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A discordant ‘Ave Maria’

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The Supreme Court missed an opportunity last week to tell skittish school administrators that not every reference to religion in school activities is a violation of the separation of church and state. With Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissenting, the justices refused to rule on whether an Everett, Wash., school district violated the 1st Amendment when it prohibited a high school ensemble from playing an instrumental version of “Ave Maria” at a graduation ceremony.

It’s customary at Henry M. Jackson High School for graduation ceremonies to include a musical piece selected by senior members of the wind ensemble. In 2006, the graduates chose an instrumental version of Franz Biebl’s “Ave Maria,” but the school district vetoed the selection, holding that “musical selections for all graduations within the district should be purely secular in nature.” The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the school board, holding that in banning “Ave Maria,” the district was trying to avoid conflict with a clause in the 1st Amendment prohibiting the “establishment of religion.” (The appeals court added that “we do not hold that the performance of music, even ‘Ave Maria,’ would necessarily violate the establishment clause” -- but that’s the effect of the decision.)

“Ave Maria” -- Latin for “Hail, Mary” -- contains a familiar Christian prayer commemorating the way the angel Gabriel greeted Mary in the New Testament. But “Ave Maria” in its various versions is performed for musical as well as religious reasons. If it can be banned on a misguided reading of the 1st Amendment, so can other religiously themed classics -- such as Handel’s “Messiah.”

In saying the court should have heard the case, Alito made an additional argument: that banning “Ave Maria” is hard to square with previous rulings saying that once public schools allow students to express their own views, they “must not discriminate against speech on the basis of viewpoint.” That’s an important principle, so long as a student’s religious comment -- such as thanking God in accepting an award -- can’t be mistaken for the views of the school.

But the real problem with the 9th Circuit’s ruling is that it equates any reference to religion with an act of worship. When the Supreme Court rightly outlawed official school prayers and devotional Bible readings, it did not banish all references to religion from the classroom or the school auditorium. For example, the Bible can be studied as literature, or in a comparative religion course along with other sacred texts. Nevertheless, religious conservatives continue to allege that there is a secular conspiracy to banish all traces of religion from public schools. Actions like the banning of “Ave Maria” play into their hands.

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