Sorry, but that's really small-minded of the parents. Knowledge of and comfort with other cultures will be an imperative for success in our global economy. It's unfortunate that a biased few can diminish an excellent educational experience for many others. Hopefully there will be more open-mindedness and respect for other cultures next year.

It seems like the Hindu song is simply a traditional holiday piece. The translation doesn't seem offensive.

The parent should have pulled their child from the concert, kept them at home during the the time the concert was being performed, and spent that time explaining what small-minded means.

BK....I agree completely.

I'm tired of having to "walk on eggshells" and be politically correct as of late, having to be conscience of other cultures and religeons, but having my holiday beliefs swept under the rug.

I grew up Catholic and attended private schools most of my life, but I always appreciate the mix of Holiday songs that are sung from different cultures and religions at my childrens' holiday concert series here in Greendale. I want my children to experience other religions and cultures early on instead of living in a vacuum. We always love the holiday concert and do not wish to see it cancelled or ANY songs pulled from it. As any parent in Greendale knows, our school system is becoming more diverse each year - and to deny a song from one religion, but allow songs from other religions creates more of a problem than one parent with an internal problem (bigotry) could ever cause. I think the ball was dropped on this one. . .

I also notice we don't have any Muslim or Hindu parents complaining about their children having to sing Christian-based or Jewish "holiday" songs.

When I first heard about this topic a week or so back, I was a bit surprised that the song was being pulled. However, after reading the translation of the lyrics I have to side with school administration on this one. I have no problem with kids singing multi-cultural songs, but this particular one calls for 'praising Sita and Rama' and says 'God and Allah are your names.' I can see how that would be blasphemous to some families to phave their child praising a god other than their own. After all, when was the last time you heard any kids singing "Away in the Manger" at a school concert? Not to mention, they are now called Winter Concerts instead of Christmas Concerts, as to not offend anyone. Why couldn't a different Hindu song be substituted that was not religious in nature? After all Hava Nagila is Jewish, but it doesn't mention God at all... it's actually a traditional wedding or bar/bat mitzvah song which is celebratory in nature and Feliz Navidad is just a Spanish version of 'Merry Christmas.' Of course, we can't have songs that are secular either, because singing about Santa Claus would no doubt offend the conservative Christian group who doesn't think Santa should be part of Christmas either. What to do?What to do?! Sadly, I see this as the beginning of the end for Greendale "Holiday" Concerts. After all, they are already moving the band and orchestra portion to January - so convenient to avoid the whole Christmas-song-choice controversy, right?!

The problem in today's day and age is that people like to complain about every little thing. What makes matters worse is that leaders, administrations, committees, and board members always feel like they have to make adjustments and/or change things to make these few people happy. As far as I'm concerned, it should be up to the majority. If someone doesn't like something, too bad! Find a way to deal with it! As for the different leadership groups, GET A SPINE! This whole state is slowly being torn apart by this type of mentality and quite honestly, I bet we are looking very foolish in the eyes of the nation. Hummmm, I wonder how we managed to deal with things like this 30 or 40 years ago?

There is more of a lack of tolerance in this district than I realized and feel ashamed that the schools have given in to that tolerance. You are never going to please all the people all the time but you have to do what it right. There are over 21 different languages spoken in the district which also mean 21 different cultures and beliefs. Maybe we should change the concert to be a celebration of different holidays and not to just a few beliefs. And as far as the few of you that had an issue with the song, God is know by thousands of names, every language has their own name for God just as they do for peace. Just for a bit of irony, Ghandi fasted until the fighting stopped between the Hindus and Muslims, 12 days later he was assassinated for his belief in the tolerance of all creeds and religions. I think we all need to listen to Ghandi's lessons now more than ever.

I think the parents who pulled this stunt should be ashamed of themselves for their bigotry and intolerance. And, the school district should also be ashamed of itself for pandering to such bigotry by pulling a song after only one parent complained. What about the hundreds of parents who did not complain? Do they not have a voice in this matter? Since when does one parent control the entire district? This is simply outrageous. The lesson the children are learning from this is that it is okay to hate anyone not exactly like you. Is that really the message the school district wants to convey to our children? Shame on everyone responsible for this act of hatred.

I agreed with Just A Mom, our different cultures should be celebrated. It is such a shame that a few seem to impose their values on the rest of the community. Too bad the district caved.

