Some people on the liberal side of the aisle seem continually amazed when others take exception with some decisions made in our public schools. Well, I think lots of people find this decision silly. The Everett School District blocked a jazz ensemble from playing an instrumental version of Ave Maria during a commencement exercise. Say what?!
I can see both sides of the debate when it comes to student-initiated prayer, or references to God in a student speech at school-sponsored events such as commencement. I personally fall on the side of the rights of the student, but this is ridiculous. An instrumental version of a relatively well-known song is not allowed to be played?
What's next, schools will ban the performance of well-known masterpieces in our culture like Amazing Grace or Handel's Messiah simply because of their religious content? We can only listen to good music performed by students if it is strictly secular? Come on.
Here's the kicker. I showed this article to my wife, who graduated Everett High in '94. She said, "That's weird, we sang Ave Maria at a concert when I was in high school choir."
Oh.
Posted by Eric Earling at July 02, 2006 09:04 AM | Email ThisI met Carol a few times a number of years ago. She seemed nice, very career minded, probably more interested in her career than a consistent belief system.
Posted by: John McDonald on July 2, 2006 10:15 AMOh, wait - but there are those who want to, aren't there? So much for the arts in our public schools....
Posted by: Patrick on July 2, 2006 10:20 AMThis situation isn't even close to that line. No child is going to have their religious beliefs challenged by a song.
The Vegas high school commencement was closer to the line, but I still believe that it was wrong to keep that girl from saying what she wanted to say. If it was a teacher saying that, however, that absolutely would not have been acceptable. Students in public schools need to be able to deal with their peers varying beliefs.
On a personal note, I was the only Jew in my elementary school for two years, and I was given an opportunity once to explain what Hanukkah was to my classmates. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, but I did support the people who fought to remove a Roman Catholic prayer from the high school commencement ceremony. That's clearly a forced inclusion into a religious ritual.
Posted by: thehim on July 2, 2006 10:22 AMConversely, note how Sound Politics reprimands posters they disagree with if they go off topic or are a little harsh or don’t spout the R Party line of the day, but their own stooges they let be as vile, suicidal, and off topic as they want. Open discussion and expressions of one’s beliefs is never a freedom easily granted or to be taken for granted.
Do you prefer sleeping pills or exhaust fumes?
Posted by: alphabet soup on July 2, 2006 11:55 AMAs I always say...
Freedom of Speech only applies to liberals.
To be on the safe side that absolutely nothing remotely related to religion ever appears in a government forum, let's just get it done in one fell swoop.
Ban from government usage any words, phrases, or concepts that appear in any religious texts - that ought to get rid of any bad influences.....
Posted by: SouthernRoots on July 2, 2006 01:09 PMI learned this morning that 12 of the 13 original colonies actually dedicated tax dollars to support local churches! And that it wasn't til 1853 that many began to change their laws/constitutions to move away from that! Libs may not want you to know it, but the truth is our founding fathers and others of the time were very committed to their faiths and fully acknowledged that God played a role in making this amazing country what it is.
Posted by: Michele on July 2, 2006 02:08 PMNo. What is next is that Handel's Water Music will be banned because *Handel* was Christian.
Posted by: ConcordBridge on July 2, 2006 02:29 PMMore significantly, some of those state churches existed when the First Amendment was ratified, and the First Amendment not only allowed states to continue official churches, but it protected state churches from congressional interference. The state churches did fade out of their own accord within a few decades, but the First Amendment was never designed to establish the rigid line between church and state (as opposed to church and federal government) that liberals claim.
Posted by: supercat on July 2, 2006 09:14 PMThat's right, John...way to model tolerance!
Posted by: South County on July 3, 2006 03:52 AMSinging and Music were long forbidden in Islam especially the Arab sects. There is currently a fierce debate going on in the Islam as to the role of music and it seems as if the progressives are winning, at least in the Western countries. Many will try to deny that music was ever banned by Islam, but a quick search of the largest Islamic "Amazon.com" will show a very sparse Islamic music section.
I think Organization Man came the closest to the solution. Everytime a school district pulls one of these stunts an extreme focus should be put on their academic performance. Everett Schools have been a educational disaster for a long long time, banning the playing of Christian song is just the tip of the iceberg.
Posted by: John McDonald on July 3, 2006 08:53 AM"American Pie"--strong pro-Christian statements ("the three men I admire most, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost...").
"Morning has Broken"--appears in some modern Christian hymnals.
What about performances of shows such as "Les Miserables" (strong theme of Christian redemption, lyrics such as "To love another person is to touch the face of God").
Posted by: Ex-WA on July 3, 2006 09:40 AMWhen I was in high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I started an after-school bible study that took place on Tuesday afternoons in a classroom in the high school. I was a liberal then and I'm a liberal now.
So you can stop blaming liberals for these types of decisions. It has nothing to do with liberals. It has more to do with the people who run schools who are unable to make intelligent decisions.
Posted by: dianebre on July 3, 2006 10:48 AMActually, the ACLU is ideologically more libertarian than liberal, although they don't carry a banner for the free market aspects of modern Libertarianism. Dianebre is correct that very few liberals agree with what the Everett School District did. In fact, several left-leaning local blogs have criticized it today as well.
Posted by: thehim on July 3, 2006 03:29 PMWhen someone who is close to you idologically does something stupid, like banning Ave Maria. Your community should be the most vocal in condemning it or there will be a lot of guilt by assocation.
If you believe that Dr. Carol Whitehead is no liberal, then you should loudly and prolifically condemn her action and show up to protest her like you would other issues. Otherwise, the negative impression will stick on you. As it is far more common to find "liberals" making anti-Christian and anti-American comments and this will confirm in the minds of conservatives and religious voters that the Democrats are not in tune with their values.
The ACLU is liberal in the extreme, anything said differently is laughable.
Posted by: John McDonald on July 3, 2006 03:50 PMHow right you are. Freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion.
Thanks.
John McDonald,
Good points.
Posted by: Amused by liberals on July 3, 2006 08:27 PMThe ACLU is for big government? Are you high? Do you even understand what the purpose of the organization is? I believe in both a right to bear arms, and a right to an abortion. But to not recognize that a right to bear arms could potentially have an adverse effect on others is silly (Al Qaeda leaders have specifically told their recruits how to take advantage of America's loose gun laws). Yet the ACLU has never (and would never) be aligned with any group who has an interest in overturning the 2nd amendment. They are concerned about issues where individual's Constitutional rights are violated. That includes a wide variety of things, from illegal searches by overaggressive federal agents to issues of religious freedom to privacy concerns. Yeah, it really sounds like they're for big government!!
Posted by: thehim on July 4, 2006 09:06 AMi too agree with Org Man & focus the 'progressive' schools on their actual performance--that shuts them up; by the way, test against national standards, not some WA-centric test that's not convertible to nationwide results;
Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on July 5, 2006 12:01 PM