Rhymes With Right

July 21, 2006

Lennon's "Imagine" Banned By Church School

Parents, students, and some outside commentators are outraged that the song -- one which is well-known and well-loved -- would be prohibitted at the school concert.

A CHURCH school has barred children from singing John Lennon's Imagine - because the lyrics are "anti-religious".
Primary pupils were rehearsing the 1971 peace anthem, which asks people to imagine a world without religion, when head Geoff Williams vetoed the song following a teacher's complaint.
Mr Williams, who was backed by his governors, said: "We believe God is the foundation of all we do. It's not an appropriate song for our concert."
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Yesterday parents of disappointed children said the ban was "ridiculous". They were backed by secular organisations which accused the school of "fun-hating orthodoxy".
Pupils at St Leonard's C of E School, in Exeter, Devon, rehearsed Imagine for their annual concert, which is themed Songs for a Green Earth.
The song's lyrics include: "Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try/ No hell below us, above us only sky...no thing to kill and die for and no religion too." It was replaced by a traditional ditty, The Building Song.

And frankly, I think it is the correct choice. Let me explain by analogy.

When I was in teh seminary, one of my professors dealt with liturgical music. He argued that while some secular music might be approrpiate during a service, some sends the wrong message and should not be permitted. He mentioned th old 1970s hit, "The First Time (Ever I Saw Your Face)" as an example of th latter. Couples want to use it at their weddings, because of the beautiful melody and the passionate lyrics of teh first verse. Unfortunately, the second verse is all about "Tthe first time ever I laid with you". Stop the presses! A song about the glorious feeling that accompanied the couple's first pre-marital intercourse doesn't belong in a church service. Don't do it.

And that leads us to "Imagine". I love the song. If I had an i-Pod, it would be one of the songs on it. But in a religious setting, it just does not belong, because it includes an explicit rejection of religion and religious faith. And after all, that is what sets religious education apart from non-religious education.

Posted by: Greg at 03:08 PM | Comments (113) | Add Comment
Post contains 392 words, total size 3 kb.

1 I agree. It is a nice song, especially remembering it from my youth, but it definitely does reject religion, nationality, and a realistic view of today's world. Certainly no place for it in a Christian setting.

Posted by: DJ at Fri Jul 21 15:17:16 2006 (rg8dK)

2 It's likely that some parents are sending their kids to the church school not for any particularly religious reason, but because they think the school's a good place for their kids, and thus you find this kind of conflict. It's not that uncommon a thing - when I was in high school I had several friends whose folks sent them to the Catholic prep school up the road even though they weren't Catholic, because they felt their kids would benefit from the incrased discipline; and at the moment I've got a friend who sends her son to a Christian school because the large classes and social dynamics in her public school are a problem for her learning-disabled son. She did have to spend a lot of time checking out schools to find one that didn't make her uncomfortable on the religious end of things (apparently they varied incredibly in terms of how much emphasis on Bible study they had).

Posted by: John at Fri Jul 21 22:47:54 2006 (YId1A)

3 If you asked me to name the song that I hate more than any other piece of music ever produced in the history of the planet it would have to be "Imagine." It is nothing more than John Lennon's communist fantasies served up in a sticky sweet melody.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at Sat Jul 22 01:02:00 2006 (DdRjH)

4 As a fire-breathing liberal, I think the parents here are ridiculous. It's simply not appropriate for the situation. The whole "controversy" is a great example of why the American system of keeping government and religion apart is the best way to go.

Posted by: Dan at Sat Jul 22 03:05:33 2006 (aSKj6)

5 the song is offensive from a Christian viewpoint
but not nearly as dangerous as unorthodox belief in the permanancy/unconditionality of the Abrahamic Covenant.

Posted by: Ken Hoop at Sat Jul 22 07:32:18 2006 (EPkr9)

6 Gee, Ken, ain't nothing more pathetic than some guy sitting at a public library terminal in Ohio, pontificating on why his view of theology is rigth and most everyone else is wrong.

Tell me -- is my site just a diversion while you download your kiddie porn and Aryan Nations talking points?

Posted by: Rhymes With Right at Sat Jul 22 09:44:34 2006 (3kir6)

7 far from saying "Most everyone else is wrong"
I am quite latitudinarian (check your seminary
material for definition) when it comes to applying
Christian theology to current political issues.
Latitudinarian in that I accept traditional
Protestant and Christian renderings, avoiding
taking unyielding stands in areas in which the traditions might clash. Your "God gave Israel to the Jews forever" rubbish is outside tradition,
being 19th century radical left modernism.

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