"God Bless America" in a public school

[Xenolith]

The principal at the elementary school where my wife works blasts God Bless America over the intercom every morning. Students are expected to stand, and they can sing along if they want to.

It seems to me that God Bless America is, in essence, a prayer, since it is invoking God to do something, and compelling students to listen to it is subjecting them to a religious viewpoint. This violates the prohibition against compulsory religion in public schools.

Am I right on this, or off base?

[immoderate]

1. "God Bless America" is a song -- written by an atheist Jew...

It's probably inappropriate for "blasting" in an elementary school, unless students can dance to it. As an atheist, myself, I give a pass to religious music and art, as somewhat inspired and devotional, but capable of being ignored.

--imm

[Smarmie Doofus]

7. Students "are expected to stand..."

>>>Students are expected to stand, and they can sing along if they want to. >>>>

= compulsion.

[duffyduff]

13. The Kate Smith version is the only one I can tolerate. n/t

[immoderate]

16. Yeah, I have no problem ignoring or shifting from any version of that song.

It's not got the substance or integrity of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, or America the Beautiful, IMHO. Or the malefaction of Yankee Doodle!

--imm

[tblue]

2. I never liked that song.

Really it annoys me. You'd have to pay me to listen to it every day.

You might have a case there. If it was spoken instead of sung, it would clearly be a prayer, right?

Are you going to do something about it or just posing a question? I imagine it would be controversial to try to change this little ritual. Do you know if there are students or parents who object to it?

[Xenolith]

6. She hasn't decided if or what to do.

No parents or students have complained. But this, along with instructions to all students to "place your hands over your hearts and recite the Pledge of Allegiance", when, again, it is illegal to compel people to recite the Pledge, rubs her the wrong way.

[LWolf]

15. I would suggest

that if she wants to take action, she gets someone else to do it for her, if she values her job. Is it just at her school, or at every school in the district? Is it a school site/admin decision, or a school board policy?

Does it reflect the culture of the community? The make-up of the school board would probably determine their point of view and action, unless you want to bring a lawyer in. A conservative christian community will generally elect a conservative christian school board. Church and state violations will be allowed until a court says differently.

On the other hand, a more moderate school board might put a stop to it.

As for the pledge, I've never known a public school that DIDN'T have to endure the pledge every morning. In my experience, it's not "place your hands over your hearts and recite the Pledge of Allegiance," it's "if you are not going to recite, stand quietly while everyone else does.

Which is what I do every morning, and I'm the teacher.

[duffyduff]

14. I am not sure composer Irving Berlin was that big a fan, either. n/t

[Tien1985]

3. Yeah it's inappropriate

But it'd be way more hassle than it's worth to end it and many people would not thank you for it.

[Koios]

4. No biggie ...

... my kids were exposed to that nonsense in school, too. But they learned to be rational-thinkers at home.

[elleng]

5. Off base, but I appreciate your wife's sentiment.

Irving Berlin wrote the song in 1918 while serving the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York, but decided that it did not fit in a revue called Yip Yip Yaphank, so he set it aside. The lyrics at that time included the line "Make her victorious on land and foam, God bless America..."[3] as well as "Stand beside her and guide her to the right with the light from above." . . .

In 1938, with the rise of Adolf Hitler, Berlin, who was Jewish and a first-generation European immigrant, felt it was time to revive it as a "peace song," and it was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938, sung by Kate Smith on her radio show.[6] Berlin had made some minor changes; by this time, "to the right" might have been considered a call to the political right, so he substituted "through the night" instead. He also provided an introduction that is now rarely heard but which Smith always used: "While the storm clouds gather far across the sea / Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free / Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, / As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer." (In her first broadcast of the song, Kate Smith sang "that we're far from there" rather than "for a land so fair".)[citation needed]

In 1943, Smith's rendition was featured in the patriotic musical This is the Army along with other Berlin songs. The manuscripts in the Library of Congress reveal the evolution of the song from victory to peace. Berlin gave the royalties of the song to the God Bless America Fund for redistribution to the Boy Scouts of America and the Girl Scouts of the USA. Smith performed the song on her two NBC television series in the 1950s and in her short-lived The Kate Smith Show on CBS, which aired on CBS from January 25 to July 18, 1960.[7] "God Bless America" also spawned another of Irving Berlin's tunes, "Heaven Watch The Philippines," during the end of World War II after he heard the Filipinos sing a slightly revised version of the song replacing "America" with "The Philippines."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Bless_America

[unblock]

10. the problem isn't the song itself, the problem is its daily use in a public school.

[Smarmie Doofus]

8. On base. It's a prayer put to music. Period. n/t

[unblock]

9. other comments about it being "just a song" or "written by an atheist jew" are beside the point.

if it's being broadcast to a captive student audience on a daily basis, then it is being used for religious and nationalistic indoctrination.

this is completely different from broadcasting it, say, at the start of a sporting event.

i think it is completely inappropriate.


having said that, it is one of many things that our establishment views as "minor" infractions causing little damage to our first amendment rights, such as mentions of god on our money or at the start of sessions of congress.

of course, the ones deciding that these are "minor" infractions are usually themselves believers, and in any event certainly fail to provide a compelling argument as to why mentioning god is so important as to outweigh even the "minor" harm to religious freedom.


i mean, they could start the day without a song, or with any of a number of "good morning" type songs that don't mention god.

[femmocrat]

11. You are right. It is inappropriate.

Your wife should not be the one to speak up though because of possible retaliation. It has to come from a parent or it will get no attention. A group of parents would be even better.

Is this in the south?

[TBF]

17. I agree - and good luck finding parents to complain.

If you are here in TX they are all saying the pledge too. It is totally inappropriate, and we see that sort of thing all the time here in the suburban schools (and I am near Houston - I can only imagine how bad it is in the small towns).

She is going to have to decide if she truly wants to fight this battle - because they are not going to just stop because one employee complains.

[IggleDoer]

12. The song always held a special place in my heart.

But then, I'm a Flyers fan.