Claims Wave is against Christian music

This is an open letter to the board of directors of The Wave. We are members of The Wave and members of the Whitefish community served by The Wave.

Earlier this year, a few members began getting together informally for a bicycle exercise class. They met at 5:30 in the morning to "spin" to upbeat Christian music. The routine soon became so popular among Wave members that The Wave encouraged the group to become a regular class. The group agreed, and The Wave advertised the class.

The instructor explained each morning that he intended to play Christian music and asked if anyone objected. No one did, at least not in class. But someone complained to The Wave about the "religious" music. The Wave board then prohibited the class from playing religious music, the instructor resigned, and the class disbanded.

Because The Wave is a public facility and the product of a community fund-raising effort, we doubted that the board's decision to prohibit religious music was right. We didn't believe that it truly reflected the wishes or beliefs of a large segment of the Whitefish community and The Wave's membership, and we thought that it may even be a well-meaning but illegal form of discrimination.

We requested a meeting with the board to discuss the issue. We hoped to come to a mutually acceptable policy, one that was more inclusive of members' wishes, not less inclusive.

However, the board has denied our repeated requests for a meeting. Instead, it has informed us that its policy will remain the same: The Wave board will not allow "religious" music in its classes and will not discuss the issue with us. Religious music will be limited to rented spaces only, for a fee, provided it "cannot be heard by others."

There is still music at The Wave, played in the classes and public spaces, but it is of the MTV variety, a sort that has a distinct message itself. There is also music from eastern spirituality and mysticism, hip-hop, country-western and jazz.

We understand that our community and culture are diverse and that not everything is pleasing to everyone else. But learning to respect other people's choices, not to censor them, is what communities are all about.

That's why, though it offends us, we do not ask that The Wave censor other forms of music. We ask the same respect and tolerance from The Wave board. We are still willing to meet to reach an appropriate solution.

Joe Coco, Whitefish

And 59 other Wave members