It is December, which also means that the holiday spirit is in the air for many people. Brooklyn Benzel, a 13 year old home-schooled girl, decided that she would play “Joy to the World” for her piano assignment. However, after submitting a video sample of her recital, she was shut down by a California charter school because her song choice was too religious.
Being a popular and well known Christmas song, her mom was baffled and angry that they shut her daughter down. Additionally, she argued that the lyrics would not be sang, but just the melody would be played. Her mother stated that she was tired of being attacked for their Christian faith, and the fact that it was even happening was alarming. The school even went out of their way to provide, in their opinion, a more suitable song: “Jingle Bells”, as it did not contain words like savior and heaven.
After emailing back and forth with the school officials and threatening to take legal action, the decision was reversed the by director of communications and development for IEM Schools, allowing Brooklyn to recite the song. It was stated that:
” At South Sutter Charter School our goal is to provide students as much flexibility as is allowable by law in all aspects of their education. We recognize and value our students’ First Amendment freedoms, and acknowledge that all public schools must be nonsectarian…”(Rachel, Director of IEM)
Nevertheless, the company who manages the charter school was already facing allegations of religious discrimination and a possible lawsuit. Obviously religious freedom is a concern, not only at these schools, but as we continue to see, worldwide.
Parke, Caleb. “California Charter School Reverses Decision after It Rejects ‘Joy to the World’ for Being ‘Religious’.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 28 Nov. 2019, http://www.foxnews.com/us/joy-to-the-world-california-charter-school-rejected.
contemporaryamericanreligion 
This is a very interesting article. I can see where schools are trying to avoid favoring religion or allowing it in school, but because Christianity is so ingrained in American society it is difficult to make that distinction. I think that if the agenda was not to further Christianity, but to just preform a song, then it should be okay for the school.
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I really enjoy this article because the talk of religion in schools has been widely expressed for sometime now. Especially when looking at the use of the pledge of allegiance in schools and how that effects other religions by using the term “under God” in reference to the christian god.
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It sounds like a privilege problem to me. Christians in America’s history do not usually share religious space so now that the tables have turned to a more a secular view and the more people begin to distance themselves from organized religion and finding oneself own spiritual journey. The question of religious space is brought up in public facilities such as school but in the past the Christian God was never questioned.There has always been a privileged to not be questioned to only question other faith’s but now the privileged is starting to be shared. It probably feels like an attack to the Christian faith but really it is just what is fair.
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The article was interesting to me, especially when the mother talked about facing religious discrimination in schools. I found this to be particularly interesting because of how many students of other religions face discrimination. I did find it a bit silly that the mother and daughter became so upset over a song. I understand the school’s desire to remain secular, and I felt they should have stuck by their decision to set boundaries for students.
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This is ridiculous. Christmas is a religious holiday. People in America have made Christmas not about religion and often forget the true meaning.
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I think this case is interesting because of its legal implications. The old saying goes “my liberty ends where yours begins”, and it means that an individual generally has the autonomy to do what they wish, so long as their actions do not infringe upon the personal liberties of others. Does this student playing a song with religious aspects violate the freedom of other students not to have religion pushed upon them in a secular, state-funded educational environment? Maybe, you could certainly have a great argument on both sides, and that’s what’s so exciting about this sort of thing. One case can set the precedent for literally hundreds of similar cases.
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Did the girl claim any religious affiliation would’ve motivated her choice of “Joy to the world”. It’s interesting to think about how this issues would change if she did or did not claim any affiliation. I personally know I went to a public school and sung Christmas carols with religious undertones. It appears that the lines between what is too religious to have in schools are always being redrawn and always will be as times change.
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