Licking Valley band's 'Salvation' shirts draw criticism

• The Freedom From Religion Foundation is objecting to Licking Valley Local Schools' band T-shirts.
• The shirts are black with white lettering, displaying the word "Salvation."

HANOVER – The Licking Valley High School marching band drew criticism for its attire during a recent performance at the Millersport Sweet Corn Festival.

The Marching Panthers wore black T-shirts with the word "Salvation" written in white, a reference to Pavel Tchesnokov's "Salvation is Created," the band's focal piece this year.

Tuesday, the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation sent Licking Valley Superintendent Dave Hile a letter, objecting to the shirts. Even if they were simply meant to reference a song — and not intended to further the message of salvation — "such a display would be constitutionally objectionable," the letter states.

"When a public school allows its marching band to display religious messages, like 'Salvation,' during performances, they unconstitutionally entangle the school with religion," the letter states. "... students and community members might reasonably presume that the marching band and its message of 'Salvation' is sponsored by the Licking Valley Local School District."

The letter argues that the shirts send the message to non-Christian students that they are outsiders, and that the school is usurping parental rights to direct religious upbringing.

Hile said the band has worn the shirts two or three times this year, but the Millersport performance was the final time the shirts were scheduled to be worn. So, while the shirts are done for the year, it has nothing to do with the letter.

The band will keep performing the song, Hile said.

"There's lots of different definitions for the word salvation, and the piece of music itself is instrumental, so there's no lyrics involved with it," Hile said. "That doesn't have anything to do with religion, as far as I'm concerned."

Merriam Webster defines salvation as, among others, "deliverance from the power and effects of sin," "liberation from ignorance or illusion" and "deliverance from danger or difficulty."

"That's the great thing about the English language and the great thing about music and art in general: It's open to everyone's interpretation," Hile said. "That's art and that's music: Everything is open to an individual interpretation. The same would be true to this song."

The FFRF gets about 2,500 complaints a year and typically sends out about 1,000 letters similar to the one sent to Licking Valley, said Rebecca Markert, the attorney who drafted the letter. Most of the complaints deal with religion in public schools — "prayer at football games, religious displays, things like that" — and most are resolved without going to court, Markert said.

"So, we're hoping that that happens here," she said, "— that the T-shirts are not used again for the public school's marching band in any event."

Hile has not responded to the FFRF letter, and he said he doesn't plan to.

hsparling@newarkadvocate.com

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Twitter: @hksparling