Muslim Call To Prayer In Your Hometown

reply to post by Heatburger


Heatburger we are dealing with extremists. When will people open their eyes to what is happening? Sure there are Muslims who would not kill a non convert but there are plenty that will. All the other ones need that wouldn't is a little encouragement. A little reminder of what their prophet told them to do a long time ago. It is not being an extremist to call this to our attention.

Originally posted by jackflap
You see our God forgives. I don't think the prophet that muslims pray to offers this.

Well, since one side prays to Peter Pan and the other to Snow White, I fail to see significance...

Originally posted by jackflap
Sure there are Muslims who would not kill a non convert but there are plenty that will. All the other ones need that wouldn't is a little encouragement. A little reminder of what their prophet told them to do a long time ago.

B.S.

All religious people are fine (including Muslims) till you tell them that their God is not real, you should try it sometimes in real life, lol, you will see how far you will go

Im Athiest...
I do not believe in any god what so ever, not allah, not jesus, not horus, not santa.

Having someone put up speakers and blaring their holy crap is plain BS.
A church goes ding, dong... not ALLAAAAaalAALALAAlaalalalalaa....

Give me a break people this is AMERICA, ONE NATION UNDER GOD....
Cant we keep it that way? Thats the way it used to work, now its broke...




[edit on 16-6-2009 by R3KR]

Originally posted by ManBehindTheMask
You have to look at the bigger picture here, yeah on the small scale everyone finds it ok.....but the whole picture is much more hypocritical.

Also, if this turns out to be OK in the end, and every day there can be heard the call to prayer, then surely once a year Christians can celebrate Christmas in it's true form, and not have it subjected to censorship in order to enforce a complete consumer festive season devoid of Christ?

Once a year is not OK for fear of offending, yet here a number of times a day is being tolerant.



Just a thought, puzzling me, no doubt those who turn a blind eye to the denial of established tradition in favour of tolerance towards new cultures will not see the same.

[edit on 16/6/2009 by badw0lf]

reply to post by habfan1968

"when they try to force me with the sword then I'll have an issue" how long before that is the case?

In this country? Never. How's that for prognosication?

honestly....if i have to hear church bells....i think its only fair to hear the call to pray-

Oh wait. this leads to a slippery slope. i mean...if christianity is allowed, then islam is. If islam and christianity are allowed, then what next?

allowing one thing like this gives permission for all religions. this can only lead to huge nuisances in the future.

i mean....eventually this will lead to every religion allowing some kind of pronouncement and there will be even less relative quiet everywhere.

reply to post by jackflap


No. We are not dealing with extremists. You have an irrational fear of a religion you don't understand. I'm sorry, but you cannot lump every single Muslim into that catagory.

How would it feel if I said all Christians are extremists because of the ONE that murdered that doc at an abortion clinic not too long ago? You'd tell me I was dead wrong. And I say it's dead wrong to say that every Muslim will murder a non-Muslim for believing as they do.

USA has religious freedom, yes? You call yourself the land of the free, yes? Are you being forced to convert to Islam? No, as stated in OP it's a kin to hearing churchbells go off everyday - and the salaad i only 5 times a day btw, whereas churchbells can be heard up to 12 times a day if not more. (I know I cursed them on quite a few hungover mornings).

This is a matter of being afraid of change and of the unknown. On a holiday to Crete many years ago there were calls from a praying tower - but wait - that was Christian-orthodox prayers streaming out. So at 0630 in the morning the first prayers started - and it seemed to fit in the lives of everybody, 'cause that's when the day started for everybody.

Do you have religious freedom? Yes. Will you have to accept this? I think so.

Just so we all know what we're talking about:



This will be broadcast from at least two speakers, five times a day, seven days a week.
The first broadcast will be at 6am, the last at 10pm.

I'm all for tolerance, but I doubt many people realise the amount of noise that this will involve. You sure wouldn't want to live in the area and work night-shift.

reply to post by R3KR


I'm confused. By what you've said in your post are you an atheist or a theist?

reply to post by Heatburger

Then how can you say church bells are an exception? From an aural perspective it may be, but not on the principle. Christians are doing as they please here, and I can say I don't want to listen and have them suddenly stop doing it. If they're annoying me nightly at 5:45 I shut my windows. Simple as that.

Well I gave my reasons in a previous post; to reiterate…

Personally I make an exception for church bells for three reasons; the first is that they are a neutral sound and not as abrasive as the Islamic call to prayer. The second is that they are often not simply a religious call; in many places they serve other uses within the community beyond religious beliefs. The third, and imo most important is that they have naturally forged a place within the culture of the country and have found acceptance by successive generations going back centuries.

Having said that however if a sizable portion of the population object to the sound of church bells I agree that there wishes should be given priority. But generally that doesn’t happen for the reasons stated above.

reply to post by ELECTRICkoolaidZOMBIEtest

"Slippery slope?" So we can accept church bells and MAYBE the call to prayer, but nothing else? Sure sounds like an awesome way to demonstrate freedom of religion (/sarcasm)

reply to post by Mike_A


What are the secular reasons in a community, if you don't mind me asking? The only non-religious purpose the church bells here in the Western Kentucky Bible Belt serve are to remind everyone the church exists and to ring what time it is, grandfather clock style. Every 15 minutes they ring. From 6 am to 6 pm, they ring every 15 minutes. That's far more often than the 5 times a day the Call to Prayer would sound...