I believe this may be two opposites reacting to our PC culture.
One a push back such as " The holiday is Christmas call it that" and at the opposite pole " I want attention so I have to be offended about something".
Welcome to America in 2011. What have we done to this great country? What are we and the PC crowd doing to our children and grandchildren?
Merry Christmas to everyone and God bless you all.

I suggest that everyone who disagrees with what the Greendale School District has done write/email/call the district offices and complain. That the district has pandered to one hate-filled family and punished all the children for that hate is unacceptable. They caved in to one parent complaint; let's see what they do with several hundred complaints.

I found this story through a link on the Huffington Post. I'm not a resident of Greendale, as it seems many of you are. I just wanted to say it was really wonderful to read through the comments and see so many of you speak out in support of fostering diversity, and teaching your children to respect the beliefs of other cultures and religions. Where exactly is Greendale? It sounds like a great place to live.

The song *is* religious in nature. While it is an devotional song to Lord Rama, it ironically identifies him to be synonymous with "Ishwar" (aka Lord aka Jesus) and "Allah".

So for the religious minded, this is the jackpot. Hindu in origin, symbiotic with other religions in reality.

I am an atheist, and I would prefer that religion and therefore religious songs NOT be endorsed by public officials. If the student body were to do this on its own, so be it.

I am a Hindu and an Indian from New Delhi,India. More than the article itself,the comments were more informative. I am pleasantly surprised at the tolerant, inclusive and broad-minded attitude of most. Greendale seems to be a wonderful town inhabited by just the sort of people the world needs most! I would also like to point out that Gandhi was deeply secular and this 'Hindu' song,a favourite of his, speaks of just that secularism. It mention Sita,Ram (Hindu) as well as Ishwar(Christian) and Allah (Muslim). Sometimes its necessary to look beyond the written word and at the deeper meaning! Anyways, I would like to sign off by saying that one person/family 's bigotry has brought to light the wonderful inclusive nature of your town!

I could reiterate what so many have already said above - but I won't bother you with that. I will say that I have Patch envy and wish some of you would comment more on our Mount Pleasant/Sturtevant Patch site. Either that or perhaps I need to move to Greendale. If this story was posted over there, the comments would be far different. I applaud you and your acceptance of a world outside your own home. How refreshing!!!

I don't want to stir the pot any more than it is, but I wonder if it's the reference to "Allah" that got the Greendale mom's panties in a bind - not the Hinduism, but our current demon, Islam?

I think the people who translated and the people who understood missed the point. All that Gandhi was preaching in this song was non-violence. During the difficult times in India, he was preaching tolerance and discouraging violence in the name of god.His teaching was that people may have different faith or call their "god" with the different names but in the end we are all wanting the ultimate truth. That is the gist of this song. It is not considered religious song in India. It is seen as unity song in India. Unfortunately, it was lost in translation here.

I love that I live in a community that has such an open voice. As for the topic at hand I do not believe it is or was fair to pull a song just because one parent complains. If this is the case and all it takes is 1 parent to complain about the way different cultures are presented to our children...then why hasn't anyone made a fuss about the fact that we are exposing our children to spanish in grade school..its been made manditory. Why not other languages? Or make that an option? I am a graduate from Greendale and made sure that my child was able to attend the same high level of excellence in schools that I was brought up in. It ashames me that all it took was 1 voice to make a difference...for the negative....and took what could have been a fun educational experience away from the hundreds of other parents and children who were willing to be open to other cultural experiences.

It's beyond me to have this song as part of a Holiday Concert - What is the relevance of this song to Holidays? Traditionally, Holidays are celebration of Christmas and New year so if a song fits this you could have it, else you don't need it. Trying to fit something into a Holiday concert, for the sole reason that it gives either exposure to other cultures or panders to some patronizing liberal school of thought is ridiculous - why don't you just have a World Culture Day and have all the songs you want to you heart's content? I would fault the school on missing the point of Holiday concerts altogether.

We live in an area that show cases diverse cultures in many ways. World festivals at Summerfest, the International Folk Fair, Pow Wows at State Fair and the many neighborhood events each year. Our schools teach at all grade levels about varying cultures and the Library has programs and materials. The "Holiday Concert" fits into this acknowledgement that we are a community with much variety. I like that. I am saddened that Christmas is removed. Jingle bells, Here comes Santa and such are not Christian and do not reflect Christmas which celebrates the birth of Jesus in songs like Away in a manger or Silent Night. I challenge Christian Churches and families while respecting the differing of others to let our own light shine. The light of Christ needs to shine brighter than Broad street. Merry Christmas everyone and God bless us one and all!

