Excuse of ‘tolerance’ hard to tolerate

To the editor:

I could not be more disappointed with the article “WHS choir, school caught in landslide over Queen song” and the poor reflection it has on the journalism profession.

The article is based on rumor and appears to be written with much bias. Is that what reporting news is all about at the Frontiersman? What are both sides of this issue? Did you respond to a few peoples’ version of truth or did you delve deeper to find out the facts behind the choice of this song for graduation? Did you read the lyrics to the song or did you simply respond to the cry of “intolerant?”

Some definitions of tolerance: the ability or willingness to tolerate something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with or the capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others. Since when does “tolerance” equate with “allow?”

I do not dare to say I know all the facts of this situation, but this reporter knew very few facts and yet chose to boldly print rumor and innuendo. Did she research the meaning of the song, not the urban myths of the song? Did she question more of the student body to see if a song about murder and the subsequent punishment by execution for the crime or wishing that they had “never been born at all” was a reflection of their high school life or hopes for a future after graduation much less a song that “just seems to fit our class?”

Did she question the choir director or class adviser as to if there could be another possible reason the song was asked not to be sung before this past week? Did you ask if they were given counsel to find more appropriate lyrics for a graduation ceremony? Did they ask themselves if the lyrics “mama, just killed a man, put a gun up to his head, pulled the trigger now he’s dead” or “sometimes I wish I’d never been born at all” or “so you think you can stone me and spit in my eye, so you think you can love me and leave me to die” would be the words they would want encourage these students to share as their Senior legacy?

It’s a classic rock song, I know, I sang along in college. It contains classical music, the performer reportedly was gay — nice diversity. But does it reflect graduation? Does it reflect where the class has come from and what its hopes are for a future or how they could impact their world in a change for the better?

I have a senior at Wasilla High School, he is just as much a valued member of that class and this song does not “define” him or reflect his life, his high school experience nor the hopes for his future after high school. I think I could even go so far as to speak for many of his classmates and say this song would not reflect or define them either. For one student part of a group within a large student body to call the American Civil Liberties Union because she isn’t getting the end result she desires and to declare everyone at WHS shares the same beliefs as her is “intolerant” of her fellow students.

The administration at WHS has and does prove its “tolerance” of a very diverse student body and staff. To insinuate that one parent voicing a concern about a song being written by a gay artist would cause them to question the appropriateness of the song for graduation is close to ludicrous. Can you really be that unaware of the character of WHS administration? Look deeper and the other reasons the song was questioned become apparent.

The fact that you have degraded a person’s character and an administration based on hearsay is something that is very hard to tolerate when I read this article.

Connie Stahle

Wasilla