Stella Says…Those noisy churches are not acting very Jesus-like

by Stella Ramsaroop

(Originally published in Guyana's Kaieteur News on 12 September 2007)

When the Ministry of Home Affairs has to check up on the volume coming from certain establishments so as to ensure the majority of citizens can live in peace, there is something seriously wrong.

Since when did it become vogue to be so rude? I have written on this subject before, but when it was reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs had to step in so this issue could be taken care of, it became evident very quickly that these noise offenders just do not care about others.

There were clubs and restaurants listed among the noise offenders in an article in Monday’s Kaieteur News. Honestly, if I had to get up for work at 6 am after listening to the pounding bass from a club’s speaker system until the wee hours of the morning, I do believe my patience would break.

To make matters worse, there are churches on the list of offenders too. So much for the Christian teaching of “Love your neighbour.” A few months ago, I received an email about such rude behaviour coming from a Hindu place of worship as well. Is it any wonder at all why people are turning from religion?

Normally, this noise situation would have taken care of itself. The residents surrounding these establishments would have brought the matter to the attention of these offenders and out of courtesy to possible patrons the establishment would have taken the necessary steps to curb the noise.

However, this rude and unseemly behaviour was not curtailed by the plea of the neighbours or even by demands of the local police. I just cannot begin to imagine the arrogance of these perpetrators to totally disregard the needs of others for selfish reasons.

Having spent so much of my life in the church, it is especially bothersome to me that there are religious organisations among those who just do not give a damn about their neighbours. If ever there was an indictment against those who claim to walk in the path of Jesus, this is it.

While it is vital for everyone to obey the laws of the land, the church believes it answers to a higher law. The Christian law requires a person to go the extra mile for even a stranger. The teachings of Jesus say that if a person wants to be great in God’s kingdom, he/she must be a servant of all.

Pardon me for being so blunt, but the actions of these rude churches do not come close to being an example of the Jesus. If anything, the people who live around these noisy churches are probably praying that some god – any god – will save them from the Christians.

Since these churches do not seem to be following the teachings of Jesus (for if they did, they would never treat their neighbours so badly), allow this heathen to preach a sermon for the edification of the brethren.

Proverbs 18:19 says. “An offended brother is more unyielding than a fortified city, and disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.” In other words, by offending your neighbours with your loud noise and by showing such disrespect for the sanctity of their home, you are pushing them away from the church and making any hopes of proselytizing them dissipate.

Your rude actions are pushing people away from your God when you are suppose to be a beacon of hope in this world. Even a schoolchild knows that your offending noise is wrong and sets a bad example and so your insolence at the needs of your neighbours speaks volumes about your religious claims.

When those heathen clubs behave in such a discourteous manner, it is expected to some extent from drunken people who lose control of their common sense. But when Christians behave thus with no explanation other than sheer disrespect – you have told the entire community that your religion is worthless.

These churches that have behaved so badly have much repenting to do.

Email: StellaSays[at]gmail.com