4 ms·

I don't think it's fair to say that the article is fearmongering. There are real concerns by the local residents, for example, about the noise from the call to

I don't think it's fair to say that the article is fearmongering. There are real concerns by the local residents, for example, about the noise from the call to prayer (it can be 5am in the morning). I, too, hate it, I can understand why other people hate it.

jacquesm 11y ago
How do you feel about church bells on Sunday morning?
- GnwbZHiU 11y ago
  In the place where I live, churches do not ring the bell. Even if they do, that's much less then 5 times a day.
- lmm 11y ago
  Immensely pissed off and I wish there were a way I could do something about them. Why?
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    Because to me it is exactly as irritating as the 'calls to prayer' but since we seem to accept the one I guess we have no option but to accept the other as well. I'm trying to imagine the poor people living within earshot of both a church and a mosque.
    - Mithaldu 11y ago
      Who says we accept them? Some people accept them, some people accept them in moderation, some people move away, some people look for options: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10614084 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10614084
      - jacquesm 11y ago
        It's super annoying but depending on the value of 'tradition' (whatever that means) the composition of the local council (which the article here actually refers to) and the laws in place already you may or may not be able to find a judge willing to put a stop to it. This can be an extremely long drawn out battle. Churches get away with lots of stuff that otherwise would not be tolerated.
- morgante 11y ago
  Churches don't ring loud bells at 5am. Having lived with the call to prayer for several years now, I can absolutely understand resident's frustration with it. In a secular society, it shouldn't be treated any differently than if I got on a loudspeaker and started shouting 'wake up everyone!' at 5am every morning.
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    No, but some do try to ring them at 07:15 every morning really loud and really long, it took a judge to put a stop to that. Link in Dutch, no English source, sorry. http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/tilburgse-pastoor-mag-klokken-niet-s-ochtends-vroeg-luiden~a1035547/ http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/tilburgse-pastoor-mag-kl... I'm all for stopping any such nonsense but then churchbells are out. All of them, they served their purpose in the times before social media and alarm clocks but nowadays there is no reason for them. And if that is used to stop Mosques from doing their 'call to prayer' I'm all for it, but let's keep things equal. Of course that may be a bit hard to do in a town with both a large Catholic and a large Muslim population. But either both should not take offense at what the other does or both should agree that there is no gain from any of this.
    - GnwbZHiU 11y ago
      It doesn't have to be all or nothing. To be equal, we can allow churches to ding the bell once a week on sunday, and allow mosques to recite call to prayer once a week on friday.
      - to3m 11y ago
        If you live in a country where Christianity is the state religion, you could just disallow the call to prayer on account of the fact it is not Christian. (One advantage of a state religion is that you can do stuff like this. Of course, you have to be careful not to take it too far - condemning unbelievers to death might be a bit much, for example.)
    - morgante 11y ago
      Sounds good to me.
- exodust 11y ago
  Church bells are not religious propaganda. Islamic call to prayer translates roughly to "you really ought to pray right now if you want salvation. Seriously, it's time to acknowledge who is the greatest.. you know who, yeh that's right, God is greatest. And you know what? Prayer is more important than sleep, so do as I ask, just as you did yesterday, and just like you ought to do tomorrow. Get praying people". Vs A bell.
  - jacquesm 11y ago
    To me they're both just annoying noises.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]

jacquesm 11y ago

How do you feel about church bells on Sunday morning?

GnwbZHiU 11y ago
In the place where I live, churches do not ring the bell. Even if they do, that's much less then 5 times a day.
lmm 11y ago
Immensely pissed off and I wish there were a way I could do something about them. Why?
- jacquesm 11y ago
  Because to me it is exactly as irritating as the 'calls to prayer' but since we seem to accept the one I guess we have no option but to accept the other as well. I'm trying to imagine the poor people living within earshot of both a church and a mosque.
  - Mithaldu 11y ago
    Who says we accept them? Some people accept them, some people accept them in moderation, some people move away, some people look for options: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10614084 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10614084
    - jacquesm 11y ago
      It's super annoying but depending on the value of 'tradition' (whatever that means) the composition of the local council (which the article here actually refers to) and the laws in place already you may or may not be able to find a judge willing to put a stop to it. This can be an extremely long drawn out battle. Churches get away with lots of stuff that otherwise would not be tolerated.
morgante 11y ago
Churches don't ring loud bells at 5am. Having lived with the call to prayer for several years now, I can absolutely understand resident's frustration with it. In a secular society, it shouldn't be treated any differently than if I got on a loudspeaker and started shouting 'wake up everyone!' at 5am every morning.
- jacquesm 11y ago
  No, but some do try to ring them at 07:15 every morning really loud and really long, it took a judge to put a stop to that. Link in Dutch, no English source, sorry. http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/tilburgse-pastoor-mag-klokken-niet-s-ochtends-vroeg-luiden~a1035547/ http://www.volkskrant.nl/binnenland/tilburgse-pastoor-mag-kl... I'm all for stopping any such nonsense but then churchbells are out. All of them, they served their purpose in the times before social media and alarm clocks but nowadays there is no reason for them. And if that is used to stop Mosques from doing their 'call to prayer' I'm all for it, but let's keep things equal. Of course that may be a bit hard to do in a town with both a large Catholic and a large Muslim population. But either both should not take offense at what the other does or both should agree that there is no gain from any of this.
  - GnwbZHiU 11y ago
    It doesn't have to be all or nothing. To be equal, we can allow churches to ding the bell once a week on sunday, and allow mosques to recite call to prayer once a week on friday.
    - to3m 11y ago
      If you live in a country where Christianity is the state religion, you could just disallow the call to prayer on account of the fact it is not Christian. (One advantage of a state religion is that you can do stuff like this. Of course, you have to be careful not to take it too far - condemning unbelievers to death might be a bit much, for example.)
  - morgante 11y ago
    Sounds good to me.
exodust 11y ago
Church bells are not religious propaganda. Islamic call to prayer translates roughly to "you really ought to pray right now if you want salvation. Seriously, it's time to acknowledge who is the greatest.. you know who, yeh that's right, God is greatest. And you know what? Prayer is more important than sleep, so do as I ask, just as you did yesterday, and just like you ought to do tomorrow. Get praying people". Vs A bell.
- jacquesm 11y ago
  To me they're both just annoying noises.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]