Another example of religious ignorance and intolerance of **some** western people. I mean how could they remove a song which talks about religious-harmony !

A line in the song is "Ishwar , Allah tero naam , Sabko Sanmati de Bhagwan" ..
English- Ishwar(God in Hindi ) , Allah (God in Arabic/Urdu) are just two different name of you (God) , please bestow Humans with righteousness and good sense.

Western women/men reading this from all over the world please let us know what is there in the song which can *offend" parents of children.That there is no mention of Jesus in the song ? Is this the thing they are more concerned than actually trying to understand the central idea of song..

Now I am pretty sure that Hindusim , without any doubt is ***Most-Tolerant*** Religion all over the world when you see that a Muslim Saint , who lived in a mosque , did all the Namaz and read Fatiah in a small town Shirdi in Maharashtra is actually one of the most revered saint for Hindus.And infact is considered another re-incarnation of Lord-Vishnu. I am talking about SAI-BABA.

This is called height of tolerance ! If any other religion in the world could achieve or practice even 1% of that , the world wouldn't have seen all the bloody religious wars and violence.

@Mohit,
You seem to be desperate to prove that a religion is tolerant - doesn't mean the whole world needs to become that. The point is how relevant is this song in a holiday concert - I don't think it is. It's a half religious half political song popularized by Gandhi - why should this song be sung in a holiday concert? America is basically a christian country and the traditions always will have a christian slant - there's nothing wrong with it. Why should there be a need for a false sense of accommodation where it's not needed? America doesn't have anything to prove regarding the freedoms it gives to it's citizens

@ LeaningRight

Oh yeah I am desperate to prove that because there are some people out there desperate to disapprove that , simple.Isn't it ? You know what I agree with each and every word of your argument that America is a Christian Country and all that.My objection is that why don't USA just declare itself a Christian Country more so when It send Billions of Dollars to India and other south Asian countries to convert people in to Christianity ? Surely America gives freedom to its citizens , no doubt but on the other hands it snatches the freedom of so many people all over the world.I would purposefully state here that 1,36,000 human lives and 3 Trillion Dollar have been wasted in America's thirst for power.How much more it wants ? And still people have the audacity to call America a free country.There is nothing wrong to be a religious-chauvinist.The problem is not accepting it.America should shed its false mask of secularism and equality and make all unofficial discrimination Official.That's it !

And its better you don't talk about that song if its religious or not or it's political or not.Do anyone asking for a certificate for that.You people can't reach at the essence of that song in whole life-time leave aside understanding and accepting that.

We certainly don't need our songs to be propagated like Gospels in India using money power and taking advantages of poverty of people.

LeaningRight ,

You are right , nobody died because of singing Gospels and surely nobody would die if he/she sing this so called 'Hindu-Song' when it had references to names of God from two religions.

You yourself have answered your question.If there is no harm in singing any song and nobody would die then why are arguing against it.Actually answers of most difficult questions are within our self but most of the time we are not honest to find them.That is the case with most of people who revolted against that harmless song.

I am very surprised by the definition of 'Secularism' in western world.Banning symbols of religions is not secularism but its Talibanism of different kind.Its like being an ostrich and hiding under the sand.Religions exist and we should acknowledge them.
Peaceful co-existence of religions is 'Secularism'

This is what we have achieved in India , not withstanding all other problems of poverty and population we have.

Its interesting to see two different definition of secularism in world's most powerful democracy America and world's largest democracy India.

My first response was also "how could the district make such a decision?" but I have slowly come to recognize that sometimes they are tied by all the cumbersome rules/regs that we have imposed our school system to ensure we all feel we are treated fairly. Folks in Greendale know what a wonderful school district we have.I think the finger pointing should be at the parents who took such an innocent joyful event and created their own personal drama. If you are not comfortable with a situation remove yourself from it. So many problems in our country right now stem from intolerance. There are so many worthy causes to advocate for - I suggest you put your energies into helping others vs. focusing on your own selfish thoughts. Maybe through helping others you can learn to count your blessing and look for the goodness in others vs. looking for evil where it doesn't exist.