Also, "abrasive" is subjective. Period. Just because one person finds it "abrasive" does not mean every person will hold that same opinion. I personally think the only negative interpretations of the Call to Prayer would be that it's "different" and the fact that it is not Christian. The sound itself would be something people came to accept as normal over time...just like church bells.

Also. I understand the cultural perspective, honestly...but who am I to stand in the way of a cultural revolution, as long as it is not DIRECTLY infringing on my rights (read: forcing me to chose one religion over another)?

It may seem odd to us now, but what right do I have to discount another's beliefs and tell them they can't do something fairly similar to something another religion is doing? None as far as I'm concerned.

[edit on 17-6-2009 by Heatburger]

[edit on 17-6-2009 by Heatburger]

I have lived in Arabia and been blasted by Muslim prayer calls. Bloody awful, especially the one at five o'clock in the morning.

In my own country, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians all use loudspeakers to broadcast their hideous religious noises. The result is not a polyphony of praise but unadulterated pandemonium.

Speaking in a spirit of tolerance - I am an atheist and loathe all religion - I say, let the prayers ring out.

BUT NO LOUDSPEAKERS

Got that?

[edit on 17/6/09 by Astyanax]

reply to post by Heatburger


To celebrate secular holidays; events both local and national and recreation.

Also, "abrasive" is subjective. Period.

Agreed but in this case and in general in primarily Christian based cultures it is deemed abrasive.

The sound itself would be something people came to accept as normal over time...just like church bells.

But if they don’t want to accept it why should they be forced to? Whatever there reason for rejecting it, it is there prerogative to do so as long as it doesn’t cause harm or impinge others freedoms. Freedom to broadcast ones own personal beliefs into others lives that cannot be ignored is not a protected right, it is a privilege predicated upon the acceptance of those affected.

Ultimately this revolves around two main issues, noise levels and culture; the former seems to be accepted as an argument but the latter is being shunned and represented as being indicative of a xenophobic or even racist mind. I think this is grossly unfair.

The fact is that groups of people together develop unique cultures, due to the way they are formed they are of course comfortable, liked and people seek to protect them. That is not wrong, that is just natural. So when something like this comes in that will certainly have an effect on the local culture, character etc; i.e. it can’t be ignored, it’s not private to a particular group etc, people will either accept it or reject it. If the people don’t want to accept something like this you can’t force them by using legislation, all that does it breed contempt and resentment. These kinds of things should be allowed to develop naturally, i.e. by the will of the people; otherwise it is doomed to failure from the start.

We stop companies encroaching on certain parts of our rainforests and provide grants to African nations for the expressed purpose of protecting unique cultures. Why, when it comes to our own, do some feel so inclined to vilify anyone wishing to do the same?

You’re asking “who am I to stop a cultural revolution” but this revolution is coming from a minority against a majority that don’t seem to want it. Culture is developed by social groups, not by a minority group being backed by laws. This isn’t a cultural revolution; the spread of Chinese cuisine or rock and roll were cultural revolutions and they were so because they were widely accepted by the people not forced upon them. Church bells have passed this test which is why, from a cultural perspective they are ok but the call to prayer is not.

To say no to the call to prayer isn’t impinging anyone’s rights, they can still worship and they can still say what they like; they just can’t do it through a loudspeaker five times a day.

Everyone who opposes this, should crank up their stereos to the same radio station open up those windows and let it rip. Counter act if you don't like it. But ask why you're doing it, and be honest. Me, to be honest, I quite like the sound of moslem song/prayer. It doesn't offend me in the slightest. But I'm not sure I'd want it blasted from the rooftops in earshot. That's the kind of thing that makes me play gabba, really loudly.

oooor....I could dust off the acid techno mix of a/the? Moslem Prayer that I have on Havok

It's not happening here, so I guess I can live in my relative peace. Now if only them damned bells would stop for a minute I'd be a happy chappy.

reply to post by greeneyedleo


This is my issue right there! I just moved, thank god, but in that neighborhood one of those little churches had a loud speaker and EVERY Sunday afternoon for around 3 hours this preacher would get on his little stand and scream a "message" at the entire neighborhood! Talk about annoying on a Sunday afternoon. When I called the city to complain, they asked me if I was an atheist or a satanist since Christian preaching "bothered" me. Go figure!

Nope, keep the sound inside if it is any sort of preaching. I personally love the bells, they don't tell me who is god, they are just a pretty sound.

Originally posted by Mike_A
reply to post by Heatburger

 

Then how can you say church bells are an exception? From an aural perspective it may be, but not on the principle. Christians are doing as they please here, and I can say I don't want to listen and have them suddenly stop doing it. If they're annoying me nightly at 5:45 I shut my windows. Simple as that.

Well I gave my reasons in a previous post; to reiterate…

Personally I make an exception for church bells for three reasons; the first is that I am used to them. The second is that they are often not simply a religious call; in many places they serve to tell the time like the islamic call, wich is totally anachronistic in a time where most don't even have wristwatches anymore. The third, and imo most important is that I am used to them.

Having said that however if a sizable portion of the population object to the sound of church bells I agree that there wishes should be given priority. But generally that doesn’t happen for the reasons stated above.

Fixed it for you. No need to say thanks.