Note: this article can be debatable and controversial, so if you have some points related to this article, I encourage you to share your thoughts and views under the comment section. The problem that I'm going to address in this article is mainly targeted at some religious extremists in my country and the controversy of loudspeakers at religious places.

Have you ever got irritated by the noise to the point that you wanna scream out loud to drown out all the noise surrounding you? There is no denying that noise can be inevitably heard if you live in urban areas and cities. It becomes a new normal situation where our brains started adapting to the noise because of the number of times that we receive it within a single day.

I'm currently going through that kind of situation and I must say, it's excruciatingly painful. Loudspeakers are used for a variety of reasons; election season, marketing, public speaking, protests, religious events, and so on. In this article, I will mainly focus on the use of loudspeakers at religious places of worship. Every time I hear that ear-splitting sound blared out of the loudspeaker, it makes me lose my sanity. There are a lot of things that I don't see eye to eye with some people in my religion either. In the name of good deeds and merits, the way they blast the loudspeakers to chant the mantra in the streets and neighborhoods is more than annoyance as opposed to good deeds. As if that weren't enough, they play popular music over loudspeakers for religious purposes which in fact, are nowhere close to the religion itself. First, the use of extreme loudspeakers causes public nuisance without a doubt. Second, regulations for loudspeakers are a bit of a gray area where the legal punishments for violations against citizens are not clear and tangible in my country. For that reason, they give rise to the widespread and unlawful use of loudspeakers in public areas.

I'm a Buddhist but more like in name only. But, that doesn't mean I'm an atheist. We worship the statue of Buddha religiously but have no purpose for it. We recite the religious verses in a hope that good fortune will turn up but have no understanding for them. For what it's worth, sometimes, I'm skeptical about my own religion and the way people are doing irregular activities regarding religion. In parentheses, the majority of people including tourists and young adults often get the wrong impression of the religion because of the prejudices that a lot of people hold on to. Those people are the same as hypocrites who are always trying to shield themselves and win over other people by making religion an excuse. Nothing is good until it exceeds the limitations. Getting back to the main topic, the recitation sessions during religious occasions represent one of the most gracious events in my country. When they preach and chant at a reasonable volume, they sound pleasant to the ears. On contrary, when loudspeakers are used at a higher volume, it turns out to be a form of propaganda that persuades people to hear and spread it as far as it can get. The way I see it, religion should be a personal belief that bonds the connection with God and other spiritual forces that underlie the universe. It's simply a personal faith. It's not something that one can exert an influence on somebody for the sake of the quality of one religion.

The upshot is that there should be a strict ban on loudspeakers at religious places of worship with the aim to establish a better environment. The loudspeakers at extreme volume cause disturbance to surrounding residents especially the elderly, sick people, students, and infants. Not only that, one of the major factors that contribute to noise pollution comes from loudspeakers. Despite the lack of rules or laws for the use of noisy loudspeakers, we all can make demands to restrict it. If our voice is loud enough to speak up and make changes, annoying loudspeakers will no longer be needed.

On a side note, this article will be followed by noise pollution which is one of the environmental issues that I will discuss briefly in the next article. https://journaly.com/post/19684

Thanks for reading til the end.