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.
In the Gospels Judas pretends to support Jesus until he sees an opportunity to betray Him for money.
So does the New Testament. What's your point?
I believe the New Testament portrays Jesus as a loving and compassionate man who taught as long as He was allowed. He was frustrated by the sin in the world, as G-d is, not by His own inability to communicate.
It might be a subtle difference, but it seems great to me.
Shalom.
Good for her. She's right, the whole d@mn musical is blasphemous. If somebody wnats to hear it its their business, but ti shouldn't be forced on anybody.
The last time I checked, the Catholic Church was supposed to be a Christian religion. Where do these Marists get off with this anti-Christian blasphemy? Are Marists connected in any way with those left-wing commie wackos the Mary Knolls? If they are, that eplains everything.
Precisely. Far out, ArGee---you and I have found common ground. Yvonne Ellerman has the perfect voice for that role, too.
It is hinted in the song Everything's alright.
You are correct that it is not portrayed. It is certainly no Last Temptation.
I agreed with the interpretation of I don't know how to love Him but I don't believe that the real prostitues of His day would have even had that problem. They wouldn't have been confused by their salvaion - only freed. When Jesus healed the deaf man, the deaf man could speak too. Jesus' healing never went half way.
Shalom.
What if you had a relative, a sister perhaps, who jumped in front of a car to save her child's life. Then, one day, someone writes a rock musical about it, complete with dance numbers, songs, etc. I don't know about you, but that would be in poor taste if it was my relative.
What if we had a rock opera about the assassination attempt on Reagan and his subsequent Alzheimers?
FR tip (in case you haven't noticed). Latecomers are starting over from the beginning. They are responding to your first points before reading your later posts.
Shalom.
Why not? Would that be somehow inherently disrespectful, or bad? Why can't I listen to and sing the Mozart Te Deum, and then listen to the Statler Brothers sing "He Went To The Cross Loving You", and then a Rock version of the Gospel, like Godspell or Jesus Christ, Superstar? Are there some styles of music that are inherently disrespectful to God, regardless of the content of the lyrics? That certainly seems to be your implication. Is that truly what you believe?
Nonsense. Pope Paul VI condemned the play as blasphemy.
If you have any reason to suspect fraud, then put up. I suspect you are making your information up. When I went to the Catholic school they never pretended to be anything they weren't. From what we know we must presume they got exactly what they paid for.
Shalom.
Sounds a lot like todays atheists who refuse to believe in G-d because He won't give them their own private miracle.
Hey! Aren't you scared of me, Christ?
Mr. wonderful Christ?
Uh, that would be a "no".
Shalom.
I guess it's my fault. Maybe I should have posted this to "religion". That way there would have been less of those "Hey, it's a private school, man..." posts, which I never disputed.
Paul, if getting Puff Daddy to rap the Word of G-d for us would lead one person to meet Jesus then I would give him my life savings to get him to do it.
We're not talking about Reagan's alzhimers. We're not talking about some woman's death. We're talking about the most important story ever told.
If I know G-d (and I believe I do) then He will stop at nothing to reach the least of His children. As that other Paul said, (my paraphrase) "I have become all things to all men that by all means I may win some."
You may not like the music. That's fine. I won't claim Superstar led me to Christ. But it kept my interest in Him at a time in my life when my friends were becoming interested in "Yes" and "Black Sabbath." Do you begrudge me that just because you don't think Jesus is a Rock & Roll fan?
Open your heart. Every man and woman deserves to be saved. Don't let your cultural parochialism stop the spread of the gospel by any means that will open a man's eyes.
Shalom.
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