@Linda Motley
I don't know much about "Hava Nagila", So I will not comment on whether it should have been removed as well. I do know enough about Gandhi's song - so I can say with absolute conviction that it is totally irrelevant. Did the school authorities understand the essence of Holiday Concert before including this song? Now the person who opposed this could have valid reasons to oppose this - how are you concluding that they are narrow minded? Isn't this being narrow minded? Majority "liberal" opinion need not be right always - you would need to keep your minds open. I'll give you a simple example, if right now some people protested to Hindus have been singing something in their temples - well that's bigotry fair and square - nobody's gonna support it. This case is totally different

@Mohit Gupta
Sorry but couldn't resist this. That you are surprised by tolerance shows how much you know about America :)

LeaningRight ,

My understand of America is not superficial.It is based on real and personal interaction and visits and brief stays and last but not least my honest intention to know people.

I always knew that America was a tolerant society in general.But my surprise and amazement was specifically for Green-dale District specially after being aware of the discriminating decision of School.So I wrongly thought most people must be supporting that decision.

And don't worry I have more and realistic knowledge about America than an average American can have about India.So don't worry.Lol... ;)

Lisa - I don't have anything against Hindus or Hindu Songs - Just that this song is totally irrelevant. This was a political song Gandhi came up with to preach Hindu Muslim Unity against the British - hence all this reference to Allah (Moslem God reference) and Ishwar (Hindu God reference). Now tell me why is the relevance of this song in a Holiday concert celebrating Christmas and New year? If there was a Hindu song celebrating New Year - or celebrating the birth of Christ, I'd probably go with it - but this song?? For the person who protested, I'd give them the benefit of doubt about their reasons before accusing them of being narrow minded.

This is a very generic and mainstream bhajan (prayer song), not heavy handed with any specific religious message, but actually calling for respect for diversity in religion, albeit using the hindu idiom. Ironic that a proposal to include this song in a multicultural program has met with such opposition and disappointing to see that it has actually been cancelled from the event. 25 years ago in my sister's elementary school in Harford County, Maryland, my sister's teacher invited her to sing a song from Sankranti, a holiday that falls in January, and teach her classmates a traditional folk dance associated with the holiday, to perform in the program the class presented for the Holidays that year.

@emhuze, Obviously you don't understand the holiday concert - Why do we have holidays during Christmas and New Years "coincidentally"? Did the concert come first or the holidays or the cause of the celebration? Well if you wanna talk about secularism, that's a separate debate altogether, but including all songs from all religions is not secularism - that's just a compromise and hypocrisy. And including a political song at that, well it's downright stupid - like wearing a bikini to a formal dinner.

Having been one of only 12 Jewish kids in the school when I was growing up, and later the parent of THE ONLY Jewish kid in the school...

90% of the school programs still include religious Christian songs like "Away in a Manger" and "Tidings of Comfort and Joy" etc... and the Jewish kids, if they're represented at all have "I have a little dreidel" and if they're lucky maybe "Hava Nagila" or "Light one Candle"... and if you are Muslim, or Hindu, or Buddhist or... any of hundreds of other faiths that share this country and this planet... you are just Out of Luck.

Sorry, this song is NOT offensive, and should get as much airtime/concert time in as many concerts as possible... do with one less of the shiny religious Christian songs that are ALWAYS represented, over and over and over again.

I grew up in India, singing 'The Lord's my Shepherd,' among many other Christian Songs during school assembly every morning and saying the 'Our Father' in the school chapel. Even carried a little red New Testament with special psalms and proverbs marked with highlights. No harm done. I am and will remain a staunch Hindu in belief and in practice. My only regret is not knowing as much about Islam due to its guarded and restrictive nature. Christians and Muslims in India join in all Hindu celebrations though they don't believe in the same faith. That's the confidence and comfort of knowing and believing in one's religion that saying another god's name or singing in another language doesn't deter. Too bad, I can't relate to people that are wary of even saying / singing the words Ram and Allah.

It is the parent that complained that led to the schools' failure on many levels - secularism, democracy and equality. The prayer that comes to mind ...... "forgive them; for they know not what they do..."
PS - Personal Note to Linda Motley .... Very impressed with your clarity in thought and commitment to cause.

