am i legally bound to sing a song that is against/offends my religion?

Question

do i legally have to sing a song that i don't want to. i'm willing to lose the participation points becuz it goes against my Christian belief. my chorus teacher wants us to sing a Hanukah song and since this holiday tends to compete with Christmas, i cannot sing it. when i told my teacher she told me that if i am not willing to sing it just lip-sinc it. i told her that would still be against my faith. and she said well your stuck with it. am i legally bound to sing a song that is against my religon?

Answer 1

There is no law requiring you to sing or not sing a song. You don't say where your chorus teacher is... are you in high school? Your parents can write a note about your religious qualms with the song and get you excused from singing or lip-synching it.

Answer 2

The real question is whether the school teach is legally able to require you to sing this song. If it is honestly against your religion to sing a song regarding another religion, or from the tradition of another religion, then the teacher should allow you to sit it out and cannot decrease your grade for it. However, before taking any drastic steps I would suggest discussing the matter with your Principal or Vice Principal (assuming you are in high school, if not talk to the dean of students or other appropriate party). If you can't get anywhere alone, then you should invite in your parents as the next step.

It does appear to be quite intolerant, however are do know there are some pretty strict faiths and we should not judge that. Good luck.

Answer 3

The First Amendment and the elastic clauses of the Constitution protect you from doing things that you don't want to do, any case that it may be.

The legal version:
By law your chorus teacher cannot force you to sing a song against your beliefs, but they're some exceptions to that rule.
1) The Constitution says you are granted the freedom of free speech, you can decide what you want to say (or sing, in this case) or what not to say. Through the constitution you can refuse to sing the song in chorus class.
2) The school board (every school board has a similar or same rule) says that you have to abide by the curriculum set by the school and or classes. The school board (once again, every school board is the same in this area) gives access to curriculum info to every student that request it. This booklet sets the standards and requirements to the class you may be interested in taking. The teacher, if and ONLY if it states that you must sing that song in the clas curriculum, is allowed by law to remove points from your overall class average if you do not sing.

Simple version:
Check it out with the teacher, in your syllabus it should say whether the song is part of the curriculum or not. If the song isn't required then feel free by all means to refuse to sing it, if it is required there isn't much you can do, since you legally accepted the requirements of the curriculum by signing into the class.

Hope it helps.

Answer 4

No you are not "legally" bound to sing / say anything you do not wish to. What kind of chorus group is it? Is the teacher also getting the kids to sing songs of other religions as well in addition to this Jewish one? Are you the only christian in the group who feels this way? Take into account the nature of the event you are going to perform at - is it to celebrate the holiday seasons for all religions / cultures?

If you believe strongly against singing it - because it is somehow
blasphemous for you to sing it - then you shouldn't, but you should be prepared for some type of "punishment" from the teacher. You should also respect the other christians their right to sing it.

Answer 5

Notes are actually not legally binding, contracts are. The case (assuming you're actually not a troll, which i think) is strikingly such as the in call for case of Lucy v. Zehmer it is blanketed in all first 3 hundred and sixty 5 days settlement regulation books. long tale short, 2 everybody is ingesting heavily at a bar. As a "shaggy dog tale," one writes a settlement to sell his farm to the different for some sum of money and signs and indicators it. The court held the settlement enforceable. Voluntary drunkenness isn't a protection to an in any different case valid settlement. the will provision won't stand because of the fact the checklist should be motorized and achieved with an independent witness (maximum states have "lifeless guy Acts" which will preclude you from attesting to the revocation or introduction of a will in which you have an interest). Your lawyer grew to become into at hooters.....good.

Answer 6

Christianity was birthed from Judaism so the song should be acceptable to sing, doctrinally speaking, as long as the song says nothing about denying the deity of Christ.
Unless there is a specific phrase or sentence that would be offensive to Christians, I say pay some respect to the religion that gave us our faith. After all, Jesus Himself was a Jew.

Answer 7

This is what is wrong with the religious of the world. You can't sing a song because it represents another faith? What are you, Islam with no tolerance to anything? If you can't figure out the answer to your own question, you either need to 'change' religions or grow up.

Answer 8

Yep; you're either going to have to like it or lump it.
Chaunikah celibrates God's a "miracle"; why wouldn't a Christian sing about that? Just because he did it for some Jews?
Or you could take the stance you're just singing a piece of music; you don't have to believe in the faith. Sort of like studying Evolution; you don't have to believe, but you do have to know about it to pass.

Answer 9

I think you're overreacting.

Hannukah doesn't compete with Christmas. They do not have even similar meanings to their respective religions. The fact that they are celebrated in close proximity to each other is mere coincidence. Don't get too worked up about Hannukah.

Hannukah is basically a celebration of the miracle that 1 day's worth of oil lasted 8, after a major victory. The songs are about light, candles, and things related to that. Please contrast that with Christmas, which is about the birth of Jesus, and songs about Santa Claus which I suspect do not offend you. Don't get too worked up about Hannukah.

Please also bear in mind that the roots of Christianity are in Judaism. Jesus was Jewish, and celebrated Passover. That's what the Last Supper actually was, a Passover Seder. Don't get too worked up about Hannukah.

Now, if you really don't want to do Hannukah songs, rest assured Jews don't mind. Tell your teacher that we don't mind, and she could leave them out. We don't expect the whole world to care about our celebration, since it celebrates something Jewish that you have no reason to care about. She shouldn't get too worked up about Hannukah, either.

Answer 10

Of course not. But you may be being a little petty. Jesus was Jewish and probably sang a few Jewish songs himself. I don't recall that a big part of Christianity was about not singing Jewish songs. Some sects don't like singing at all, but I think it would be OK with Jesus if you sang a Hanukkah song as long as you don't renounce him as your lord and savior.