And of course the city does not have to broadcast Christian or Jewish messages; it need only refrain from interfering with them. And I would be surprised if it has interfered with them. Church bells are designed to be widely heard for the same purpose, they were not illegal in Hamtramck.
At 01:33 PM 5/13/2004 -0500, you wrote:
I find the below message somewhat disturbing. The thought of having amplified Muezzins five times a day calling to prayers in my own residential community is disturbing. My neighbors and I would be forced repeatedly to talk over or stop our ears against intrusive chanted messages from a faith we do not share. I fail to see why a town government in America, even one in which a majority of the population is Moslem, should be allowed to impose religious harangues on the minority of its residents who happen not to be Moslems. It is true that these harangues are customary in Islamic traditions, but it is the prayers that are a pillar of Islam, not the calls to prayer. Once having made such an "accommodation," does the town then have to broadcast immediately before or after each muezzin call the Hebrew chant, "Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is one?" Will an amplified shofar have to be blown five times a day? How about The Lord's Prayer? And what noise will accommodate the atheists? Unless the atheists are allowed to summon their listeners to reason at least five times a day, why isn't all this holy racket an establishment of religion?
At 08:07 AM 5/13/04, Stuart BUCK wrote:An interesting law out of Hamtramck, Michigan. It apparently amends the noise ordinance there to allow loudspeakers to broadcast Muslim calls to prayer 5 times per day. Story here:_______________________________________________
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-mosque6may06,1,4014143.story?coll=la-headlines-nation
or here:
http://www.freep.com/news/locway/call8_20040508.htm
Best, Stuart Buck
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