Music ban makes waves at health club

Three Whitefish residents say action by The Wave raises constitutional questions

The Wave board of directors met Wednesday with three Whitefish residents to discuss the health club's recent religious music ban.

No action was taken at the meeting, but President Dan Weinberg told the trio that the board would consider their comments as it decides what the club's policy should be.

"The board will be working toward a policy over the next few days," he said. "You'll be the first to see it."

The directors outlawed religious music after receiving complaints about contemporary Christian music played during an early morning spinning class. The Wave cited its inclusiveness policy as the reason for the ban, saying it tries to eliminate music people might find offensive.

But the people who attended the class say the policy isn't applied across the board; The Wave allows other classes with music they find offensive. Furthermore, they say the class's Christian music is why they attended. Once instructor Bob Bouillon stopped playing religious music, people stopped attending.

After the prohibition went into effect, a group of Wave members and Whitefish residents, organized by Joe Coco Jr., asked to address the board of directors. The request was denied until Wednesday, when Coco, Bouillon and attorney Jim Ramlow were allowed to meet with the board.

Board member Swithin McGrath, reading from a prepared statement, explained the directors' reasoning for not meeting sooner with concerned club members.

"The board's decision not to give you an audience at the outset of this process was not made in animosity towards you or your beliefs, nor was it made to shut out member input," she said. "It was, in fact, a deliberate decision that was consistent with our policy of not offering a full-board audience to every member who is unhappy with the board's policies."

If the board had the situation to do over, she said, it would consider meeting with the concerned members earlier.

Coco, who also read a prepared statement at the meeting, said he was thankful for the opportunity to address the board at last.

"I was kind of hoping for a little more open dialogue. It was a little bit more reserved than I would have liked," he said in a phone interview after the meeting. "But this is the first time in 4 1/2 months that they actually met with us."

Coco told the board that the music policy "raises serious constitutional questions."

"In many cases, The Wave is very concerned about a violation of the Establishment Clause," he said. "We don't think that's a true and valid concern."

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment says Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion. If The Wave treats religious music in the same way it treats other music in its fitness classes, the club will not violate the law, Coco said.

"Denying citizens their constitutionally guaranteed rights of free speech, even for noble reasons like preventing others from being offended, could produce unnecessarily damaging consequences for The Wave and for our community at large," he told the directors.

John Lacey, the board's attorney, clarified that The Wave was concerned not with offending people, but with violating the law. The board believes it acted in accordance with the law when it made the music policy, Weinberg said.

"We got the best legal advice we could find, and the advice that we were given is that the First Amendment says two things: It says that we must not advocate for any religion. At the same time, we must not create a barrier for people wanting to express their religious beliefs," he said in a post-meeting phone interview.

"To the best of our ability and our attorneys', we feel that our policy must represent a balanced approach, where we respect both the separation of church and state and the free expression of one's religious beliefs."

Half a dozen people exercised their free-expression rights Wednesday morning, when they stood outside The Wave with blue signs.

"I don't exercise in your church; don't worship in my gym," read one. Another read, "Let's all spin to jihad hymns."

The group represented a variety of religious backgrounds; they were there to tell the board to treat all beliefs equally.

"We respect other people's religious beliefs. We just don't want them to be part of our exercise programs," said Alison Charman, who helped organize the group. "It's not an anti-religion issue or an anti-Christian issue."

The picketers attracted quite a bit of attention from passers-by, said Lisa Jones, who held one of the signs.

"Only a couple of people shake their heads this way," she said, shaking her head back and forth. "Nearly everybody is a thumbs up."

Teri Hill was not a "thumbs up," but she did pull over to talk with the sign holders in person.

"As a Christian, I would never ask to have a Christian cycling class," she said. "It only breeds dissent."

"But they should ask," Charles Charman, who held the "jihad hymns" sign, told her. "I think there should be a Christian cycling class."

But if there's a Christian cycling class, The Wave also should offer classes for Muslims, Jews and other religions, he added.

Hill shook her head.

"I come to the gym to work out," she said. "I don't come to worship."

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.