Goshen, USA - A Mennonite school in Indiana has banned the playing of the National Anthem before sports events because it is too violent, NBC Sports reports.
The Goshen College board instructed its president to “find an alternative to playing the National Anthem that fits with sports tradition, that honors country and that resonates with Goshen College’s core values and respects the views of diverse constituencies.”
Mennonites are a Christian sect that adheres to a strictly nonviolent philosophy. As a school rep told the Chicago Tribune, the school felt that playing the song “was inconsistent to the entire message we were trying to send.”
School President Jim Brenneman chose “America the Beautiful” as a replacement.
The college, whose mascot is a leaf, actually started playing the anthem only in 2010, and then as an instrumental, the first time it had played the song since its athletics programs began in 1957. The board ruled against the song altogether two months ago.