DAR AL HARB - NETHERLANDS: A CHURCH IS FINED FOR RINGING ITS BELLS, THE MUZEINN CAN SCREECH HIS CALL TO PRAYER WITHOUT A PROBLEM

Bell-Towers and Mosque Chants Cause Commotion

THE HAGUE, 15/06/07 - Tilburg municipality is fining a pastor for ringing his church bells, because they are too loud. In Rotterdam on the other hand, no measures are expected against the praises to Allah that ring out through Delfshaven district.

Pastor Harm Schilder of the Holy Margarita Mary Church has to pay 5,000 euros every time he rings his bells. Following complaints from residents, the municipal executive decided on noise measurements, which led to the conclusion that the decibel production was unacceptably high. The pastor was ordered to purchase smaller bells, but refused.

The pastor rings has been ringing his bells on weekdays at 7.15 a.m. Alderman Marieke Moorman rejected his appeal to freedom of religion, reported local newspaper Brabants Dagblad. From Friday, the Labour (PvdA) Alderman will send a 5,000-euro fine every time the bells ring. The pastor has already said he will simply go ahead.

In Rotterdam, there are no plans as far as is known to take any action against the An Nasr mosque in Delfshaven district. The news website Geenstijl.nl showed a film clip this week which shows how loudly the mosque - located in a former church - calls its followers to prayer in Arabic chants. Over 400, mostly angry comments were posted in response.



A YOUTUBE.com clip can be found here...I am not sure what is in the clip, but the article contains a link & my firewall here prevents me from viewing it...

I would have liked to embed it in this post, but for some reason, I am not getting a complete code from YOUTUBE.com

I will update as soon as I can, if I can get the embed code to work...






Pertinent Links:

1) Bell-Towers and Mosque Chants Cause Commotion