Take all religious content out of all publicly-funded institutions. The constitutional provision ensures NO ONE is excluded. Publicly-funded institutions are prohibited by the law from endorsing religions. If this was consistently adhered to this current topic would not be an issue. A publicly-funded school concert is no place for any display of religious preferences. School musical concerts are typically wonderful, why take the wonder out of them with divisive content?
Secular means "...not overtly or specifically religious".
Research on Hava Nagila shows that it is not religious nor is Kwansaa. However, the lyrics for Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram do have religious references as does Feliz Navidad. How about a concert that highlights beautiful music and singing but has no religious references/preferences? It's up to the management of the publicly-funded institutions to comply with the requirements of the constitution. Start now, avoid this mess for future concerts.

By removing the song, you cave in to one groups ignorance and prejudice, and promote exclusion and segregation. By having a concert with absolutely no religious content, you don't necessarily offend anyone, but you miss an opportunity to inspire and educate. By having the concert as it was originally planned, with songs from different faiths and cultures, you teach children that people all over the world are the same. They may not believe exactly the same teachings that you do, but they care and feel and love and hold dear many of the same things you do.... family, faith, freedom, friendship. Hopefully these kids are learning something wonderful from all of the conversations that are going on as a result of this sad decision. And on a personal note.... as a person who was raised Christian and is now the mother of five non-Christian children, I am TIRED of hearing white Christian middle-class Americans complain about how oppressed and victimized they are. Enough. You are still WELL represented in the schools, as my children would attest. The topic of religion comes up OFTEN, and when my kids are asked "What religion are you?" and respond "Nothing", they are quickly surrounded and questioned and berated and met with absolute disgust and disbelief, because OBVIOUSLY they must be SOMETHING. So rest assured, Christianity is alive and well in America's schools. Christians must allow that just as they have the right to believe and practice their faith, others have the right to NOT.

I'm a Hindu. Traditionally Holiday season in USA means Christian and Jewish festivals, so the concert organized to celebrate Holiday season should include elements from only those religions. If the school wants to celebrate elements of Hinduism they should save it for another day, say Deepavali. Including Hindu songs during a Christan and Jew festival seems forced and just a PC farce. Instead of bringing people of all religions together it will drive a wedge between them and cause unnecessary resentment.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all those celebrating and Happy Holiday to the rest.

Voice of reason ? Just because it resonates with your belief ? And the reason of the song being removed was NOT that this so-called 'Hindu-song' was a t wrong place and wrong time but that 'It was of religious nature'.I would appreciate if School had it written in their rule book that Either NO RELIGIOUS activity would be allowed or even NO-HINDU activity would be allowed.What irks me most that all the 'Voices of reason' are coming out in the open now when the 'Hindu-Song' was actually removed.Well , you want to know about Diwali? We are least concerned about that now.

Mohit Gupta,
This just my opinion. I'm of the firm belief that majority community should not be victimized in order to appease minority community. If there is fear psychosis in the majority community, it is not good for anyone and secularism ,multiculturalism cannot thrive in such a situation. We have seen the ill effects of this in India and ugly face of this Norway.
Hindus are not victims in this particular situation, Hindus should actually resent the concert organizers for dragging them into a needless controversy. For Christians signing Hindu hymn to celebrate Christmas, as you have said is "against their basic fundamentals of Christianity and God and that it is Blasphemy for them". So, trying to worm in Hindu elements into a Christian and Jewish concert is downright rude and uncalled for. If the parents, who are protesting had taken umbrage to celebrate Deepwali than you would have had a point, not now. Being open-minded and multi-cultural doesn't mean that you should not follow your religion in letter and spirit. Christianity and Hinduism are polar opposite, let us allow PC police to combine the two. I fully expect Hindus to protest if beef is served or Christian hymns are sung to celebrate Deepwali in American schools.
Why are you blaming American Christians for the action of Russian govt? Take your issue up with the Russian government. America is Christian majority secular state and they respect all religions.

Let's remember that this song was removed from the concert because ONE parent objected to it solely because it was a Hindu song. ONE parent out of thousands had a hissy fit and demanded this song be removed. This is not about an entire village wanting this song banned, it was ONE parent. This song was eliminated from the concert because of ONE parent's bigotry, ONE parent's intolerance and ONE parent's demand that everyone in Greendale adhere to her belief system. This is why pulling the song was wrong and provided a very bad lesson to be learned by our children and grandchildren. If you want to blame anyone for this incident, then blame the ONE parent who caused it.

