Posted on 12/01/2006 7:43:44 AM PST by sten
Fairfax County officials have issued a ringing non-endorsement of the bells at St. John Neumann's in Reston, ruling that they must toll within the limits of the county's noise ordinance or not at all.
The Board of Supervisors asked the zoning staff this year to see whether the law could be amended to accommodate the church, whose bells ring at a volume slightly higher than the 55-decibel maximum permitted in residential areas.
<snip> follow story [here]
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Are the ringing of church bells integral to the religious practices of this church's members? I would guess not.
And even if they are, noise regulations are applicable to everyone, even churches. Arguing your religious rights are being violated while you violate a law applicable to everyone regardless of religion is almost always a non-starter. So says the U.S. Supreme Court.
This one is pretty straightforward.
The local noise ordinance establishes a 55 db limit.
If the ordinance, or the associated regulations, contains a clause that specifies the distance, then it's a law of general application that applies to everybody, irrespective of whether they are churches, businesses, individuals, wolves howling at the zoo or what have you.
If the ordinance or the regs do not contain a distance feature, the law is too vague and can be challenged in court and beaten. Of course, then all the town has to do is to fix the ordinance by inserting a distance measure to go with the decibel limit.
There's no religious issue here, or any constitutional rights issue here at all, really, except maybe one. It's a pure state's rights issue. States and their municpal subdivisions have the general police power, and can pass noise restrictions.
I suppose the one POSSIBLE argument from a Constitutional level is that any sort of noise restriction is a restriction on free speech/free expression of religion.
But that's nutty, because it knows no natural limit.
Can Indians use hallucinogenic mudrugs because they say their religious ritual requires it? No. The general drug laws override those specific religious needs. Likewise with noise. Of course, trying to take away Catholics' communion wine during Prohibition would have brought Prohibition to a screeching halt a lot earlier, so there is a realism factor here as to what general laws of government can presume to alter ancient practices of great big religions.
Catholic Church bell carillions don't fall within that "ancient practice" practical exception. Particularly not electric bells in suburban residential neighborhoods.
I've never supported these stupid noise ordinances. If you want it completely silent, live in the country. Otherwise, stop complaining. The fact that we as a society are citing churches for being too loud is ludicrous.
So if a mosque is built near a neighborhood, you wouldn't expect people to mind hearing an amplified call to prayer several times a day?
5 decibels is louder by a factor of 3, which is easily distinguised by ear. This isn't Christian bashing by any reasonable definition.
Odd.
Muslims can broadcast THEIR calls over a regional loudspeaker.
I just don't see Quasimodo fiddling with a little volume knob. Doesn't have the same impact as riding those big mothers. (Moving his hump from the left side to the right, maybe, but just for a goof.)
Read the whole article and your question will be answered.
Why not just broadcast the chime over the radio, a low power signal? Those who want to hear it, can tune in. Those who don't, won't!
It might be especially useful in silencing the demonic cries coming out from mosques, in the least.
I would have no problem with them enforcing such a statue (getting passed the government laws governing a church in the face of the 'separation of church and state')... just as soon as they enforce those same laws on motorcycles, sporting events, and airplanes.
I bet when a mosque moves in it's wailing 110 db 5 times a day evey day.
i would guess the church pre-dated the noise ordinance. not to mention, has the noise level decreased in the past?
Well, when I have taken measurements inside my church (I work the sound system there) I had to have a meter. Maybe my hearing is already shot...hehehe
Which preceded the other, the ordinance or the church bells?
Cordially,
I can take or leave electronic church bells, but 3 times a day and then for every Sunday mass starting at 7:30 am sounds like a lot. And at a loud volume? Doesn't sound like a good neighbor to me.
Our local Catholic church (the only one with bells) chimes its "bells" at noon and 5. No different on Sunday. Plays seasonal songs.
Funny note: The Catholic college I went to (and work at now) got a bell thingy, (electronic) when I was a student. It "rang" at noon with the bell song whose name eludes me now, followed by 12 'gongs'. Well I had a micro-economics class in the building with this thing, actually located right below it. Class met from 11:30 - 12:20, so three days a week professor had to stop and we all hummed the bell song and gonged along with it. It was impossible to hear yourself think, let alone hear him lecture while it was "chiming". It didn't last past the first semester.
If it is close to 55 db at the measuring point, often all that is required is a simple repositioning of the speaker.
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