Howell MI has had a reputation for bigotry
...being a sort of past epicenter for white supremacy in the state. Now there's a religious bigot in charge of the high school, dictating what a touring choir from Germany can sing on their premises. And apparently this is just the latest in a number of decisions flouting community values.
Steinberg said much of traditional choral music is religious in nature, and alternatives are limited.
That's just it, and the part that administrators don't get. If you are going to use a choral program to teach the best of Western art and civilization (and if you aren't, why are the taxpayers paying for it?), you can't get away from Christianity. Even now, the church is at the core of the American choral tradition (with all due respect to gay choirs, college choirs, and the few and brave professional choirs). I don't give a rip if kids exit the choir room telling sick blasphemous jokes about Jesus. But if you decide that certain ideas can't be presented because they might offend somebody, well, there went Western civilization.
Comments
Posted by: J
Posted on: September 26, 2006 11:28 AM
Having been part of a honors choral program in high school, I see no issue with singing Handel's Messiah, Hallelujah at a concert. We even sang "O Come O Come Emmanuel." Our school district was predominantly Jewish, but I never even thought it would be offensive.
Can we just appreciate the music and songs instead of being so politically correct?
Posted by: jeffrey smith
Posted on: September 27, 2006 12:31 AM
If this person wants to be totally consistent, shouldn't she completely ban the word "choir"? After all, we can't have portions of ecclesiastical architecture polluting the halls of academe.
Posted by: Jeffrey Quick
Posted on: September 27, 2006 01:19 PM
Per the OED, the choir of a church was named because that's where the choir (OFr quer (mod. choeur) f. L. chorus) sang. And the Latin comes from the Greek khoros. So the word has very deep pagan roots, which in theory shouldn't make any difference to the church/state issue, except that we all know that some religions are more equal than others.