Too loud too early for Manayunk church bell, neighbor complains
For 104 years, the bell at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church in hilly, blue-collar Manayunk has joyfully summoned the faithful to prayer, celebrated marriages, and marked the ends of wars.
Now, in a city whose many sacred symbols include a cracked bell, someone has filed a complaint to silence St. John's 5,000-pound bronze casting.
Yep. Another busybody who didn't pay attention to the surrounding area when they purchased their home. Read the story - the bell has rung for over 100 years, with the church becoming more and more accommodating as times changes and lessening the number of rings. It stopped for two years starting in 2007 - my guess, if I had to make one, is that this person moved into the area at some point in this interval and didn't talk to anyone in the neighborhood about noise issues.
And now the church is facing a "cease and desist" letter with fines of up to $700 a day for "amplified" sounds - huh? It's a freakin' BELL, folks. Explain to me how they amplify it, please... With all that's going on in the world, with budget issues and such, the town has decided that the best use of its resources is to go after a church for ringing the bell. Priorities, people, priorities. Sure, crime is out of control and we don't have enough money to fund the school but damn, that church bell is too loud!
As for the snark, Stretch sent me this link with the subject header of "Maybe if they said it was a mosque?" Heh.
That is all.
12 comments:
There's always some asshole that can't wait to ruin things for everyone else.
As for the snark, Stretch sent me this link with the subject header of "Maybe if they said it was a mosque?" Heh.
The complaining person would be driven out with DEATH THREATS....
as Obama said "The call to prayer is the most beautiful sound in the world"...
Jay,
This very much reminds me of the yuppie scum in Boston who wanted the USS Constitution to stop firing her guns every morning at 8am. I say load up the guns with grapeshot & point 'em at the condos which house the yuppie scum.
- Brad
Just like the yuppies from sunny CA who move next to an egg farm and then complain because of the smell. If you want to be a moron, you should have to deal with the consequences. Me, I like the sound of church bells and the smell of the country. Unfortunately that probably means that in my life I will have to deal with people taking away these things so that they can annoy me more.
Actually, a lot of churches, including mine, have gone to electronic bells. You can schedule the time of the ring and what songs play and for how long in addition to simple tolling and chimes. All played through an amplifier.
We have the Westminster chime on the hour with two songs starting at 7:00 am and ending at 9:00pm out of deference to our neighbors. The only ones who didn't complain about our bells being down after a lightning strike were our neighbors -- but they don't complain either.
Ok, my sister lives in Manayunk. The damn bell is not that loud unless you live right next door to it.
If you do the shut the fuck up and deal with it. These people piss me the fuck off. It's like moving next door to a landfill and then complaining about the smell.
In Newark I lived next to active train tracks for a few years. The noise sucked ass, but I didn't blame CSX train co. for it.
Notice that it is a complaint against the Roman Catholic Church. Somebody is trying to get payback for the Priest Abuse scandals. Wonder how loud the bells are at the Rev. Wright's, Jackson's and Sharpton's churches are?
Sorry. 7AM is too frikin early to be ringing your bell. Wait until after 8 at least.
Oh, for - the bell's been ringing longer than the overwhelming majority of complainers have even been alive.
That lovely "call to prayer" happens FIVE times a day, including before daybreak and after dark. Via an amplified loudspeaker. Human voice.
Sigh. When it just can't get any more stupid...
Then again, I know of many Air Force bases that have to curtail flight times and flight paths so that the residents who moved in years AFTER the base was operational don't get upset.
Double-sigh.
Word Verification: bealief. I "bealief" that I'll have another beer.
Nanny state 101- when in doubt, SUE...
I think the three year lapse of ringing will cost them their grandfathered status.
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