Linda - Do you even live in Greendale? Do you have kids currently in the school system here? From what I heard, it was not just one parent who complained, it was a group of them who all felt the same way. And from what I have heard discussed outside this forum, there are plenty more who felt the same way, they just won't say it publicly b/c they will be labelled as not 'politically-correct.' There is a time and place to learn about other cultures/religions, but not during what is tradiitionally the Christiian holiday season. If you went to any of the elementary school concerts here this year (or for quite a few years now) you would have seen that NO Christian Christmas songs have been included - only secular songs, b/c for many years now the schools have been afraid of offending anyone. Lakshmi's point was that we (the majority) are having our own traditions and culture watered-down. Another example? One of the Greendale school's had their traditional "Pictures w/Santa Night" cancelled this year b/c it wasn't p/c enough and replaced with a "Multi-cultural Night."

Take a drive through Greendale's village tonight... see all those lights? They are in celebration of Christmas, not a Hindu (or other) religious holiday. The majority of people here in this commuity celebrate Christmas. If people of the minority don't like that, there are other communities they could live in where the majority of residents are of the same religion and they won't have to feel left out.

Linda - Were you actually AT any of the concerts this year? What songs included the words 'The King' and 'His' (referencing God)? I was there and I don't recall anything like that. Normally I don't like to argue with the elderly because often their memory and reasoning skills aren't what they used to be - which may be your case - but I think since it's obviously been a while since you had a direct connection to the schools as a parent, I can say I have a little more inside info than you probably do. I am NOT the parent who complained to the schools, although I actually DO know who did and I can tell you it was in fact MORE THAN ONE PERSON (not sure where you got your info but it's wrong). Second I am not a bigot - I work with and have many friends of different cultures, races and religions and respect all of them. I also never said only Christians live in Greendale. I said they are the MAJORITY, another lesson you may want to pass along to your grandkids - ever heard of "majority rule"? Would you go to a mostly Muslim community, in Detroit for example, or a Jewish community in New York, and expect them to include Christian religious songs in their public school concerts? Also thankyou for making my point for me about the Santa picture night not being included w/the multi-cultural night: Christmas may not be 'going anywhere yet' but it IS going for exactly this reason! Political correctness is watering down everything. Do you recall when your kids went to school...

...in Greendale, the concerts were called CHRISTMAS concerts and they actually dressed up for Halloween and had a parade AT SCHOOL! Not anymore b/c it's not considered acceptable by EVERYONE, therefore it can be enjoyed by NO ONE, not even the majority! Political correctness is ruining this country and you are a perfect example of it. Your insults and holier-than-thou attitude are also a perfect example of non-Christian behavior. However, I know you are not going to change my mind nor I yours, so on that note... Merry Chirstmas to you. Enjoy it while it lasts, b/c by the time your grandkids are your age, it won't BE anymore, thanks to folks like you.

@ Lakshmi ,

"Being open-minded and multi-cultural doesn't mean that you should not follow your religion in letter and spirit. Christianity and Hinduism are polar opposite, let us allow PC police to combine the two. I fully expect Hindus to protest if beef is served or Christian hymns are sung to celebrate Deepwali in American schools. "

OMG , are you trying to draw a parallel between beef-eating and a harmless Song like 'Raghupati Raghav'.? Then , even if the answer is YES , I would like to tell you Miss/Mrs that MANY Hindus actually eat beef and they won't go berserk if beef is served in the School or Christian hymn are sung in a School in Diwali.No , most of the Hindu won't even protest if you put an Idol of Jesus in a temple.I think its been long you have been to India.

Most of the Hindu students in Christian Schools have to sing Christian Prayers but you won;t see any Indian parent making fuss about that ? Have you.

As there is a season of Christmas here in India.Every damn mall and offices are decorated with Christmas-Tree and people are wishing each other Merry Christmas EVEN IF there is NO CHRISTIAN in the office or around.

That is called peaceful co-existence and multiculturalism and tolerance.I hope you would agree with me.

And why did you joke that Majority Christians are being VICTIMIZED in America.That a BIG BIG News for me.And now please don't tell me it Hindus who are victimizing them.What a joke ?

Church and State, keep them separate.

