David McElroy

What would happen if a government-run high school put on a program featuring a song with the words, “There is no other truth except Jesus Christ”?

I’m betting that half a dozen civil liberties groups such as the ACLU would be threatening to file lawsuits to protect against this “establishment of religion” in schools. Why does it never seem to happen when it’s not a Christian message being presented?

In Grand Junction, Colo., a high school choir is preparing for a program that will include an Islamic worship song called “Zikr.” I hope you’ll listen to it. I like the music and think it would probably be beautiful as a live performance when sung properly by a choral group. It has value as a way to learn another culture.

But the song contains lines — in the Urdu language — that say “There is no truth except Allah” and “Allah is the only eternal and immortal.” When the choir teacher gave the students the translation of what they were to sing, one senior boy said he couldn’t sing those words. When the school refused to remove the song from the program, he quit the choir.

“In the Bible, [it says] that you don’t worship any other god — and this is worshipping another god and even another prophet,” said James Harper, who’s a Christian and is active in his church. “I think there would be a lot of outrage if we made a Muslim choir say ‘Jesus Christ is the only truth.'”

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People are sometimes offended when I refer to children being brainwashed in government-run schools. I’m not sure why, though, when the evidence is as clear as it is.

The latest example of worship of the state comes from Houston, where kindergarteners were required to learn a chant about Barack Obama for a Black History Month program.

Some of the lyrics are just mind-numbingly trivial, but others make it clear what we’re supposed to think of the Great One:

Who do we know is the man?
Barack Obama is the man
He’s our man, Yes we can!

Conservative radio show host Joe Pagliarulo received a copy of the instruction sheet for teachers about the chant, including the lyrics. It said, “Attached is a chant about President Barack Obama. All Kindergarteners will be required to learn the chant for the Black History program.” [Emphasis mine]

Nobody at the school would answer any questions about it, but a spokesman for the school district defended the chant and said the lyrics that were given out weren’t the ones actually used for the program. The spokeswoman didn’t know how they were changed, though, so I tend to believe the sheet that was leaked to Pagliarulo was pretty accurate.

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Here’s a pop quiz. Who said this in the last week: “It’s not about contraception. It’s about economic liberty; it’s about freedom of speech; it’s about freedom of religion. It’s about government control of your lives and it’s got to stop.”

It sounds like someone taking a principled stand against government dictating to people, doesn’t it? It sounds as though it could have come from a libertarian, even. But it didn’t. Those words were said by GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum in response to the Obama administration’s mandate that every employer (including churches) pay for contraception. Does this mean he’s changed his mind about everything?

The people who are talking big about individual liberty when it comes to not paying for contraception forget all about those fine words when it comes to other things. Santorum was a big supporter of the Patriot Act and thinks that government intrusion into our lives is just fine in other areas. He’s a typical social conservative who wants to impose his views on everyone, but when it comes to government doing something he doesn’t like, he piously intones the rhetoric of freedom. Why?

I heard a Catholic bishop being interviewed on Fox News last week, but I didn’t catch his name. The bishop blasted the Obama administration’s mandate that every employer — including church agencies — provide insurance coverage for contraception. He said this was a violation of their religious freedom, yet he made sure to point out that the Catholic church was completely in favor of forcing everyone to buy health insurance. They just didn’t want to be forced to be the coverage they don’t want.

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