Should choirs in public schools sing religious songs? Rob Sherman is threatening to sue the Wheeling Elementary School District 21 in Illinois unless a religious song is dropped from the program of the choir his daughter belongs to. But it's not just any religious song - it is one which prays for God to convert sinners.

The Pioneer reports:

Rob Sherman contends the song "Hashivenu" -- one of four songs picked to be sung at a Riley Elementary School choir program later this month -- offends his 10-year-old daughter's atheistic beliefs. Sherman's daughter, Dawn, participates in the extracurricular choir. Dawn Sherman said she does not sing the song during rehearsals with the rest of the choir. She said she feels like an outcast when the rest of the students sing it. "It's kind of weird to be standing by myself and not singing, and it makes me feel different," she said. "It's like someone wants me to feel different."

Sherman contends the song's lyrics, which the children are singing in Hebrew, are a proselytizing prayer from the Book of Lamentations in the Old Testament of the Bible, asking God to convert sinners to believe in Him. ... The lyrics are from Lamentations 5:21, which, when translated into English, state, "Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old." "It's basically asking to be born again," Sherman said. "It condemns the views of those who are not Jews or Christians."

Some religious songs have become standard parts of choir programs and people argue that they should remain simply because of tradition - on the other hand, it should raise some eyebrows that those songs all come from Christian and at times Jewish religious traditions. Nevertheless, this particular song seems to go a bit further than most. Asking public school students to sing a prayer to God to convert sinners seems like it really is going too far.

Read More:

• Separation of Church and State 101
• Religion in Public Schools
• School Prayer