Seperation
I was reading Dawn Eden's post this morning about a decision to ban all religious music from public school programs. . . and I feel compelled to add my 2 cents (against my better judgment).

I suppose most of my friends and readers would expect me to be outraged at a decision to remove religious music from school, but I'm not. In fact, it makes a bit of sense to me on one level. Frankly, I wouldn't want to sing Kwanzaa songs at a concert. Nor would I want to give praise to Allah. Actually, I WOULD NOT sing praises to Allah. It would be wrong. I am a Christian and I serve the one true God. If religious music is allowed in schools, schools will diversify and include all religions. After all, the culture tells us all religions are equal. Its the religion of relativism.

Now, I must admit that removing religious music poses some problems for choral directors. Most of the classic choral pieces are religious (Christian) . One cannot have a complete choral training in Western music without learning these pieces. I don't have an answer to that. Maybe there will be a market for community choral ensembles that sing classic choral pieces.

Honestly, I think this country has come to rely too much on public education. There are some wonderful merits to public education, the most of important of which is ensuring that every citizen has an opportunity to be educated and grow beyond his/her circumstances. But we expect public education to serve our every need. Public education is not necessary to grow religious faith. It is not necessary for sports. It is not necessary for teaching manners or sex or politics. My children are in a private Christian school. Even so, I do not expect the school to teach my children about God. Its my job. I will teach them manners. I will talk to them about sex and drugs and politics. School is for academics. Parents are for the rest.