School attempts to ban girl from singing popular Christmas carol
A 13-year-old girl has been advised against playing a Christmas carol on piano, with her school declaring it was too religious.
Brooklyn Benzel is in the eighth grade and is homeschooled in the state of California.
Her mother, Julianne Benzel, emailed back and forth with an education specialist from the South Sutter Charter School to confirm whether her daughter’s choice of song for an upcoming performance would be acceptable.
The specialist suggested due to the lyrics such as ‘saviour’ and ‘heaven’ the song, Joy to the World would be “flagged as religious”, however the school has since backflipped on this.
“It is widely considered a Christian hymn and is typically played/sung at Christmas to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ,” the email sent to Ms Benzel says.
Ms Benzel shared part of the email to her Facebook page.
Student advised to sing Jingle Bells
The person who she was communicating with said the Joy to the World was written by an English Christian minister and said it would be better if Brooklyn did something more “culturally celebrating”, like Jingle Bells.
“There are no lyrics that could be construed as religious, so when the school’s auditors examine portfolios, there is not likely to be an issue of Jingle Bells being interpreted as a religious song” the email reads.
“No one has to hear it besides her and her piano teacher (and our family because we WANT to hear it!),” Ms Benzel said in a comment on the Facebook post.
Ms Benzel also said her daughter would not even be singing the lyrics, she would only be playing the piano.
“It is insidious and erroneous in every single way possible. We will fight this tool and nail.
“Just wanted everyone to be aware that these issues are REAL, and if we ‘give in’ to the seemingly ‘small things’, then before we know it, the First Amendment is DEAD.”
Ms Benzel told Fox News she felt homeschool would be the “safest arena for conservatives”.
“We are tired and extremely weary of our Christian faith being attacked in this country,” she told Fox News.
After Ms Benzel threatened legal action against the school district, an offical went back on the original stance of the song being too religious.
“Now that we can see that this was a nonsectarian assignment that Brooklyn chose to play 'Joy to the World' for, we are happy to accept it and add it to her portfolio,” the official said according to Fox News.
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