{"id":27406,"date":"2025-05-07T13:44:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T17:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=27406"},"modified":"2025-05-07T13:44:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T17:44:38","slug":"school-apparently-reverses-course-after-banning-christian-songs-from-talent-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/05\/school-apparently-reverses-course-after-banning-christian-songs-from-talent-show","title":{"rendered":"School Apparently Reverses Course After Banning Christian Songs From Talent Show"},"content":{"rendered":"
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An elementary school in Michigan has reversed course after receiving criticism for banning Christian songs from being performed at its talent show. First Liberty Institute<\/a> (FLI) stated that two students were informed by West Ward Elementary School in Allegan, Michigan\u00a0that they would be unable to perform songs by Christian artists Brandon Lake and Colton Dixon. The students in question are in second and fifth grade and, according to a letter<\/a> from FLI, their parents were told by an educator identified as Ms. Penny Bishop that the younger student\u2019s (identified as L.C.) chosen song was too \u201cChristian-based\u201d and violated the separation of church and state. The school\u2019s principal, Molly Carl, confirmed the song, \u201cThat\u2019s Who I Praise\u201d by Brandon Lake, was \u201cproblematic\u201d and took issue with the use of the word \u201cslave.\u201d L.C. was then going to be allowed to practice the song for auditions when Bishop approached the second student, V.C., L.C.\u2019s sibling, about her song choice and stated L.C.\u2019s song choice was controversial because \u201cnot everyone believes in God.\u201d FLI stated only L.C.\u2019s song received special attention, and that the religious nature of the song seemed to be the only objection.<\/p>\n

FLI referred the school to the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District and stated the school was violating the Free Exercise Clause which prohibits officials from \u201ctreat[ing] any comparable secular activity more favorably than religious exercise.\u201d It also accused the school of censorship, noting that while L.C. was going to be allowed to practice his song for auditions, he was told he would have to be \u201cadjustable\u201d and might have to find a more appropriate option for the talent show.<\/p>\n

Within 24 hours of sending the letter, the school had reversed its course. Allegan Public School District Superintendent James Antoine told CBN News that staff had been \u201cremedied\u201d of their misunderstanding of religious expression. \u201cUpon review, it was determined that school staff were unfamiliar with the legal guidelines concerning religious expression in a public school setting. To clarify: students are permitted to perform songs of their choice, including those with religious content, provided the material complies with the student code of conduct \u2014 particularly regarding language and theme,\u201d Antoine said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cReligious songs have been, and will continue to be, allowed at school events like talent shows.\u201d Kayla Toney, counsel for FLI, stated she was pleased with the result. She also stated it was important for people to speak up when they feel their rights are being violated. \u201c[L.C.] probably just wouldn\u2019t have been allowed to participate at all, or he would have been pressured and forced to change his song and to choose different lyrics that the principal approved,\u201d Toney said. \u201cThat\u2019s wrong, that\u2019s unconstitutional, and we\u2019re so glad that didn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An elementary school in Michigan has reversed course after receiving criticism for banning Christian songs from being performed at its talent show. First Liberty Institute (FLI) stated that two students were informed by West Ward Elementary School in Allegan, Michigan\u00a0that they would be unable to perform songs by Christian artists Brandon Lake and Colton Dixon.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":27409,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSchool Apparently Reverses Course After Banning Christian Songs From Talent Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michigan school reverses ban on Christian songs at talent show after legal pushback, affirming students\u2019 rights to religious expression.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/05\/school-apparently-reverses-course-after-banning-christian-songs-from-talent-show\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"School Apparently Reverses Course After Banning Christian Songs From Talent Show\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Michigan school reverses ban on Christian songs at talent show after legal pushback, affirming students\u2019 rights to religious expression.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/05\/school-apparently-reverses-course-after-banning-christian-songs-from-talent-show\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beliefnet News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-07T17:44:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" 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