Posted on 12/14/2006 7:54:24 AM PST by meg88
A "silent night" as carolers told to stop singing at skating show
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- A high school choir was asked to stop singing Christmas carols during an ice skating show featuring Olympic medalist Sasha Cohen out of concern the skater would be offended because she's Jewish.
A city staff member, accompanied by a police officer, approached the Rubidoux High School Madrigals at the Riverside Outdoor Ice Skating Rink just as they launched into "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" and requested that the troupe stop singing, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported Thursday.
Cohen, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist and 2006 U.S. National Champion, had just finished her performance at the rink on the downtown pedestrian mall, and was signing autographs.
Choir director Staci Della-Rocco said she complied with the request "because a policeman told me to stop. I didn't want to have a big old huge scene in front of my kids," according to the newspaper.
The city staff member, special-events employee Michelle Baldwin, could not be reached for comment. City Development Director Belinda J. Graham confirmed the incident.
"This request was simply made by a staff member who was attempting to be sensitive to the celebrity guest, without considering the wider implications ... or consulting with her supervisor for guidance," Graham said in an e-mail to the newspaper.
Mayor Ron Loveridge called the incident "unfortunate."
"You kind of wish people do a little checking first. You certainly have my apology," he said, referring to the choir members.
A spokeswoman with the New York-based PR firm that helped promote the event said Cohen did not make the request to silence the singers.
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(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
I just came on this thread for the Sasha Cohen pictures.
Merry Christmas, folks. :-)
Send it to Ben Stein, not me.
Took the words out of my keyboard. Sheesh!
On a more positive note, some singers from the two choirs at the church I regularly attend sang a handful of sacred (as opposed to secular) Christmas carols at an informal tree lighting ceremony in a park near the church. It was publicized that the singers were from a church and so I figured it would not be out of place for us to sing actual Christmas carols (the fact that carols are supposed to be sung after Christmas is another matter). Food and drink were provided and everyone had a pleasant time. Thank God PC has not run totally amok.
ERK!
I'm a married spud
I'm a married spud
I'm a married spud
...
[oblique ref. Toy Story 2]
LOL! I find myself repeating that line often.
That would be your second major factual error. While the first half of your post was Ben Stein's actual holiday commentary, the second half (starting with "Billy Graham's daughter") was added by someone else. So you have tried to defend posting one major factual error (that Spock's son committed suicide) with a second major factual error (that Ben Stein was the one who said it.)
Do you believe everything that you get via email?
Or consulting with the "celebrity guest", for that matter. What a jackass.
Clearly you have nothing better to do than be a posting cop.
If you have never heard a Jew slagging on Christmas then the Jews you know are somehow very different from the ones I know.
What you say here is simply not true of all Jews, and I suspect you know this and are deliberately lying for some reason.
You are being illogical and/or dishonest. Nobody said that all Jews hate Christmas, or that Irving Berlin hates Christmas, and besides those lyrics don't prove anything regarding Mr. Berlin's true feelings towards Christmas.
Is there something about a Christmas tree we are supposed to believe is antithetical to someone's religious beliefs?
Right?
When it comes to Reform, though, there's a wide variety of opinion, and there are a bunch of wiseguys who are still arguing with the Italians across the street from where they grew up in Brooklyn.
You get that from some folks from Los Angeles too, but I think they're being critical of the Hispanics.
There are also folks who have to deal with their young children ~ they compromise with a Hannakah Bush, and a present every day for a week. Around here Christians, Buddhists and Hindus have to deal with their children's experience with their playmates celebrating in the evenings during Ramadan.
We fortunately have a couple of neighbors who made sure the boys always got a share of highlyspiced meatballs (Pakistani style), and specially prepared fried rice dishes. Sometimes they were invited into the homes for dinner.
Remember, Christmas comes but once a year, and Hannukah for a week+1, but Ramadan is 28+ days long. Then there's New Years ~ in this neighborhood that happens several times from January 1 to as late as mid-February.
I must go hang the lights. Else my Moslem neighbors will be checking up on me to see if there's something wrong.
ANTI-CHRISTMAS FEVER ABOUNDS
Catholic League president Bill Donohue released these remarks today on the latest round of anti-Christmas incidents:
“Like most Jews, Olympic skater Sasha Cohen is not offended by Christmas carols. But that didn’t stop a government employee from trying to protect her. While Cohen was skating at a rink in Riverside, California, a high-school choir started singing ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman,’ immediately sending Michelle Baldwin into orbit. She summoned a cop and got him to institute a gag rule: he ordered the choir to stop singing. Baldwin maintained that because Cohen was Jewish, she would be upset by the carol. But she never bothered to ask the skater if she objected. As it turns out, Cohen couldn’t have cared less. As usual, those who say we must be careful not to offend non-Christians at Christmastime are the ones who object to Christmas—not those whom they falsely claim to represent.
"Like Baldwin, Sandra Byrne, principal of an elementary school in Delray Beach, Florida, has a need to show how inclusive she is. That’s why she has no Christmas tree, nativity scene or menorah in her office. Instead, her spot is adorned with teddy bears wearing sweaters. Moreover, only ‘winter parties’ and ‘winter celebrations’ are tolerated. ‘We’re very careful about this,’ she says. No doubt she is.
“Here’s another example of anti-Christmas fever. In a Detroit suburban school district, they’ve instituted a quota system on religious songs that can be sung at school concerts. That’s right, only 30 percent of the songs at Howell Public Schools can be religious. It’s not certain whether the choir director will be fined or imprisoned if a multicultural monitor finds that 31 percent of the songs are religious. We recommend incarceration. “After Pope John Paul II visited Cuba in 1998, Castro made a good-faith gesture by allowing Cubans to celebrate Christmas again. Maybe we should hire Fidel to talk to these madmen.”
E-mail the city here
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3900 Main Street Riverside, CA 92522 951-826-5311
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| Downtown Festival of Lights & Skating Rink |
|
The Mission Inn is lighting up for the holidays once again this year. One of the greatest displays of holiday lighting, this year will also feature a skating rink and nightly shopping mall. |
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