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There's a Controversy Brewing About How Many Times Church Bells Should Ring to Honor Newtown Victims -- Weigh In Here
Distraught parents leave the fire station after hearing news of their loved ones from officials December 14, 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut. A young gunman slaughtered 20 small children and six teachers on Friday after walking into a school in an idyllic Connecticut town wielding at least two sophisticated firearms. The toll was the second deadliest of the recurrent school shootings in the United States. Connecticut State Police spokesman Lieutenant Paul Vance said 18 children were shot dead inside Sandy Hook Elementary School and that two more died of their wounds in hospital. Six adults at the school were killed, Vance said, before the killer was shot -- either by his own hand or police. US media said the school principal was among those killed. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

There's a Controversy Brewing About How Many Times Church Bells Should Ring to Honor Newtown Victims -- Weigh In Here

26, 27, or 28?

To mark the one week anniversary of the mass murders at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, Connecticut's Governor Dannel Malloy has called for a moment of silence and for church bells (as well as bells everywhere in the region) to ring in honor of those who died.

It's fairly safe to assume that churches in Connecticut and thousands of others across the country, will be filled with worshippers honoring the dead as the bells are pealing.  However, the question has been asked; "How many times should the bells ring?"

  • Some say the bells should only ring 26 times, as the Governor has suggested, for the 26 victims who died after being shot at the Newtown, CT school.

  • Others have said that Nancy Lanza (the shooter's mother) is also victim and therefore, 27 should be the number.

  • And there is also a school of thought that says shooter, Adam Lanza should also be counted - bringing the total number of times the bells should ring to 28.

New York Magazine reports that Rev. Jody Ray of the Stockbridge First United Methodist Church in Georgia believes the bells should ring 28 times:

“We probably should have included the young man who committed the crime ... At the end of the day, people are dead and in response to tragedy, we want to remember all those who were involved … We’re not going to stand in judgment.”

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Mike Opelka

Mike Opelka

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