There is no other day to talk about noise pollution and other societal menace caused by religious centres other than today being Sunday.
I saw a video on Twitter of a lady complaining bitterly of a church that is just a few feet away from her house that embarked on a week-long vigil; the church was blasting prayers through their speakers that the lady was unable to sleep or do other things at night for the week-long that the church engaged in the vigil. This is what facilitated this write-up.
As a disclaimer, I am a proud Christian and I believe in God but we need to state the fact that you cannot because of your religion or prayers inconvenience others. The same goes for my other brethren that are of the Islamic religion; you cannot because of your Friday Jumat prayers block express ways or cause traffic jams and inconvenience others just because you want to pray. This is not the way to go.
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The Bible itself said in the book of 1 Corinthians 14:40; “ That everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way” (New International Version).
Churches and mosques are meant to be sited away from residential areas but some of these religious centres set up their places of worship without getting proper permits but when the government decides to go after them or when individuals that they are inconveniencing file a petition against them they will be shouting that they are being persecuted. That is no persecution, you are inconveniencing people.
In the same way, some churches engage in vigils and deprive people living in that area of sleep, some mosques are also cited in residential areas and when they blast their prayer calls in the wee hours of the morning they deprive people living in that neighborhood of their peaceful sleep.
Let everything be done in moderation for our God or whichever God you call unto is not an author of confusion.
You do not have to blast your prayers from loudspeakers before God can hear your prayers. Our God is not deaf, he hears the silent prayers, you do not have to give people sleepless nights or inconvenience others before you will worship your God the same way you do not have to block roads and create heavy traffic before you can conduct your Jumat prayers. If the mosque is not for you then expand the mosque.
I know that religion is a very sensitive topic that most people shy away from engaging in but we really need to start having these conversations, you can explore your religion and worship your God without inconveniencing others. If people have to suffer before you can observe your religious activities then you should question the goodness or the kindness of the kind of God you worship.
The government should also step up to shut down religious centres that do not comply with regulations as to noise control. Even religious books admonish that everyone, even religious organizations should be in accordance and in obedience to the laid down rules and regulations of the government.