Posted on 12/05/2012 10:55:04 AM PST by kaehurowing
Lawsuit threat cancels Christmas concert
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -
A threatened lawsuit had put a halt to what's become a Christmas tradition for members of the Moanalua High School orchestra.
For the past six years, the award-winning group and volunteers from the New Hope Church have raised more than $200,0000 for a charity that treats poor people in Hawaii.
But that all came to a halt on Monday when the Department of Education decided to cancel the concert just four days before the event.
In a letter to the Department of Education, Mitch Kahle, founder of the Hawaii Citizens for the Separation of State and Church, took issue with the involvement of New Hope Church, which handles ticket sales and sells those tickets at it's services.
"The issue here is an entanglement between a public school and a Christian church," said Kahle.
"And one of the things about the constitution is that it prohibits the involvement of public schools and churches."
Concert volunteer Chad Brownstein said that this year's event has sold more than 600 tickets and would have generated about $30,000 in sales and donations.
"(The students) could have done something that they're good at it and benefit others instead of themselves," Brownstein said.
"So I'm very disappointed that they won't be getting that lesson through that concert anymore."
Concert organizers are still looking at other locations but chances of finding a new place before Christmas that are very slim.
“Chances are slim”. That’s why they waited until the last minute. Now, if a private venue is found, will the students be forbidden from volunteering to play?
How about taking it to Kapioloni Hospital? You know, the place where President Obama was born?
Uh, no, it doesn't. The Constitution prevents the government from interfering with religion, it does not prohibit religious and government organizations working together.
He singled out a “Christian Church”.
Why not let the church do the concert? They can say that the performers are students at blah high school. It does not have to be a school event.
And they can use the school facilities. The courts allow for churches to use public facilities.
Sorry, unless privately owned. The instruments are property of the school.
If it were a Buddhist temple, no problemo
The only instruments in our local public schools that are the schools’ are some of the larger and more expensive percussion items. I have bought 3 for our 5 kids.
I wish these people would stop referring to themselves as atheists and use the more accurate term of anti-theists.
Hvae the concert anyway. Let them file the suit and watch it get thrown out of court, and have to pay $1000s in fees.
We kept everything in The Band Room. Band was 7th Period every day. But that was in 1975. Some instruments were privately owned, Rent to Buy or school owned. All the drums were school property.
Most high school orchestra students own their own instruments. The majority will have been playing for years and will have progressed to the point where they want an instrument that fits them well and is in better shape than rentals. Of those who do rent most tend to do so from private shops. Musicians who play the large instruments- cello and especially string bass- are most likely to rent because they don’t want to lug the instruments back and forth to and from school and because travel can be rough on large instruments. Of those bassists and cellists who do rent many will have their own instrument at home for practice. The large percussive instruments are often owned by the school, but I am sure that it would be possible to track some down for use in a charitable concert.
And yet the politician bass turds can have Ramadan celebrations in the White House and on Capitol Hill. Something stinks here. If the homos are going to get away with this kind of crap, it’s time that all celebrations of Ramadan, Christmas, Hanukkah, etc. no longer be held in the White House or on Capitol Hill. NOTHING! If we’re going to play this goofy “separtion of church and state” bull****, everyone should have some “skin in the game”.
F hawaii, wish we could give it back.
“And one of the things about the constitution is that it prohibits the involvement of public schools and churches.”
Silly nonsense. Our Constitution does no such thing. These haters have got to be stopped!
if they really didn’t care what others do, they’d let all the people they think are so backwards do their stuff and just ignore it, and do their own thing.
they are so NOT live and let live. if they don’t do it they don’t want any others to be able to either.
again government cant interfere with religion, it never said it can’t work with it. as a governor jefferson did a lot of religious things and days of prayer. as president he didn’t because he knew the wall of separation was for the national/federal govt, but not the state levels.
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