Minneapolis OKs dawn Muslim prayer call, 1st for big US city

[Abolishinist]

28. Fortunately, at least for those of us concerned with the separation of church and state,

it's also an issue for the Freedom From Religion Foundation.

"Multiple concerned residents have informed the state/church watchdog that the city of Minneapolis has altered its noise violation statute to allow religious organizations, including churches and mosques, to broadcast bells, chimes and amplified messages at all hours of the day. While the statute ostensibly allows any religious group to disturb their community with noises that would be impermissible if not related to religious purposes, it’s clear this change was made to specifically allow mosques to broadcast an amplified call to prayer as early as 3:30 a.m. and as late as 11 p.m. The change was pushed for by local mosques and Muslims and, tellingly, the ordinance was signed into law inside Dar Al-Hijrah Mosque.

Under the city’s statutory revision, religious messages may be broadcast at any time of day, even the middle of the night, solely because they are religious in nature. Furthermore, this revision was done for the purpose of privileging the call to prayer, which provides a benefit uniquely to the Muslim community. This is not neutrality but is instead an imposition of one religious view and message onto all community members, FFRF contends.

It is also worth pointing out that, rather than uniting Minneapolis’ diverse community, allowing religious organizations to disturb residents in the middle of the night with amplified calls to prayer alienates the nonreligious. Muslims make up just 1 percent of Minneapolis' Hennepin County residents while 30 percent of Hennepin County residents are religiously unaffiliated. It should be noted, too, that in our modern age of cellphones, alarm clocks, and all manner of digital devices, broadcasting a loud, amplified message to an entire community in order to facilitate the religious practices of a select group of members of that community is not only unnecessary, but unreasonable.

In order to respect the constitutional rights of the Minneapolis residents who will be negatively affected by amplified calls to prayer, FFRF asks that the city rescind the changes to Minneapolis’ noise ordinance and treat religion neutrally — with neither hostility nor favoritism."

https://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/42202-rescind-religiously-slanted-noise-ordinance-ffrf-insists-to-minneapolis

"Ron Reagan, lifelong atheist, not afraid of burning in hell"