State championship-winning high school band
By Editor Josh Mitchell
River Mississippi News
ARKANSAS– An Arkansas high school’s football halftime show titled “Revival” has been called an unconstitutional mingling of church and state by the national nonprofit Freedom From Religion Foundation.
A letter from the foundation to the Lake Hamilton School District’s attorney says several community members contacted the foundation with concerns about the halftime show containing “inappropriate and unconstitutional religious themes and messaging.”
The school district is in the city of Pearcy, Ark, an hour southwest of Little Rock.
For instance, the Dec. 5 letter from the Madison, Wisc. foundation to the school district says theLake Hamilton High School Power Band’s halftime show was apparently themed around a “tent revival” and contained exclusively Christian hymns and props.
Moreover, the Freedom from Religion Foundation says the high school halftime show referenced “fire and brimstone” and closed with an image of a Christian cross.
The “Revival” performance won the band the state championship title in the 6A band competition in Little Rock this year, and the band is scheduled to play in next year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.
Kat D. Grant, an equal justice work fellow with the foundation, said the letter was intended to ensure future student performances were free from “religious coercion,” adding that it is a “violation of the Constitution for any school representative to promote a religious message to students. It is well settled that public schools may not violate the First Amendment rights of students by showing favoritism towards or coercing belief or participation in religion functions.”
The letter adds that the U.S. Supreme Court has “repeatedly” said schools cannot sponsor religious messages because it alienates those who may not align with those beliefs.
