Decision follows complaint from anti-religion group. (I highly recommend checking out the comments section at the link.)
Is nothing sacred?
Choirs in Portland Public Schools have been told they can no longer participate in the Festival of Lights concert series at The Grotto because of its Catholic affiliation and the fact that the venue charges visitors a parking fee that supports its religious mission. That, and the additional wrinkle that last year the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation complained, says Jon Isaacs, a spokesman for PPS.
The Grotto is a Catholic shrine and botanical garden on 62 acres in the Madison South neighborhood of Northeast Portland that hosts choral performances around the holidays each year. PPS schools—including Jackson and Lane middle schools and Wilson and Cleveland high schools—are already scheduled to appear at the 2015 festival. So are several other local public schools, including ones from the Hillsboro, West Linn, Parkrose and David Douglas school districts.
But PPS will no longer participate, according to a Sept. 9 email from the central office to school administrators.
“Even if PPS singing groups perform songs from a variety of religious traditions, the strongly religious setting during the Festival of Lights could create a perception that the school is endorsing and supporting a particular religious tradition,” PPS’s general counsel, Jollee Patterson, wrote in the email.
Isaacs, the PPS spokesman, says the foundation’s complaint came in December 2014—too late for the school district to make a decision about last year’s choral performances at the Grotto.
Jill and Eric MacCartney, whose son sings with Cleveland’s choir, say the decision makes no sense, even to their atheist friends.
“This is a performance opportunity,” says Eric MacCartney. “It’s a tradition. It’s not a Catholic tradition. It’s a Portland tradition.”
Time for some civil disobedience. C’mon, people! Stand up.
So Freedom From Religion didn’t even have to threaten to sue and PPS folded. They just had to hint at their “concern.”
Will no one stand up to these radical religion hating bigots?
Typical libs: If a liberal doesn’t like it they don’t want anyone to be able to use it. Conservatives don’t like it, they just move on.
Ok. I hope someone, ANYONE, in that Portland school district is reading this.
Get the choir director, and the choir students, and organize this as a NON SCHOOL private group activity. Print up, pass around to the parents, sign and return – minor/child permission slips to participate in this activity. Just because a large majority of waht would normally be a school activity, are now in a private activity, well, so what? FFRF, get your fat nose out of this PRIVATE group activity.
Are you willing to stand up for your First Amendment rights (. . . or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,. . . ), or will you bow before the pressure of a loud mouthed bullying minority group (FFRF).
If you can get “insurance” (always a big concern to some), fine. If not, well, really, how often do you really need and use such insurance? The schools have it as a “just-in-case” CYA.
“because of its Catholic affiliation” Yeah, as if the school has any problem accepting tax dollars from Catholics.