Moanalua High School students in the award-winning orchestra have proudly raised $200,000 over the last 6 years through their annual holiday concert.
These students, who have performed at Carnegie Hall in New York three times, don’t keep the money to buy new instruments, travel abroad or help their school.
Instead, they send $30,000 they raise every year overseas to a well-known charity, Mercy Ships, which is current housing American doctors in Africa on a medical mission. These doctors help the poorest of residents – some who have never seen a doctor – with urgent medical and dental needs.
It is the students’ gift to the world during the holidays and their chance to make difference for others in need.
The seventh annual fundraiser was set for this weekend, and students have been practicing for months to ensure their performance was perfect.
But an atheist activist, who has shown up to protest city hall Christmas tree lighting ceremonies as well as city council hearings and legislative events where there is prayer, has turned up as their Christmas Grinch and put a stop to the kids’ best-laid plans just hours before the show.
Mitch Kahle, founder of Hawaii Residents for Separation of Church and State, wrote a letter to the Department of Education on “Freedom from Religion Foundation” stationary on December 3 demanding state officials stop the concert. He claimed the public high school was in cahoots with New Hope, one of Hawaii’s largest Christian churches.
It’s true that some of the New Hope parishioners volunteered to sell tickets or work on the set. But the concert is run by school staff and features its students, and tickets are sold both on campus and by phone. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to Mercy Ships. Historically, Mercy Ships, which has been the beneficiary of the concert for 4 years, used the $30,000 from Moanalua’s concert to get another $30,000 from matching donors.
“People are assuming this is a New Hope event when it is not. They cancelled a high school event,” said Chad Brownstein, a volunteer with the concert, graduate of the school and employee of New Hope.
“For the people at New Hope, this not an issue because they (activists) are not fighting against New Hope. But the students had practiced and rehearsed and were excited to do it.”
Michael W. Perry, Hawaii’s best-known radio talk show host, has been covering the controversy extensively on his morning show on KSSK, a Clear Channel station.
“It is an unfortunate situation in which one person writing one letter to the DOE has disrupted a $30,000 fundraiser going on for 6 years now, and for what reason? He claims the Constitution says there can be no involvement with school and church and there is no such statement in the Constitution,” Perry said.
Donalyn Dela Cruz, director of Communications for the DOE, said the decision announced Monday to cancel the Friday concert was made by the DOE after consultation with the Attorney General’s office.
“The Department applauds both the students who were hoping to provide this concert, as well as the charitable purpose behind it. However, after some consideration, the Department realized that the concert could have been better structured,” Dela Cruz said.
Kahle is Hawaii’s only well known atheist who makes God an issue.
He’s protested the police department using the words “so help me God” in their oath of office, and got the Honolulu Police Department to remove the words from the oath in September 2002.
On his web site, Kahle proclaims proudly under a cartoon poking fun at the police, that “God Gets the Boot!”
Kahle appears to enjoy the media attention, because he has his media mentions posted prominently throughout his web site dating back for several years including the most exposure he’s had in an interview with Bill O’Reilly on Fox’s O’Reilly Factor.
But besides threatening letters that on occasion are backed by the ACLU, and the tantrums he’s thrown at city hall and the legislature when God is mentioned, Kahle has had few actual legal successes.
His group is made up of a handful of atheists who want God banished from the planet. One of his main sidekicks is his wife Holly Huber.
Kahle doesn’t win in court so much as he gets his way by getting people in government to simply bend to his wishes through bullying and threats.
He has intimidated Senate leadership into cancelling its daily prayer during the 60-working day session.
He’s pushed the Honolulu City Council leadership into cancelling only prayer a month typically held before its monthly meeting.
He’s harassed the military until it took a cross down from its property.
And when loved ones lost their family members on Mothers’ Day, May 9, 1999, during a tragic land slide at Sacred Falls park, and they posted eight small crosses by the roadside in remembrance, Kahle insisted the state remove them from the public sidewalk.
Kahle also takes credit for getting Boy Scouts programs and oath restricted on public school campuses in 2002, getting the phrase “I believe in God” removed from Navy youth cards, as well as getting “God Bless America “removed from the tax department and health department facilities shortly after the 9-11-2001 terrorist attack on America.
“I guess it is not a career enhancing move to have your government agency sued, because you stood up to this guy, but someone needs to,” said KSSK’s Perry.
“The DOE is in ‘duck and cover mode’ because of one guy and one letter. There are all kinds of organizations that would be happy to take him on and win. But he wins because they quickly capitulate.”
Perry, who emcees the City Hall Christmas Tree lighting celebration, experienced Kahle’s protests firsthand when Kahle, in front of thousands of children, tried to shout down the Buddhist and Christian religious leaders offering prayers ahead of the tree lighting.
When Perry took the stage, he told the children that “someone probably wouldn’t be getting a visit from Santa Claus”, and their laughter drowned out his Kahle’s protests.
“It is infuriating, this one little gnat keeps buzzing around. That one person who just uses threats can get his way and stop something that will really help people in need.”
There have been government officials who have stood up to Kahle.
House Speaker Calvin Say, a Democrat who represents Palolo, refused to ban prayer in the House of Representatives’ daily sessions even after Senate’s Democrat leadership capitulated.
Despite the ban on prayer in the Senate, Senate Minority Leader Sam Slom also rebuts Kahle’s demands by mentioning God every day in his closing remarks. Kahle is often there with his wife filming Slom.
While the student concert will not go on, New Hope will try to make up for the $30,000 that was promised Mercy Ships, by holding its own concert on Friday, December 7.
The event will take place at 290 Sand Island Access Road at 7:30 p.m.
