I guess I’m not the only one...
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, aka, America’s Choir, sings Battle Hymn of the Republic to Ronald Reagan on 1/20/81 at the Inaugural Parade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlzP7CsZONc
I used to love that tune, but that was before I knew its history. Julia Ward Howe wasn’t a Christian, she was a Unitarian. And she wrote the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” to the tune of “John Brown’s Body” for the Union. The song wasn’t inspired by the Bible, but by her bloodlust for Southern blood on Southern land.
My great-grandfather nearly died as a Union prisoner of war. He probably heard that song sung by his Union guards. Of course he died 40 years before I was born, but my grandmother made sure I knew the stories of his life. Since I am both a Southerner and a Christian, I just can’t sing that song in good conscience.