjust your speakers before you do - it’s just too loud! :ehh:
Also, a local news webpage includes a video interview with the bishop.

I think the bishop is working with the ADF to appeal the case.

 

[Sailor_Kenshin]

I’m of two minds about this. I like church bells, but we cannot pretend that in Arizona today that people keep time by the tolling of church bells. There’s an old Johnny Mercer lyric with a line about the regularity of certain train: “Folks around these parts get the time of day / From the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe.” But just as people there now uses watches, clocks, televisions, and radios to get ‘the time of day,’ so do the Catholics (and non-Catholics) around that church in Arizona. If the bells are bothering people, then the Church should be sensitive to that. Especially since, as I said, it’s not as if Catholics there will miss Mass or not pray at the right time (–who there even says the Hours on the hour anyway?) because they don’t hear a loud church bell ring?

But it’s okay to blare the Islamic call to prayer five times a day in Dearborn?

The Church is under attack. This isn’t even the first salvo, but we had better be ready for more.

 

[cavalierfan]

What a bunch of Protestant CROCK!

 

[zaffiroborant]

I think the bishop is working with the ADF to appeal the case.

I hope the ADF helps, like I said the Ice Cream Man has noise exemption and from my point of view he is an intrusive nuisance. When his bell rings (louder than the church) I have to argue with my kids about whether or not they are going to buy (expensive) ice cream. Did I mention he is a surly piece of work.