Perspective: Why I sit out "God Bless America"

StAugustine.com ^ | 06/02/2013 | JAMES P. MARSH JR.

[SeekAndFind]

Special to The Washington Post

I am a Methodist minister and a Washington Nationals fan. I was there on Opening Day in 2005 at old RFK Stadium in Washington, and I try my best to plan my summer around Nats home games. I have only one issue with the ballpark experience, and it’s not with the beer prices. It’s with “God Bless America.”

In his May 15 column, Washington Post writer John Kelly described the odd feeling of not knowing whether to stand during the singing of this song in the middle of the seventh inning. Like Kelly, I don’t want to come off as anti-American if I remain seated. I stand for the “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the acknowledgment of returning soldiers, and for “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” Because I’m a minister, it might seem odd for me not to stand for “God Bless America,” too. But I sit to stand up for my religious beliefs.

One hot Sunday afternoon last season, I did not rise for “God Bless America.” In a beer-soaked tone of voice that wasn’t pleasant, a gentleman several rows behind me told me to stand up. I reminded him that I don’t have to.

This incident made me think more about the question: I love this country and don’t want to live anywhere else. But being pressured to stand up at a baseball game for a song that’s essentially a prayer seems, well, un-American. It feels like being pushed into the river for a baptism I didn’t choose. It’s an empty ritual, and one that I think doesn’t hold much theological water.

What we join together to say, sing and stand up for says something about us as a people. I think it matters. At ballparks across the country, we are expected to participate in what can be described only as a prayer to ask God’s blessings on our nation. As nice as blessings are, singing this song doesn’t feel like it has integrity the way singing our national anthem does.

I’m reminded of the admonition not to pray just to be seen by others. More important, though, I’m concerned that this is a myopic way to exercise faith. I imagine that the God I believe in isn’t interested in dispensing special nationalistic blessings. (Or, perhaps more to the point, blessings for our bullpen, error-free fielding and sufficient run support.) When we ask for blessings to be bestowed only on “us,” we are in danger of seeing ourselves as set apart from the world. Faith is global, and one nation doesn’t get any more or less of God than any other.

Asking for God’s blessing for “us” or “me” ignores greater needs in our world. We should ask a bigger question: How can we get this blessing to all? I want God walking with and standing beside every single person on this Earth — and every country.

Stepping back, this also raises the question: Why do we all too frequently seek to invoke rituals that, in the end, undermine our common bonds? Not everyone in our nation or at the ballpark shares the same beliefs. From which god are we asking these blessings? What does the good secular humanist or atheist do during this song? Are we to assume that all deities will be in concert for those who believe in more than one?

This “god” business — how (and whether) we conceive of the divine — is messy, even in our houses of worship. At a ballgame, where most of us have come to root for the Nats, it just doesn’t fit. We shouldn’t make a grand assumption that we’re all of one belief. The one thing that we do, in fact, have in common is the love of baseball. It’s a powerful, communal thing when we cheer together — even if we’re cheering for opposite teams. Yes, this even applies to Phillies fans.

So the next time you see me sitting down during “God Bless America,” don’t give me the “hairy eyeball” (as Kelly described it) or say I’m un-American. In our great country, each of us has the right to his or her own religious beliefs, and we celebrate our nation’s diversity and plurality. My deeply held and sincere religious beliefs just don’t countenance this ritual.

Besides, dissent is patriotic. We have the right to sit down when everyone else stands up.

[mjp]

When we ask for blessings to be bestowed only on “us,” we are in danger of seeing ourselves as set apart from the world. Faith is global, and one nation doesn’t get any more or less of God than any other.

The mistakes in this attitude are

1) belief that there is a lack of a standard to make an objective evaluation of cultures
2) acceptance of cultural relativism

How man succeeds in relation to the physical world provides an objective standard by which to judge the value of cultures.Man's survival, well being,and happiness, and life proper to a rational being depend on man's being able to gain and keep values such as knowledge and wealth.America is a culture where one is able to gain these real goods better than other cultures, and so deserves to be blessed by God.

[kitkat]

A Methodist minister doesn’t believe in God?

Or he thinks that we don’t have the right to express OUR belief in God?

He has a problem.

[stars & stripes forever]

“I wish God would Bless America, we need it now more than ever.”

When America starts to BLESS GOD by seeking HIS face and changing our wicked ways, GOD will forgive us and heal our land. 2 Chronciles 7:14 is a promise, but we have to do our part.

