The other thing we have to remember is that only a small percentage of Burbank’s population belongs to a religion other than Christianity — I am all for equality, obviously, but it is ridiculous to cater to every religion equally when they aren’t represented equally in the audience. However, the real reason that singing Christian music did not bother me was because my parents raised me to know that religious tolerance doesn’t just mean that my beliefs must be upheld, but that the existence of other beliefs doesn’t necessarily suppress mine.
I’m smart enough to know that being asked to sing Christian music is not the same as being forced to convert.
Amelia Merwin, Burbank
No rules against God on campus stage
I never cease to be amazed at the lack of understanding some people have of the phrase, “separation of church and state.”
Usually it is batted about (as in the Mailbag letter published Saturday, “Public school stage not the place for God”) by people who have no historical understanding of the 1st Amendment, and in this specific context, also have no understanding of musical theater.
First, it may be surprising to some, but the phrase “separation of church and state” is mentioned nowhere in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.
And the 1st Amendment, referred to as the “establishment clause,” has everything to do with limiting the rights of government and nothing to do with limiting the rights of people. It was intended to keep one particular religion from being established as the national religion but not to keep religion out of the public square.
