American Atheists Inc. complained

[voivod]

Grant binds sound system, Jewett City church
By JULIE A. VARUGHESE
Norwich Bulletin

JEWETT CITY -- The borough would consider selling a sound system that plays secular and religious songs to an outsider, but it can't, the borough warden said.

The system was bought a decade ago with $6,000 in federal grant money to be used as an emergency-alert system, Borough Warden Cynthia Kata said.

By divesting ownership, the borough is losing a valuable resource for emergency management, Kata said.

The sound system came under attack after American Atheists Inc. complained to Griswold First Selectman Anne Hatfield playing religious songs from a sound system owned by the borough and housed in Jewett City Baptist Church violates the principle of separation of church and state.

News of the complaint and of the possibility the music may be silenced has convulsed the borough and surrounding area.

Hatfield estimated 75 percent of the innumerable calls she has received at Town Hall have been from people who don't want the music to stop.

She said people from as far away as Naugatuck have called to complain.

Kata said the system was placed in the church because it was most central and tallest location.

She said an announcement made from the system can be heard a mile away when the volume is turned up all the way.

Philip Anthony, co-owner of Anthony's Ace Hardware on Main Street, said he planned to investigate Kata's statement.

"This is news to me," he said. "My understanding was the Jewett City Business Association -- now defunct -- purchased the unit and thought it was an upswing for the borough, giving it vintage music and giving it a small-town feel."

Resident Mary Knust said using the sound system for emergency announcements is outdated.

She said more effective way is to use the reverse-911 system that calls every home.

Kata said a few years after buying the system, the late Charles Joseph, a borough hairdresser, suggested the borough play music, she said.

Kata said a town employee changes the CD for the music once a season and they have no choice of what plays.

The Rev. David Honeychurch said he invited Anthony to attend a Dec. 27 meeting of the church's board of deacons to discuss a proposal by business owners to buy the system.

He said he has not gotten approval from the deacons to put Anthony on the agenda.

Honeychurch said the only power the church has over the system is turning it off, which it does on Sundays, so it will not interfere with services.

He also said he thought the businessowners owned the system.

Dennis Paul Himes, director of the Connecticut chapter of the atheists group, said because the system is housed in the church, it serves the church, and that violates the separation of church and state.

[voivod]

Jewett City officials will not stop holiday music

The Jewett City Board of Warden and Burgesses took no action on a request by an atheist group to halt the playing of religious holiday music from the bell tower of the Jewett City Baptist Church today.

“The music will not stop until a cease and desist order is issued,” Warden Cynthia Kata said following a public hearing on the American Atheist Inc.’s request to end the seasonal tradition in the borough.

The board held a public forum this morning, drawing a standing-room only crowd to Town Hall where residents said they did not wish to see the practice stopped, and some saying they would support the borough spending money on litigation if necessary to continue the practice.

The board, however, could not take no official action because it lacked a quorum.

Kata discovered Friday the emergency-alert system purchased a decade ago through town and federal grant money is not the same sound system being used to play secular and religious holiday songs out of the Jewett City Baptist Church.
Kata said the emergency-alert system bought a decade ago is housed at the town fire department.

Now Kata believes the controversial sound system at the church likely was bought by a private town group and has no ties to the municipality. But the borough warden said she hasn’t found any hard evidence yet about who paid for it.

The sound system came under attack last week when American Atheists Inc. complained to the town playing religious songs from a sound system owned by the borough and housed in Jewett City Baptist Church violates the principle of separation of church and state.

“We’re thinking and we’re researching that many years ago that Charles Joseph, president of the Jewett City Businessmen’s Association at the time, had gone around taking donations to buy this thing,” Kata said.

She said the money may have been added to a Main Street USA grant the group received for downtown improvements. The group is now the Griswold Businessmen’s Association.

Kata hopes to have a final answer on ownership of the church’s sound system by Monday morning when she and the Jewett City burgesses will meet to discuss a letter received from the
atheist group.

The borough warden spent Friday going through copies of the borough meeting minutes from 10 years ago to find any discussion or votes taken on the purchase of the church’s sound system. Kata could find no mention of it and said First Selectman Anne Hatfield’s secretary hadn’t reported finding anything in her review of the town’s meeting minutes.

“There’s nothing I can find that says the borough bought it,” Kata said. “But all I can really tell you at this point is we’re looking into it.”

Phillip Anthony, co-owner of Anthony’s Ace Hardware on Main Street, said he remembers donating $50 to a fund-raiser years ago when Joseph, a former borough hairdresser, approached him.

“I liked the idea. It adds a village feel to our borough,” he said. “But the important thing is it was instigated and purchased by that organization. ... Not a dime of the borough’s grant money was utilized for the purchase of the church bell system.”



http://norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs...EWS01/61211023

[Axxman300]

Lets call them what they are:

Fundamentalst Athiest Extremists.

They are equally evil as their religious fundamentalist extremist counterparts.

[Wruff_ajax]

Good they keep playing the music. PLAY THAT FUNKY CHRISTMAS MUSIC!


Fundamentalst Athiest Extremists is correct. Fkn freak show.


You hear about the Rabi that complained about the christmas tree in the airport this weekend? Airport officials then quickly removed the christmas tree.
GROW SOME BALLS PEOPLE. There's far more at stake than just the tree.

[LoveWalkinIn]

How is it extremism when you don't want to hear music coming from a church at a 1 mile distance? Stupid? Definitely. But not extreme.

[Axxman300]

How is it extremism when you don't want to hear music coming from a church at a 1 mile distance? Stupid? Definitely. But not extreme.

Then you address the problem that way. You just say the noise bothers you and then work with them so that maybe they play it at certian times of the day. There's no need to drag the Constitution into every single battle.

If this person was smart, and that's not the case, he could have asked for the church to fund a 30 day vacation in a Muslem country or somewhere they don't celebrate Christmas. It's cheaper than a lawsuit and everybody's happy.