Annoying church bells

[NJA]

This is not me, but someone in my town saying:

I live opposite a church and have to endure endless bell ringing. Sunday mornings are especially bad and Monday night bell practice is the worst. I honestly cannot stand the sound of bells anymore. If I blasted music out that loudly people would complain, so why is it acceptable for churches to do it? I know it is traditional and I know that they are used to call people to mass... I have nothing against religion, just find it an unnecessary practice.

My reply was:
Maybe they don't realise it is annoying the neighbours. Ask a few of them, if they agree see the minister about it. Jesus doesn't ask people to annoy their neighbours in his name so if they are trying to follow him they should desist. If it's just you, I reccommend yellow foam ear plugs from a builders merchant, or wireless headphones.

Others have basically said "tough, you chose to move there", others that campinology is great, they should learn to like it. What say ye?

 

[WirSindBettler]

Campanology is great, they should learn to like it.

 

[MiniEmu]

Move next to a church, expect to hear bells.

It's as silly as people who move to the countryside, knowing full well their neighbours keep and breed chickens, then complain about crowing cockerels.

I do sympathise, but it seems people are becoming less and less used to the fact that life is noisy, and that noise is normally slightly different from blasting personal music at unsociable hours throughout the night. Most churches will not let do such things outside of accepted hours, though this may be the one church who does regular two hour sessions in the dead of night and crack of dawn...


(it is possible I am completely biased, having always made an effort to live near to a church in order to hear the bells...)

 

[annafullofgrace]

My response would be...what did you think you would hear moving next to a church?

 

[ToBeLoved]

I think that if that's the worst problem that this person has, they have been very blessed.

 

[Catherineanne]

This is not me, but someone in my town saying:

I live opposite a church and have to endure endless bell ringing. Sunday mornings are especially bad and Monday night bell practice is the worst. I honestly cannot stand the sound of bells anymore. If I blasted music out that loudly people would complain, so why is it acceptable for churches to do it? I know it is traditional and I know that they are used to call people to mass... I have nothing against religion, just find it an unnecessary practice.

My reply was:
Maybe they don't realise it is annoying the neighbours. Ask a few of them, if they agree see the minister about it. Jesus doesn't ask people to annoy their neighbours in his name so if they are trying to follow him they should desist. If it's just you, I reccommend yellow foam ear plugs from a builders merchant, or wireless headphones.

Others have basically said "tough, you chose to move there", others that campinology is great, they should learn to like it. What say ye?

I assume the bells are not new?

Learn to like them, or move. Plenty of people would love to hear the sound of bells from their home; I certainly would.

 

[Celticflower]

Growing up my days were timed by the church bells. I knew I'd better be halfway to school before the morning bells rang or I would be late. The evening bells were a signal to head home for dinner. If you choose to live across from a church with bells that ring, learn to deal with it or move. A little music never hurt anybody.

 

[seashale76]

My church rings bells. My church was around before any of the buildings around it and they rang bells from the beginning. Sometimes there are neighbors that will complain. Our priest has told them that the church has always done it, will continue to do so, and the solution is to either get used to it or move. It's not like they wouldn't have known about it before moving in either, as the bells mark the hours. It's impossible to have not known before moving in, actually.

 

[LionL]

...the solution is to either get used to it or move.

How considerate.

 

[seashale76]

How considerate.

There's nothing to consider. If you move next to a place that existed before your home and then complain- while also knowing the bells existed and are constantly used before you moved in? It's your own fault.

Would you expect an airport to stop the planes from landing and taking off and making noise if you decided to move right next to one? Or- perhaps you'd expect the trains to stop traveling on the railroad you decided to move near? I bet you wouldn't.

 

[LionL]

There's nothing to consider. If you move next to a place that existed before your home and then complain- while also knowing the bells existed and are constantly used before you moved in? It's your own fault.

Many people have no choice where they live - they go where the housing association puts them or become homeless.

Would you expect an airport to stop the planes from landing and taking off and making noise if you decided to move right next to one? Or- perhaps you'd expect the trains to stop traveling on the railroad you decided to move near?

Airports and train lines are money making companies and so I expect them to have selfish values. Churches on the other hand I would have thought would me more considerate of their neighbours.
And there you go again saying "decided to move near." As I have said, many people have no choice where they live.

 

[Celticflower]

Airports and train lines are money making companies and so I expect them to have selfish values. Churches on the other hand I would have thought would me more considerate of their neighbours.
And there you go again saying "decided to move near." As I have said, many people have no choice where they live.

Whether you had the choice or not, you would have known the bells were in existence before moving in. It is unreasonable to ask a church to change their tradition of ringing bells just because a new person in the neighborhood is "annoyed". And the absence of those bells may annoy the long time neighbors in the area who enjoy or look forward to the bells. Face it - no matter what the situation or source of annoyance- the new kid on the block is the one who should adapt and accept and not expect everyone to bend to their wishes.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

To stop ringing the bells because it annoys some atheists or whatever seems like taking the first step towards intolerance of Christianity and an increased level of persecution.

ToBeLoved put it out nicely in a post up page, if this is their main concern I'll say they're blessed.

I get the feeling that it's not the noise that's the issue, but the reminder that Christianity are alive and that others believes so firmly where oneself don't like to be reminded.