[Resolute Conservative]

Basically what same thing happened to me. We had not been going to church for while because of moving and my wife had some folks at the Methodist invite us. For 2 years it was good, the pastor was conservative, the people were engaged and great small town folks, and the church vibrant and Book following. The pastor was not an outgoing man but well spoken and educated and preached from the Book every Sunday. Knowing nothing about Methodists (I am a Southern Baptist) I started researching church structure and financial stuff. How the national convention spent money was disturbing. I would discuss these disappointing discoveries with my pastor and he agreed and kept referring to an upcoming battle in the church for power. It was about that time he left to go to an area where his bishops wanted him to revive a church in crisis (pastor had an affair in church family) and he felt it was his calling. The new pastor came and immediately we saw a difference. The hymns we sang, the message content became bland, even the youth group changed. I would bring up topics I had discussed with the previous pastor and was basically told that I was behind the times and the church needed to change. Same stuff, we needed fancy electronics to draw in young people and needed to not be so “in your face” with pushing Jesus. I argued and said, no we need the Word, and he said nobody really wanted to hear fire and brimstone anymore.

Needless to say over the next year the church went from having an average of 80-100 seats filled a Sunday to about 15-20. Youth group went to about 4-5 kids a meeting. After a few months of hearing this guys milk water sermons and discussing with some very dear elderly members who say the hand writing on the wall we left and went back to a baptist church 20 minutes further drive in the next town. Last I heard average age on a Sunday was 65+, mainly elderly that have been and loved that church that won’t leave it. Amazing how fast it can happen.

[Sans-Culotte]

You forgot the “douche-bag” alert.

[Polyxene]

Or maybe “The Internationale”

[Salvation]

From a boy Scout site:  http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/godblessamerica.html

 

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With printable piano music at this site: http://www.usa-flag-site.org/songs.shtml

 

Patriotic Songs. Lyrics that Stir our Hearts.

National pride swells to the music that pays tribute to our great country. Honor the United States by learning some of these patriotic songs. Just click on the title for a copy of the lyrics to these patriotic songs.

America the Beautiful Lyrics

America, My Country 'Tis of Thee Lyrics

Battle Hymn of the Republic Lyrics

God Bless America Lyrics

God Bless the USA Lyrics

Halls of Montezuma Lyrics

The Stars and Stripes Forever Lyrics

The Star-Spangled Banner Lyrics

Yankee Doodle Lyrics

If you have suggestions or comments for us, we'd appreciate your dropping us a note by clicking here.

[Fiji Hill]

I found a Methodist preacher who takes sides all the time. So far he has told us we can’t post pro life signs on the church lawn because we may offend parishoners, we shouldn’t ever mention God to non believers, we may offend them.

It sounds as though Jesus Christ would have been unwelcome in his charge.

[Fiji Hill]

Take Me Out to the Ball Game--Harry MacDonough & the Haydn Quartet (1908)

[RinaseaofDs]

I’m not sure I understand Mr. Marsh here.

His Bible says that homosexuality is an abomination before God. It further says that marriage is between a man and a woman (Jesus said that, actually).

Yet, saying a public prayer all together at a ball game - that’s over the line.

What isn’t over the line, of course, is unprotected anal sex between two men. Smoking in the same ball park, that won’t work, however. Smoking is bad for you. Smoking a pole that’s been in some dude’s hole, well that’s just another version of normal.

I’m going to pay more for insurance if I smoke. My friend Biff, however, he’s a non-smoker, but he pulls the train down at The Lavender Fist every Friday night. He’s a vegan, you see, and he pays a lower rate.

Mr. Marsh is about the same speed as a lot of ELCA pastors I’ve run into. I don’t know a lot of Methodists.

Bible study is fun in the ELCA, if you know which aisles of the store to avoid. In my church, a Lot is what you are supposed to give to the collection plate, not the name of a guy who was willing to offer his daughters up to be gang raped in order to protect the angels in his home from a bunch of buggerers.

[Lee N. Field]

Because I’m a minister, it might seem odd for me not to stand for “God Bless America,” too.

No, not odd. Not for his reasons (his verbiage is that of the theological liberal), but I find it entirely appropriate, especially for a servant of the word, to avoid mass displays of civil religion. Invoking God is serious business, and not to be done in a trifling way.

"I imagine that the God I believe in isn’t interested in dispensing special nationalistic blessings. "

Not now. The era of the Mosaic covenant and the ancient Israelite theocracy is definitively over. Contra the dispensationalists, it was typological and is now obsolete, and won't be coming back.

[LadyDoc]

bunch of nonsense.

The guy is a psychologist who hasn’t worked as a minister for over ten years.

And my “progressive” friends are using this to demonize the Christian right, in the same way some Anti American Brits wrote similar tirades against the song after 911

What makes all of this ironic is that the song was written by Irving Berlin in 1917...he was a Jewish refugee from the anti Semetic pogroms of the czar....