Islamic Prayer Ballot Referendum Described as 'Confusing'

Articles: Islamic Prayer Ballot Referendum Described as 'Confusing'

Posted by admin on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 - 01:52 AM

Residents of a Michigan community are deciding today [Tuesday] whether to reverse a city council decision to let area mosques broadcast Islamic calls to prayer over loudspeakers. Some opponents of the ordinance are concerned that the ballot may confuse some voters.
In late April, the Hamtramck, Michigan, city council voted unanimously to approve a controversial noise ordinance that would allow a Muslim prayer call five times a day -- something supporters say is the equivalent of church bells. Opponents contend allowing the Islamic call elevates that religion above others. One of those is Bob Golen, a born-again Christian who resides in Hamtramck. But he believes there are enough votes in the community to defeat the controversial ordinance, which he maintains was payback by the city council to the burgeoning Islamic community -- about one-third of the local population. Golen is also convinced the ballot issue was deliberately written in such a way to confuse people who do not read it carefully. "A 'yes' vote means you are against the call to prayer; a 'no' vote says you're for it," the Hamtramck resident explains. "A lot of people are confused. They're going to see 'call to prayer' [on the ballot], and they're going to say 'Gee, I don't want that, so I'm voting no.'" In addition, Golen says the issue itself is vague. "[The ordinance] doesn't spell out what is 'too loud,' what is 'loud enough,'" he says, "and they have no instrumentation in the city of Hamtramck to measure the decibel level." Golen and others had gathered more than 630 signatures on a petition to force today's ballot initiative.

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