California Public Schools Ban Ave Maria but Allow Islamic Prayers

Ave Maria, now and for ever

Bill O’Reilly often discusses attacks on America’s Judeo-Christian traditions as crucial battles in the larger culture wars that are going on in this country.

Well, here’s something that I hope he features on The O’Reilly Factor next week.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion on September 8th upholding a public school superintendent’s decision to ban a student group’s performance of an instrumental version of "Ave Maria" at their public high school’s graduation ceremony. The superintendent’s reason for the ban: because the song might be interpreted by some as an endorsement of religion.

Remarkably, this left-leaning federal court sees no inconsistency between its ruling several years ago allowing Islamic prayers to be said on a daily basis in public school classrooms, and its current decision to prohibit a one-time instrumental performance of a Christian-inspired musical piece.

What will be next on the list of banned musical compositions — The Battle Hymn of the Republic?