King's Singers rebuffed

[RichardB]

They are a private school that doesn’t accept any State or Federal funding.

I'm talking about how people like DeSantis normalise bigotry - it doesn't just affect institutions under direct federal or state control but public discourse more generally, and we on the other side of the Atlantic know exactly how that works because it's been an increasing blight on our own culture and politics for some time.

[richardfinegold]

I'm talking about how people like DeSantis normalise bigotry - it doesn't just affect institutions under direct federal or state control but public discourse more generally, and we on the other side of the Atlantic know exactly how that works because it's been an increasing blight on our own culture and politics for some time.

This particular institution didn’t require any encouragement for any government. Its policies would no doubt be the same if it were located in North Dakota. And fwiw, due to migrations of retirees in search of better weather, including quite possibly myself in the very near future, Florida is undergoing a profound political transformation and has been for decades. Anyone who thinks that Florida is putting LGBQT people in a gulag should spend 5 minutes in South Beach in Miami for a reality check.
Refering to DeSantis specifically, he apparently feels like he has to don the metal of the Right Wing Culture Warrior in order to outflank and dethrone the Orange Blob. One wonders how much of this stuff he actually believes, as it is all contrary to his previous stands during his six years as a Congressman. It is all disappointing, as he previously had been more of a policy wonk. My prediction is that he will be successful in eroding Trump’s base but will have compromised himself with the General Electorate in doing so that he will be unelectable as President and due to the Demographic changes in Florida he will lose his power base in a few years

[Dave2002]

You have to live in the States to get an idea of how much religion , especially Christianity, still pervades everyday activity so this doesn’t surprise me at all sadly .

I think it varies from state to state. Also, in some areas religion and churches are treated in a similar way to some in the UK - for example some C of E churches.- which sometimes seem to have more of a social function rather than a deeply spiritual one. So church attendance might be a bit more like going along to a club to see friends.

However I do recall one church in California having a splendid nativity play - I wasn't there - but I heard about it. I think they even managed to borrow a camel or two!

[Serial_Apologist]

Also, in some areas religion and churches are treated in a similar way to some in the UK - for example some C of E churches.- which sometimes seem to have more of a social function rather than a deeply spiritual one. So church attendance might be a bit more like going along to a club to see friends.

I think that's probably very much the case for a lot of attenders at pentecostal-type services, who go along for the music, conviviality and uplift, rather than the platitudes extruding from the preacher. Where else in modern-day society do you find that, apart from dance clubbing, where the main objective seems to be sensory overload/obliteration.

[ahinton]

I understand that the King's Singers were paid in full for their cancelled performance but so they should have been. I don't understand why an institution with rules such as the disgraceful ones that this one has would even engage anyone for a musical performance in the first place.