Church & State

[gilana]

My choir just sang at the Somerville mayoral inauguration tonight. I first started to get a little uncomfortable at the invocation by Father David Doucet of Saint Benedict's Church. The administration of oaths, each concluding with "so help me G-d" made me wonder a little about the whole church and state issue. A duo sang "He Looked Beyond My Fault," which was beautifully sung, but I really didn't appreciate the bits about Jesus dying for our sins. There was a short respite from religion while the newly inaugurated officials made endless speeches, including Mayor Curtatone's speech on the value of diversity and integration in Somerville. Then the True Light Choir sang about Jesus Our King while the whole audience clapped along. This was followed by the coup de grace, a benediction by the pastor of the Evangelical Haitian Church of Somerville, which he got almost all the way through before mentioning Jesus. If my way out had not been blocked, I would have been out the door right then. I'm just furious.

I have nothing against religious music. I've sung Christian religious music myself, and enjoyed it a lot. But at an official city event, the message this sent to me was that Somerville is a Christian city and my beliefs are not welcome or respected. I'm planning to write a letter to the mayor as soon as I calm down enough to trust my judgment. Grrrrr.

Comments

Just curious...

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

What did your choir sing?

Re: Just curious...

[gilana]

We sang the National Anthem, a song called Dona Nobis Pacem (not the traditional setting, but the only words are Dona Nobis Pacem and Grant Us Peace; obviously it's G-d we're asking for peace, but at least we don't mention hm directly), and America the Beautiful.