This discourse has devolved to slinging insults with venting as the goal. It is laughable that opponents are beating their chests declaring what wonderful spiritual souls they are. Rubbish. It's more about claiming power and the need to put others down.
The core issue is: do the schools have the right to produce concerts that contain religious material? No, they don't. As soon as that fact is established in the minds of the school leadership and compliance is guaranteed, no one will be offended.
If the letter of the law is strictly adhered to NONE of this discourse is necessary.
Christmas is over for 2011. Want to bet that something just like this ridiculous mess will raise it's ugly head yet again for 2012?? The deal is... leave ALL reference to anything religious out of ALL public school functions and we'll never have to deal with this junk again. "Imagine"... John Lennon had it right.

PART 1

Here are some facts concerning what occurred leading up to the School District’s decision to remove the song “Ragupati Ragava Raja Ram”. We’ve highlighted the emails we sent concerning the song.

Sent December 5--
Hi! After hearing Eric singing his solo part in the song "Ragupati Ragava Raja Ram" around the house, I asked him if he knew what the words he was singing meant. He didn't, so I asked him if he could bring home the practice sheet so we could take a look at it. We googled it earlier tonight and discovered quite a few different translations for it. Our concern is that all the translations included words that were worshipping Hindu gods. This was very upsetting to Eric to discover that he has been singing praise to gods other than the one true God he believes in, and he doesn't want to sing his part or the song. In the future we would hope that the translations of songs sung in foreign languages be written out so students and parents are aware of what the kids are singing in music class. In the present, we think that the fifth grade parents should be made aware of the words in this song before the Christmas Concert. Sincerely, Dick and Beth Neustifter

Sent December 6--
We don't want Eric on the risers during the singing of the "Ragupati. . . ." song, or practicing the song in class. Thank you. Dick and Beth Neustifter

PART 2

Many Children, parents and staff had no idea what the lyrics to this song actually meant. It was our goal to have the lyrics printed for everyone to understand. Please take time to google the lyrics if you haven’t already.
We know that everyone has their own religious beliefs and it was not our intent to have the song pulled, but we are glad it was. We know it’s important to learn about other cultures and religions, but learning about other religions and their gods is much different that the praising of false gods even if done unknowingly.
The first of the Ten Commandments God gave Moses says, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” In the Bible God says He loved us so much that “He gave His only begotten Son (Jesus Christ) that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Sincerely, Dick and Beth Neustifter

Wow, how dumb is this all going to get? We are in a great village and now we just get the crazies posting over and over again. Crazy is as Crazy gets... Keep posting crazy and just know you are what I write - dumb crazy.

@ neustifter

So , you are that proud parent and follower of 'Real' God.And we never knew someone could think that an innocent child like Eric , who is hardly aware of HIS existence might have SO strong feeling towards the religion and God.Thank you very much for spoiling the innocent mind of children like Eric.You have done a great service to Humanity.

Let me tell you one thing , if you think that you can reach to the soul of that song through random translation found in google or other websites then you are grossly mistaken and mis-informed.The unfortunate thing is that the song , which suggest the ONE-NESS of GOD despite their different names and promotes harmony , is being singled out for blame.Its unfortunate that people like parents of nice children Eric didn't understand the meaning of a song.

Ms/Mr whatver , BTW what do you measn when you say -"HINDU GODS" - Do YOU actually think that GODS of Hindu , Muslim , Christian , Jews are DIFFERENT ? If you think so then you neither know nothing about Religion Nor about GOD.Your thoughts are actually Blasphemy of highest order.

And no it doesn't matter if you or people like you get this or similar songs BANNED in school where your children study but let them know that there is a land far away from your country where 'YOUR GOD' is worshiped without making so much fuss over the name of GOD.

This country does have its bigots but mostly tolerant at least Midwest is. I have been schooled in catholic schools and have never felt in-secure about going to church' Hinduism for me represents the openness and freedom it gives me to worship whoever, however I want. My mom went to catholic school too and she has always had and till now has an image of Jesus at our home in India. When you are secure about your beliefs there is no need to be threatened by other religions. I recognize that this is a country with majority of people are Christians. Nativity scenes in public places/property have never offended me. Why should it. But I also get it when they say keep religion out of public places. I agree with that. I have to acknowledge and appreciate that this country has allowed many temples to be built and I am able to freely worship. There are many countries which do not allow other religions to practice. What I am trying to say is-Hindus need not feel offended that the song was taken out. We are not that insecure. We can sing other religious songs all day and know that we are still hindus and not going to hell.:)). It is a learning process as the society becomes more diverse. The schools will get it right. Let all religions be patient with these mistakes and let the kids have fun. I don't make a big issue about what my kid sang at school and she doesn't care.