As if the decision to allow a mosque in the southern Swedish town of V"axj"o to feature a call to prayer wasn't controversial enough, it has now emerged that a Catholic church located just 1.5 kilometres from the mosque was denied a request to ring church bells.
It was announced earlier this week that the mosque in V"axj"o will be allowed to feature a call to prayer on Fridays, provided the calls do not exceed 110 decibels, as heard from outside, or 45 decibels as heard from inside.
The mosque had become a flashpoint of national controversy, with the leader of the Christian Democrats instructing local politicians to vote against the call to prayer and the head of one of Sweden's leading Jewish organizations supporting the mosque on the grounds that not allowing the call to prayer would damage integration.
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