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Saturday, June 06, 2009

Bishop Sentenced to JAIL for Cathedral Bells!

This is completely OUTRAGEOUS!

A Bishop (not Catholic) in Phoenix, AZ, has been sentenced to jail time for an alleged noise ordinance.

PHOENIX — A Phoenix bishop received a suspended sentence of 10 days in jail and three years probation Wednesday for violating a Phoenix noise ordinance because his church rang its bells hourly as a way of praising God. The ordinance does not include an exemption for religious worship, though it does provide an exemption for ice cream trucks. Bishop Rick Painter of Cathedral of Christ the King has retained attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund to pursue legal options to defend his rights.


Read the entire article for more information. And don't think it can't happen wherever you are. The reality is that it's just going to get worse, y'all. It's just going to get worse.
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7 comments:

Melody K said...

Our pastor tolled our bells 85 times when Pope John Paul II died (once for every year that he lived). I don't know if the neighbors complained or not. Normally we only ring the Angelus hours of 12:00 noon and 6:00 pm, plus weekend Mass times. Jail time (even if it was suspended) is a bit excessive for ringing bells. However, every hour, on the hour, does seem a little much. Those who brought the complaint may not be anti-God as much as feeling that it drives them bonkers. I wasn't able to determine from the article if the parties involved ever sat down prior to calling in the law and tried to work things out.

Adoro said...

Melody ~ If I was the Bishop's attorney, I'd be asking how many people have clocks in their homes that chime the hour.

I was at a church last night in an inner-city area that rings on the hour, chiming the hour. Funny...they don't get complaints.

Probably won't be long before they do, though. It's not an offensive sound..the constant sirens (as alluded to in the article) are certainly louder than the church bells. The fireworks and gunshots we heard last night (both) were certainly louder. The loud music from heavy bass in cars likely to be stolen for those installations is certainly louder.

I have no doubt Phoenix is even worse...and yet..the church bells there likely aren't any louder or more problematic than the ones I stood next to last night.

Mrs Doyle said...

The church bells in Europe usually toll on the half hour! I can't imagine how the people of Phoenix would react to that. If you don't want 'noise', don't live near a church ;)

Unknown said...

This is something that we are dealing with here in the Phoenix area - along with new ordinances in the City of Scottsdale that regulate the hours of worship. Please be aware this isn't the Catholic Bishop of Phoenix, Bishop Olmsted, but a Protestant Bishop. But make no mistake, complaining neighbors are going to become one of the major sources of religious persecution in the coming years.

Fr. Bud
Our Lady of Joy
Carefree, AZ

Adoro said...

Good morning, Father, and thanks for the clarification! I was trying to figure out why I didn't recognize the Bishop's name! (Yeah, a "duh!" moment! lol)

But of course, whether Catholic or protestant, this is a problem and does not bode well for any of us, anywhere!

Unknown said...

The Basilica of St. Mary in downtown Minneapolis rings its bells like they do in many European cities.

They ring them on the hour, they ring them right before Mass, and occasionally for special events. For the Rosary Procession last month, they rung them for 15 minutes straight as the procession neared the church.

What a glorious sound are church bells!!!

I would think that an ACLU member or atheist (often one and the same) or judge lives near that protestant church in Phoenix.

And I'm speaking as one who was raised across the street from the church with the most cacophonous bells in the world, hanging from the ugliest bell tower in the world.

And that's not because I still hold a grudge against them for building their church on my playground. Which I do.

Anonymous said...

Our bells ring every 15 minutes, and nobody's complained yet. A lot of people say they like it. Then again, it's a town of 1600 and 1100of them belong to the only church in town, a Catholic one.