Seventh Circuit judge and Clear Thinkers favorite Richard Posner (previous posts here) has some fun in this recent decision involving an age-discrimination claim by a church organist. Federal courts generally do not have jurisdiction over religious disputes, but courts may review employment decisions of religious institutions if they are based on secular factors. In this particular case, a Catholic church fired the organist, purportedly after a dispute over what music should be played at Easter services. The organist claimed that the music dispute was just a ruse by the church to cover up its quite secular desire to fire him on the basis of his age in order to hire a younger organist.
Judge Posner was not swayed by the organist’s argument and uses Mozart’s dispute with Archbishop Colloredo to help explain his reasoning:

So far as his role as organist is concerned, his lawyer says that all Tomic did was play music. But there is no one way to play music. If Tomic played the organ with a rock and roll beat, or played excerpts from Jesus Christ Superstar at an Easter Mass he would be altering the religious experience of the parishioners. [. . .]
At argument Tomicís lawyer astonished us by arguing that music has in itself no religious significanceóits only religious significance is in its words. The implication is that it is a matter of indifference to the Church and its flock whether the words of the Gospel are set to Handelís Messiah or to ìThree Blind Mice.î That obviously is false. The religious music played at a wedding is not necessarily suitable for a funeral; and religious music written for Christmas is not necessarily suitable for Easter. Even Mozart had to struggle over what was suitable church music with his first patron, Archbishop Colloredo, whom the Mozart family called the ìarch-booby.î

Hat tip to Robert Loblaw for the link to Judge Posner’s decision.