Church bells strike false note with Muslims in Russia

Russia Today: http://www.russiatoday.com/features/news/35346
December 27, 2008, 12:35

Church bells strike false note with Muslims

The Muslim community in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region is opposing plans to include church bells in a proposed new regional anthem. Local authorities had earlier set a competition to compose an anthem for the region.

The work is still being composed and officials say the last thing they want to do is to hurt people's feelings.

The Muslim community wanted the regional governor to change some of the rules of the contest. Using the sound of church bells was mandatory and Muslim leaders thought this alienated other ethnic and religious groups.

"There should be no political or religious themes in the anthem. It should be something that uplifts people and brings them together. I think including religion goes against this." Said Gayaz Zakirov, spiritual leader of the regions Muslims.

The national anthem contains church bells, which are seen as a sign of Russian tradition as much as a sign of Orthodox woship.

"The tradition of bellringing is a very ancient tradition, dating from Old Testament times, which was adopted by the Orthodox Church, said Orthodox priest Igor Pchelintsev.

The authorities have now decided to scrap the competition and hire a professional composer instead. Hopefully, the end result will be something that all sides can agree on.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Russia
• Nizhny
• Novgorod
• Muslim

[gyreenedoc]

@Haytime4justice hear hear!!

church bells...... blah blah blah..... every christian within earshot has to put up with their screaming

calls to prayers like someone getting castrated at dawn, don't they?

[ArmyOfDusan]

@legalsomali

I dont see anything wrong with what Haytime said .

So shut the fuck your filthy muslim mouth befoore i rip your balls off.

Get is you dirty muslim cunt. Go back to the dung fields of middle east and marry your 10 year old cousin somali cunt.

[RomaZeal]

Russia is a christian nation, don't like it, you can move

[XxPxFxCxX]

@GRoYaLx do you want to suck it???

[GRoYaLx]

@XxPxFxCxX Fuck you, you fucking dumb dickead. IGNORANT. FUCK.

[Lemmetry1234]

Wake up! We must stop being so tolerant! We must take care of our christian cultures...think about an islamic world where your grandparents are killed because they refused converting to islam?? 0_0

[princessaisha100]

A suicide attack by Sunni Muslims killed hundreds of Shi'ite Muslims, mostly young Shi'ite mothers and their tiny little Muslim babies, at a crowded Kabul shrine on Tuesday, and forty three others died in a smaller blast in a key northern city, in the worst sectarianMuslim on Muslim violence Afghanistan has seen.

[ElemixZero]

@iancmcintyre I rather have Slavs around than Muslims.

[iancmcintyre]

Slavs and Muslims are both animals. Who fucking cares

[chrisganoglou]

ΟΗ SHIT WTF DUDE? WHAT IS WRONG WITH FUCKING MUSLIMS?

RUSSIA IS AN ORTHODOX COUNTRY EVEN IF THE GO TO VOTE FOR THE FUCKING BELLS THE MUSLIMS ARE GOING TO TAKE MY BALLS ....STOP FUCKING EVERYTHING YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKERS PRAY TO ALLAH AND LEAVE THE OTHERS ALONE!!!!

[AtomicAutopsy]

@amshean take your islam and shuv it up your ass !

[R3furbished]

Christ is the prophet of the CHRISTIAN GOD! do not bee fooled brothers, the islamic fascists will pay one day. LONG LIVE RUSSIA AND HER ORTHODOX ALLIES! URRRAAAHHHHURAAAAHHHHUUUURR!!!­!!!!AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!