People need religion, that's a proven fact and if Christianity where to be excluded from a society another religion would be there to take its place.
Pick on the church all you like, if you get it your way stay ready to welcome and embrace Islam.

Something tells me their not as easy to pick on and get rid of as we are...
At least without placing you under "fatwa" that is.

Seashale76 also has a point that if one moves to a place that has a church next door it's both unreasonable, disrespectful and IMO rude to start dictating the church who has in some cases been at the given location back for a milenna.

If you dislike it that much move!

Orthodox Christians may feel this even stronger than us Catholics as they've lived under Islam and communism in so many places and for so long periods of time that when they're given the posibility and right to ring their bells for DL it's actually a privilege to be able to actually be a bit witnessing and evangelising as they've been prohibited from doing so for so long time.

Once again, religion is impossible to wipe out of society.
So I hope that at least those who go after Christians and hate our Angulus learn to enjoy the morning prayer shouts from the nearby mosque.
It's well earned IMO.

 

[LionL]

Imagine a person who works nights.
He finishes work at 6 AM on Sunday morning.
He arrives home at 7 AM.
After a bath and a bite to eat he goes to bed at 8 AM.
At 8.45 the church bells start ringing and continue for 30 minutes (these are the times the church bells in my village - which coincidentally are positioned right next to a council estate - ring).
The poor bloke gets little sleep but no-one at the church seems to have any sympathy. Instead they say things like -
"If you dislike it move!"
Whatever happened to "love they neighbour"?

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

You and every other liberal or progressive christian or non christian secular person always use this one passage against people who believes that something are to be holy and should stay untouched, most frequent is the same sex marriages, communion for remarried etc.

And now it's applied in a question of wether of not we are to ring our bells at church, odd use of it I think, but ok.

You are aware that you are using a passage of Scripture and place it purposely out of context?
We are also instructed to evangelise the world and spread the Gospel to all the corners of the world.

If you get it your way and mute us do we then succeed to fulfill our mission to preach Christ to the world?

Church bells can be seen as the church's reminder to people that we're there and available for people who need Christ in their life.

"Love they neighbour", does soup kitchen qualify as so in your mind?
If so don't you think that people in need of such services appreciate that we're visible in the towns we're in so they easily find us in time of struggle?

I would turn your argument and say that if we get silent (even though the people moving next to a church that has ranged it's bells for hundreds of years should've known this prior to their relocation) we fail to show the proper love for our neighbour as invisibility makes people less aware of us and the Gospel of Christ and the services we offer, such as soup kitchen.

Are you still sure you want to apply the "Love they neighbour" argument about our bell ringing??

 

[LionL]

"Love they neighbour", does soup kitchen qualify as so in your mind?

Yes, but I'd prefer to live in a country where charity is not needed to feed people.

Are you still sure you want to apply the "Love they neighbour" argument about our bell ringing??

What about the person who wants sleep after a hard nights work?

 

[Celticflower]

Imagine a person who works nights.
He finishes work at 6 AM on Sunday morning.
He arrives home at 7 AM.
After a bath and a bite to eat he goes to bed at 8 AM.
At 8.45 the church bells start ringing and continue for 30 minutes (these are the times the church bells in my village - which coincidentally are positioned right next to a council estate - ring).
The poor bloke gets little sleep but no-one at the church seems to have any sympathy. Instead they say things like -
"If you dislike it move!"
Whatever happened to "love they neighbour"?

If I were a member of the church in question I would buy the "poor bloke" a set of ear plugs or noise canceling headphones and thus show love to my neighbor.

Honestly, you would like us to believe the needs (desires) on the one out weigh those of the many.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

Yes, but I'd prefer to live in a country where charity is not needed to feed people.

I'm Norwegian and my country is the world leading welfare society in the world.
Every citizen have a right to be fed and sheltered, but for drug addicts this doesn't necessarily means that they have a roof over their head and the money they get from the government are being used to buy drugs.

Most institutions don't allow any use of drug when people spend the night resulting in the addicts chossing to get high on a bench in a nearby park rather than sleeping clean inside.

They are anorexic due to spending all of their founds on drug rather than food.

Without the Church and God bless them the Salvation Army lots of those poor souls would've frozen to death during the winter and starved to death.

So regardless of which society one lives in there are people who need charity to survive, Even in Norway...

What about the person who wants sleep after a hard nights work?

A person's sleep has to be secondary the way that I see things.
A hungry person and/ or a person in need of pastoral care triumphs a person working the night living nearby.

If one needs daytime sleep that much I'll recommend moving a few miles outside the city as it's way more quiet out on the countryside.

In a city there will be noise during the daytime (and very often the nighttime as well) be that from the church bell, the traffic, a nearby school , ambulances and so on, so on.

Every weekend a handful of people enjoy the nighttime life with heavy drinking and music far into the night and with over 90 per cent of the population sleeping at night time we're just told that festivals and nightlife is something we must adopt to in a town.
This is what the police says so it's official.

If every night in the weekend all year around is supposed to keep people awake then 5 per cent of the population working at night just have to adopt likewise IMO.

It's only fair.

 

[LionL]

If the minority have to conform to the majority it would be a sad day for Christians, at least in my country. They are a tiny minority.

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

If the minority have to conform to the majority it would be a sad day for Christians, at least in my country. They are a tiny minority.

That's not what I wrote...