Student quits high school choir over Islamic song

[Lamnidae]

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/02/15...est=latestnews

early reporting from fox - you have been forewarned.... but hey, it's not like you'd probably see this on the other MSM outlets.

My big thing is the double standard when it comes to religion in the schools/classroom, such as a moment for silent prayer/meditation at football games (which has been argued against by athiests). Either ban EVERYTHING or leave it alone.
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A Colorado high school student quit the school choir after an Islamic song containing the lyric "there is no other truth except Allah" made it into the repertoire.

James Harper, a senior at Grand Junction High School in Grand Junction, put his objection to singing "Zikr," a song written by Indian composer A.R. Rahman, in an email to Mesa County School District 51 officials. When the school stood by choir director Marcia Wieland's selection, Harper quit.



"I don’t want to come across as a bigot or a racist, but I really don’t feel it is appropriate for students in a public high school to be singing an Islamic worship song,” Harper told KREX-TV. "This is worshipping another God, and even worshipping another prophet ... I think there would be a lot of outrage if we made a Muslim choir say Jesus Christ is the only truth."

But district spokesman Jeff Kirtland defended the decision to include the song.

"Choral music is often devoted to religious themes. ... This is not a case where the school is endorsing or promoting any particular religion or other non-educational agenda. The song was chosen because its rhythms and other qualities would provide an opportunity to exhibit the musical talent and skills of the group in competition, not because of its religious message or lyrics," Kirtland told FoxNews.com in an email while noting that the choir "is a voluntary, after-school activity."

"Students are not required to participate, and receive no academic credit for doing so," he said.

At an upcoming concert, the choir is scheduled to sing an Irish folk song and an Christian song titled "Prayer of the Children," in addition to the song by Rahman.

"The teacher consulted with students and asked each of them to review an online performance of the selection with their parents before making the decision to perform the piece," Kirtland said, and members who object to the religious content of musical selections aren't required to sing them.

Rahman, who has sold hundreds of millions of records and is well-known in his homeland, has said the song is not intended for a worship ceremony. He told FoxNews.com in a written statement that the song, composed for the move "Bose, the Forgotten Hero," is about "self-healing and spirituality."

"It is unfortunate that the student in Colorado misinterpreted the intention of the song," Rahman said. "I have long celebrated the commonalities of humanity and try to share and receive things in this way. While I respect his decision for opting out, this incident is an example of why we need further cultural education through music.”

The song is written in Urdu, but one verse translates to "There is no truth except Allah" and "Allah is the only eternal and immortal." Although the choir sang the original version, Wieland distributed translated lyrics.

Grand Junction High School Principal Jon Bilbo referred questions to Kirtland.

FoxNews.com's Joshua Rhett Miller contributed to this story.

[pauldun170]

On the itouch and getting ready for dinner/kids to bed/off to gym. Will try to dig and defoxify later tonight

[EpyonXero]

Allah means God.

[fatbuckRTO]

Originally Posted by EpyonXero

Allah means God.

It means the Muslim god. You don't hear "Elohim" and think maybe someone is talking about Buddhism.

Sounds like the choir teacher did everything she could to allow for religious sensibilities, though. If kids were allowed to opt out of any of the religious songs, as the article states, I don't see the problem.

I also don't see the problem if James Harper wants to quit choir.

Big non-story, as far as I can tell.

[pauldun170]

The kid can go join the table of the kid that quit over Ave Maria.

[jtemple]

Originally Posted by pauldun170

The kid can go join the table of the kid that quit over Ave Maria.

And all the kids that won't say the Pledge of Allegiance because of the "One nation, under God" line.

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by jtemple

And all the kids that won't say the Pledge of Allegiance because of the "One nation, under God" line.

and all the kids whose parents complain that the Physics teacher doesn't cover Moses or how the Biology teacher teaches that all life began with a gigantic maglite.

Of the millions of school kids in the United States...I really don't see the 1-10 a year whose parents hold a press conference to protest being an issue or a big deal.

Sometimes lawyers get involved and they run it through the courts but the cases that matter usually have more substance than the whiney attention whore cases such as this one.

[Trip]

Originally Posted by jtemple

And all the kids that won't say the Pledge of Allegiance because of the "One nation, under God" line.

You mean the kids that are saying it correctly instead of the kids who are scared of dirty Commies?

[Homeslice]

Like the school said, the choir sings other religious songs, so what is wrong with adding a Muslim one?

Americans need to quit complaining about the whole "there is no other truth but Allah" like as if other religions don't also think theirs is the only true religion. They all do.

[pauldun170]

Originally Posted by Trip

You mean the kids that are saying it correctly instead of the kids who are scared of dirty Commies?

Knight of Columbus halls may be closing up shop all over the country, but all their damn god plaques and statues will stick around giving the religious folks something to ignore and atheists something to complain about.