Oresta

What RichardMorey said.

And...
My advice to any concerned parent would be to ask, "Is it good music?" There is some glorious sectarian stuff and then there's "The Little Drummer Boy". And beware what would happen if all you got was secular Christmas songs: "Frosty the Snowman", "Here Comes Santa Claus", and the ever-popular "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus".

Rusting Car Bumper

This is some usage of "nice" that I am previously unaware of.

DC

butswana

Thanks for the replies.
I'm kind of at a loss for what to do. I was thinking about calling the principal.
She didn't go along with it(the songs)at all. She refused to sing. She didn't consult me first. A few other kids followed suit, but they were trying to get out of singing and dancing.
My daughter loves to sing, but the content of the songs is offensive to her. I wonder if the teacher gets moist when she has 50 kids screaching "hallelujah".
When I was her age I was in choir. We didn't do any religious stuff except for xmas. Which I don't have a problem with.
I don't want her grades to suffer, which they will if she isn't participating, so I need to do something soon.

Oxidizing Material

Well, they are. I suggest you listen to them, they're very heavy, somewhat dark and quite catchy.

"Here comes the chruch of madness, bearing gifts of death and torture..."

ChrisJGQ

...Hitchhiker's guide?

GaryP

I think you should try to reason with the principal, but I don't know how successful you will be.

I complained about hymns at my son's graduation ceremonies and they stopped them. I think the school's attorney's opinion was that since prayer was found illegal at commencement, hymns would probably be found likewise.

But when I read the local HS choir was doing the Hallelia chorus this past Christmas, I asked an attorney at Americans United. She said that there were no court rulings, at least in the district Ohio is in, that would prevent them from doing it.

And this was true even though it was performed at a church!

And on the church's website, it was referred to as a Worship Service.

So, good luck. And it is a good idea to try to get responses on paper, but my experience has been that the school officials will ignore you. It seems that whenever there is a conflict, schools will align themselves with the majority unless forced to do otherwise.

I hardly ever got a response till they got a letter from Americans United.

Arrowman

In brief, I agree with RichardMorey. In full....

Well, this morning I drove to work with U2's Rattle and Hum blaring out from the CD, singing along to that great choral version of I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. It doesn't bother me that that activity necessitates singing words like "I believe / In the Kingdom Come" - it's just a great song.

butswana: I don't know about "war" but you should express your concern to the school. It's not as though just one Christian song was selected - according to you, the entire program is Christian music. And that smells fishy in terms of the teacher's motivation.

It's interesting (and important) that your daughter raised the issue, not you. You can't be accused of "using your innocent daughter to advance your evil atheist conspiracy".

At the same time, consider RichardMorey's post. Music should not be "deselected" from a choral program purely because of its religious nature. And perhaps your daughter can learn something from this experience (or the way in which you choose to handle it) also - about how being an atheist doesn't mean you have to react in vampiric manner to every mention of a cross. Or whatever. I'm expressing that rather clumsily, I hope you get my point.

So, on balance - I think you should write to the principal and express your concern. Be careful to be cold, balanced and reasonable. As to whether your daughter's grades might suffer or how far she is willing to take her refusal to participate - I guess you'll need to wait and see but I'd be inclined to err on the side of caution there. She doesn't need to learn a lesson in "not standing up for your rights" but on the other hand she doesn't need to learn a lesson in "cutting off your nose to spite your face" either.

More personal note: My own daughter, also in Year 7, has expressed disappointment in her choral program for this year - not because of religious content (which is zero) but because of the bland nature of the songs. I checked out the book and I didn't recognise a single song - no classics, nothing modern, just page after page of bland primary school choir pap.

I told her she should ask the teacher to do Stairway to Heaven. She rolled her eyes.

Arrowman

Here you go, butswana - try this on for size:

(Whoops; correction; I keep typing "bustwana". Freud has a lot to answer for )

Dear Principal Crossthumper

I am writing to protest the content of the 7th Grade choir program for the coming school year.

My daughter, Butswinny, is a member of the choir and she has expressed to me her concern that the entire program (3 songs) for the year comprises Christian / Gospel music. Butswinny has told the teacher, Ms Biblehen, that as a non-Christian she is uncomfortable with this program and she is currently refusing to participate in the program.

I am sure you are aware of the First Amendment prohibition on State-endorsed religious activity, and that this extends in particular to school programs. As important as any legal argument, however, is the simple principle that whole-of-school programs such as the choir should be inclusive, and not exclude students (or require them to exclude themselves) because of the overtly religious nature of the program. In particular, my daughter <needs to participate in choir to get good grades or whatever the situation it> and she is in effect being asked to participate in a religious activity which makes her feel uncomfortable in order to meet that requirement. Her alternative, declining to participate for personal / religious reasons, will result in <whatever the consequences may be>.

I wish to stress two key points here:

1. I am not opposed to the inclusion of some religious music in the choral program. I recognise that much religious music has aesthetic and artistic value beyond its religious content. However it is in my opinion unacceptably extreme for the entire choral program to comprise religious music. I think it is reasonable to suspect that the program has been selected more for its religious content than its musical value.

2. I am not the initiator of this concern, and I am not using my daughter to advance my personal beliefs or opinions. I was unaware of this issue until my daughter raised it with me. It was she who expressed her concern to me, and it was she who expressed that concern (and her refusal to paticipate) to Ms Biblehen before I was even aware of this issue. I am genuinely and in every sense supporting my daughter's wishes, and not manipulating them.

I have explained to my daughter that she should be prepared to judge choral music on its artistic and aesthetic merits, and not its religious content - and I have explained to her that being a non-Christian does not have to entail intolerance for any religious content in cultural activities. At the same time, I support her view that making the entire 7th Grade choral program an essentially religious exercise is both unnecessary and unacceptable.

I trust you will view this matter with some seriousness, as it impacts no only on my daughter but other children at the school. I ask you to discuss this matter with Ms Biblehen with a view to modifying the choral program to a more inclusive, and less exclusively Christian, program.


Yours sincerely
Butswana

Mecha_Dude

Thanks St. Pete, I will give them a little credit, though. They a least TRIED to be inclusive by having a couple Jewish songs...
Despite the fact that only 2 jews attend the school, my buddy Aaron and his sister.

Rusting Car Bumper

Sounds as if they are trying to bring themselves up by tearing others down.

DC