Who's Afraid of Opera?

Mentioning Faust reminded me of another piece of news I’d recently come across. An elementary school music teacher in Colorado got into serious trouble when she showed a portion of an old children’s series which featured bits from the opera Faust – the parents seemed to be more concerned about Satan being mentioned than the fact their kids saw opera, I gather. The local school district supervisor commented with typically American even-handedness:

It created a kind of firestorm. We have people on both sides of the fence. Some are saying it's trying to promote the devil. Other people are defending the arts to the hilt.

I guess we can see both sides of the issue, right? Some people live on Earth whereas some exist in an world of their own invention. 50/50. Some have functioning neurons, some have outsourced their cognitive functions. Even Steven. And all that. I await similar protests against Shakespearean comedies (pagan worshipping), Dr’ Seuss’ Cat in a Hat (clearly a magical witch’s familiar) and Sesame Street (we all know the truth about Ernie and Bert). Then again, I bet that someone in America has already protested against all of the above.

Given the other bits of news, the only conclusion to draw is that Christians do not like competition getting free product placement, especially given the much better rates that Satan offers.

To us this may be funny – just another story about the hollow bit between America’s ears – but to the poor teacher this must be a horrid time: she is now on leave and the school may decide to fire her. Then again, she seems to realise that Bennett, Colorado isn’t the place for her:

Waggoner, who is in her first year teaching vocal music in Bennett, said she doesn’t expect to stay in town.

“I know I’m not accepted here, that I’m not welcome here by the parents,” she said. “It’s a very uncomfortable position.”

As I’ve said before, when I hear these kinds of stories I no longer get angry, I merely look upon them as case studies of dangerously delusional subjects.