Posted on 06/20/2002 11:08:28 AM PDT by southern rock
(Uniondale, Long Island-AP, June 19, 2002) — An honors student at Kellenberg Memorial High School has been told not to come back for her senior year because she has refused to sing a medley of songs from the play Jesus Christ Superstar.
Megan Gaffey says she and her family consider the songs blasphemous.
As part of the spring concert, the school's chorus sang several selections from rock opera. But Gaffey, a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Franklin Square, said the medley was offensive. Gaffey says she asked to be excused during that medley or not to participate in the concert. Instead, she was removed from the chorus. James Gaffey says his daughter should have been excused from the concert for exercising a matter of conscience, or penalized in some other way for not participating.
Brother Kenneth Hoagland, principal of the Uniondale school, says the challenge to the songs only brought to a head almost three years of conflict with the family who "did not accept the school's notion of Christianity."
Hoagland says the parents showed they "had no confidence in the school's administration." He advised them to "seek a school more in line with their philosophy."
The Kellenberg School was founded by the Marist Brothers. It's 98 percent Catholic and all students must be Christian.
Gaffey wants to see his daughter graduate from Kellenberg next year. Otherwise, he said, she most likely will attend Amityville High School in the fall. She ranks among the top 15 in a class of approximately 340 students.
Gaffey attended a Christian day school from kindergarten through second grade and then was home schooled until she started as a freshman at Kellenberg.
It always bugged me that Jesus, a carpenter who had to work in wood all the time before starting His ministry, was always played by some weak skinny guy. I always thought Schwartzeneggar (sp?) should play Jesus sometime.
I can see him on the cross, lifting his head to the crowd and saying:
I'll be back!
Now I've gone and done it.
Shalom.
The Vatican endorses Jesus Christ Superstar, so the medley was perfectly appropriate for a Catholic school.Source for that?
On general principle, no. But considering that he obviously knew what the rules and guidelines were, and yet attempted to thwart them on more than one occasion, then yes, I do fault him.
He (and by extension, his daughter) always had the freedom of leaving and going to another school as opposed to trying to change the Catholic school to meet their desires.
I have a friend who is an itenerant teacher who points out that you can always tell in the Gospel when someone has finally figured out who Jesus is. They stop calling Him "rabbi" and start calling Him "LORD."
At the last supper, Judas is still calling Jesus "rabbi."
Judas never got it. He only came along for the parties and the money.
Shalom.
Does your pastor preach?
Shalom.
No, so they could be forgiven for doing it.
Shalom.
I think JCS paints Judas as fulfilling a destiny, as you said. Just like how you can't have good without evil, you wouldn't have Jesus without Judas. In the end, Judas says (paraphrasing from memory) "My God, I'll never know why you chose me for your crime. You have murdered me... murdered me... murdered me..."
-PJ
This phrase tells me alot.
The school took the money her parents paid ..but they could not extend the courtesy to let her op out of the songs. Small minded and bigoted..IMHO but their right. If it had been a RC girl in a protestant school the cries would have been sounded to the heavens "Catholic haters".It is the RC's that play the victim not me.I would not put my kid in a Catholic school because of the doctrine and compromise like this. At least in a public school you have some constitutional protections..
I believe there is more to this story than we are hearing. Could be this young lady has been explaining her faith and they are threatened..this is a message to other non RC students that will not go along with the program..shape up or ship out.
-PJ
I'll remember that when I see someone else's scholarly work about the time of Christ.
I'm sorry - Anyone who is inspired to take the time to put pen to paper in an interpretation of what they've been inspired by is not arrogant! You may not feel comfortable with it, but it certainly is not arrogant. I'm sure that there are some who find their own path to salvation as a result, and is that a bad thing? I dare say not. If anything, your presumption that no one can say other than the traditional is wrong is the arrogant presumption.
I'll remember that when I see someone else's scholarly work about the time of Christ.
I'm sorry - Anyone who is inspired to take the time to put pen to paper in an interpretation of what they've been inspired by is not arrogant! You may not feel comfortable with it, but it certainly is not arrogant. I'm sure that there are some who find their own path to salvation as a result, and is that a bad thing? I dare say not. If anything, your presumption that no one can say other than the traditional is wrong is the arrogant presumption.
Nope, not pissed. God would find it massively funny though...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.