Ticket holders to The Gift of Hope Charity Concert may use those tickets to attend the New Hope concert. Refunds from the Moanalua Winter program are also available Friday night at New Hope’s weekend services or at Moanalua High School. Brownstein said all refunds unclaimed after December 21st will be donated to Mercy Ships.
More on the web
https://www.enewhope.org/news/000768/
Great job Mitch! Once people understand how separation of church and state protects everyone (even Christians) they will stop acting like victims. Keep going FFRF! I just renewed my membership!
Just a thought for you all who are against these churches in our public schools,,,,,You know how much money the churches put into the public schools in Hawaii? You know how much money and labor the churches put into the fix up and improvements of the public schools? Lets look at Farrington High. $40K A MONTH, OVER 120K FOR NEW SEATS IN AUDITORIUM, another 80K for Air conditioning unit in Auditorium. You take them out, you take that support away from the school, staff, and children. Maybe they should raise state taxes so people in your postion would have the opportunity to put their own money where there beliefs are.
And in the 1950's they were given tax exempt status, which robs the people of between $70 and $100 BILLION in tax revenue each year. Divided by 50 states, divided by 12 months a year = about $11.5 MILLION per month if it was spent on each state equally. That's just a bit more than a couple hundred thousand.
Ramen!
Many non profit groups benefit from tax exemption. The good that churches do, including those that are non-Christians, far outweigh the amount of revenue generated through taxes.
You need only visit your nearest mega-church, huge temple, or cathedral to see how efficiently their funds are used. Compare that to say the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders and you begin to see the problem.
Unfortunately for many churches, they can no longer stay in schools for more than 5 years because of Mitch's efforts, therefore schools will no longer benefit as they once have. Sad.
Unfortunately that's 5 years too long. Public schools could benefit far more from churches no longer being exempt form property taxes.
What can we expect from people who believe humans came from APES! As we believe we come from a devine creator who created us in HIS immage. Look up Laminin, its in us all no matter who we are. Whats their excuse. God will say I KNOW YOU NOT!!!!! How about a Christ in CHRISTmas Movement!!!!
Humans ARE apes! Please check your creationist claims: https://www.talkorigins.org/indexcc/index.html
Laminin Debunked: https://www.snopes.com/glurge/laminin.asp
Most aspects of Christmas have nothing to do with Christianity. look it up.
Oh how cute. We have a creationist here ^_^ It is ok, keep believing that the earth is 6,000 years old and that we magically appeared on this earth by the power of some old white man in the sky.
This is just sad on so many levels!! All those kids worked hard for months. They had to have been so excited about their concert!! Only to have it taken away by some jerk who wants to act like HIS rights matter more than anything they are trying to do! Imagine how proud they probably were to give this money to people who NEED drs. HOW can any of these atheist take ANY joy in what YOU did to them??
People remember this was a Charity concert and it was composed of students and parents of students and staff, who are made up of many religious and atheist beliefs. None of which were in play here, the purpose was to teach the students to give back to people less fortunate in the world, because Music is the only international language that everyone understands. I have read many of these comments and everyone is getting polarized with the issue. The issue was a lesson to be learned, an undertaking and sacrifice of their personal time to "Give Back". Not because of a religious belief or undertone, but a compassion for the people of the world! If we lose compassion, Mr. Kahle we lose our Human side, you maybe or may not be right in your pursuit. but please realize the end results. New Hope was not the reason for this but may have been a vehicle of volunteer man power to put on an undertaking of this sizes. I put this out to you Mr. Kahle, why don't your organization partner with a High School Music Dept, and put a concert on and see how much work and volunteers you need to help. All in All the students and parents are the looser of time and money, should they sue you for thier loss? Think about it!
Our political leaders…if you choose to call them leaders, are a bunch of P***ies. I weap for our children and their future if this is what it they can look forward to. One person affecting the majority.
Last year, i was injuered in a terrable axident at factery wher i worked. i was rushet to a hospitle and was in operating room for 16 ours. They hat to remove part of my scull and lef part of my brane cause of bloodclods. After sevan monts of intesiv therpy, i am able to walk shot distantes.
Before i hat axcidant, i was n athiest. But now i see that i owe my recovreary to god. I prey often. I have oblagation to thank god for restoring me back to a hole persin. I am now a Christian.
Oh, You!™
lol lol lol, so many butt hurt christians in one place. Always good to see you guys making yourselves angry and miserable.
Atheism is a religion. It is a belief system that believes by faith "there is no God". Since no atheist has been to every part of the Galaxy, they cannot with any authority say "there is no God". Such a statement is ridiculous and irresponsible.
Bill I disagree. Atheism is an assertion of disbelief. It is based on a lack of evidence. Faith, in terms of religion, is "pretending to know something you don't know." Or a belief in something without evidence. I can assert that with the current evidence available to me, that there is no God. But, I am willing to change my mind if you or anyone else shows me extraordinary proof of any God's existence.
I am an atheist. I have a belief system. I believe that Christianity is a raft of delusional garbage and has installed a straitjacket on all of humanity. I also believe that what Christians call faith is merely fear masquerading as a virtue. In addition to that, I believe that the Christian religion is a force for evil and that Christians are mentally unstable. I also believe that Mitch Kahle is one hell of an activist. Go Mitch!
I agree with you on most points, but I think your last points are a little to vitriolic and absolute. When the words you chose are louder than the message you're trying to convey you become misunderstood. For example: "a force for evil" is too nebulous and "Christians are mentally unstable" is an over-generalization/borderline ad hominem fallacy. It would be more defensible to say that Christianity (or better yet religion and superstition) is a source of great harm, and that to persist in delusion is not conductive to mental health.
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