More signs of a crumbling democracy

This one comes in from North Carolina: Student's Anti-Bush poster gets him turned over to the authorities by Wal-Mart employee. And, if you're curious, yes the Secret Service (SS?) does get involved.

The Devil isn't allowed in Woodbridge, Virginia

I'm certain that Charlie Daniels and I would disagree about a lot of things. However, I think that he is dead-on in his opinion that it is asinine that one letter from the parents of home-schooled children prevented a local high school marching band from performing a certain song. The song in question is, of course, Charlie Daniels' sole hit, "Devil Went Down To Georgia," which I've always considered a fun little tune, albeit, nothing which would incline me to start collecting Charlie Daniels albums.

I'm all for the separation of church and state, however, religion is a fact of life and a major part of many world cultures. To deny the existence of religion and the many mythologies it has created is to embrace ignorance - at least of those subjects. Now, don't start thinking that I'm going soft on "Intelligent Design," because I'm not. The Christian creation myth belongs in either a theology or social studies class along with the Greek Gods, Norse Deities and other such supernatural belief structures. This crap doesn't belong in a science classroom.

Does it belong in the band room, however? Well, I'd have to say that, yes, it does. I'm not saying to teach the myths as true, but as music is an art form, it is necessary to have an awareness of the myths and stories being referenced in order to understand the piece of art. If one without any knowledge of Christian theology were to take a look at the painting "The Last Supper," what would this person think? They'd probably comment with something like, "Oh, that's nice - thirteen guys having dinner together. That dude in the middle must be special or something."

The band should be allowed to play the song. This would allow the band director to give a little lesson on American folklore and how it relates to Christian theology and how that can turn into a hit single. Also, since no parents of any children actually attending the school have any grievances with the piece, the kids should be allowed to have fun playing this little ditty.