Rise by Eddie Vedder banned from school talent show

I'm sorry, that really sucks, as Rise is such a beautiful song. The world has a funny way of reminding you of how there are still hate fueled intolerance out there sometimes.

I hope your daughter eventually finds a good song to dance to. If I have daughters one day, I'll be sure to have plenty of PJ/EV music to suggest to them as well.

Hey Teacher!!! Leave them kids alone...

first off, since when did anyone or EV himself claim to be an atheist??
I've read he went to church as a kid and now doesn't follow any particular religion as an adult...
I don't think Eddie has ever come out as an atheist and it's never been a topic of discussion re: PJ, politics, activism, at shows....tell the teacher to check your research before dropping false labels on someone...dumbass!

nursemomo wrote:

My 10 year old daughter had an audition for her school talent show today; she is a ballet dancer. A few days back she asked me for some music suggestions, so I suggested that she listen to Rise. She loved it, and put together a routine. The talent show theme was to showcase your faith and talents (she goes to a catholic school).

A couple hours after her audition (which went very well) a teacher pulled her aside to tell her that she would not be in the show. The reason was that one of the teachers coordinating the talent show decided to do some research on Eddie Vedder. She would not allow a song to be in the talent show that is written and performed by an atheist.

Strong kid that my daughter is, she handled the situation well. I think there are many important lessons for her (and me) here. She still loves the song, and it's given her a new perspective on school, authority, and probably some other things I don't even realize. My first reaction was that it is time for a different school, but that's not really feasible just yet.

My second reaction was that the whole incident is captured pretty nicely by the lyrics of the song, "such is the way of the world ..."

Anyhow, I thought some of you might be interested in the story.

Wow. :shock: That's absolutely crazy. I'm dumbfounded. There is absolutely no justification for her rationale no matter how you look at it. It's not an anti-God song being performed by your daughter. It's not even an anti-God song being used as background music for your daughter to dance to. It's a perfectly awesome song that just happens to have been written by an atheist that is being used as background music for a dance performance. That is so far removed from being wrong that there is absolutely no logic behind it at all. Next they'll be saying that songs can't be used if the writer's mother is an atheist, or if the writer is a Christian but doesn't go to the right church, or if anyone who ever performed the song ever had an abortion. I can't understand why she would possibly have even looked him up (except that she probably really liked the song and wanted to hear more of his work). Did she do religious background checks on all the other musicians whose music is ever used at a school event?? I think you should at least demand that they are fair about it - then the other parents will probably get up in arms too. That's just fucking crazy. When are they going to get an emoticon of a head shaking in disgust? :x

She is lucky have a parent that can withstand the bullshit those kids face and know that we don't have to sink to the level of idiots and discrimination because their music showed that our minds and hearts control us, I would give that teacher 2 songs- Faithful says it all... and as for catholic schools play her Zappas Catholic Girls, and teach your daughter to embrace any inspriration that builds hope and positivity tell that teacher to be an organ donor for anything but her heart

frazba wrote:

That's just ridiculous, I wonder if the song would've been OK if it had been written by a priest who had spent the last 20 years abusing and mistreating kids in their care?

WHOOOOMP THERE IT IS.

Teacher pushing belief system onto children shocker. Horrendous and vile but to be expected from those oh so crazy Chrissies.

We had some pro-lifers outside an abortion advice clinic right by my work and I had to tell them to fuck off and that jesus hated them every single day. It was a 40 days of prayer campaign and I felt I gave them 40 days of abuse

There is nothing worse than someone pushing their beliefs onto others. I believe that and you all better agree with me

I have always considered Eddie to be borderline agnostic. Never atheist though. :oops: I would like to know her sources.

Do you pay tuition for this school? Catholic schools are not public schools. You place your child in a Catholic school to learn about the Catholic religion and beliefs, right? Although ancient and foolish, the teachers have a right to decide what is brought into their school, remember its a CATHOLIC school. They teach Catholicism and its history. If they don't believe an "athiest" and his words fits into any part of their school, it their choice. No one forced you to send your children to this school.

ofthegirl99 wrote:

Do you pay tuition for this school? Catholic schools are not public schools. You place your child in a Catholic school to learn about the Catholic religion and beliefs, right? Although ancient and foolish, the teachers have a right to decide what is brought into their school, remember its a CATHOLIC school. They teach Catholicism and its history. If they don't believe an "athiest" and his words fits into any part of their school, it their choice. No one forced you to send your children to this school.

I think it is ridiculos that they would ban the song for a talent show, but I agree with this 100%

You have a choice, you can stay ther enad play by their rules, or you can go elsewhere.

nursemomo wrote:

Hey thanks for the responses. It felt kind of like a punch to the gut talking to her today, and this is taking some of the sting out of that.

So, to turn things around a bit, what are the best Pearl Jam songs for kids?!

As a catholic, who went to catholic school, I find this whole thing very very weird! Eddie - to me - comes across as a very deep thinker, a lover of nature and of solitude, and, well, a bit of a guru really! He might have said in interviews that he doesn't like religion because it causes wars, and fair call... but listen to his lyrics!

School is a brutal place for kids, catholic or otherwise.

anywho... best Pearl jam songs for kids? All of 'em!

My boy is 5 and has loved PJ since he was 2. He says he only likes the fast songs (favourites - Gonna see my friend, Spin the black circle, The Fixer), but really, as long as Eddie is singing it, he's happy. He even sat thru Water on the Road - not a lot of fast songs there!