Posted on 12/18/2001 11:26:13 AM PST by RonDog
In recent editorial published in the Mercurial Times, Free Republic's own AnnaZ described a NEW release of the classic patriotic song "America the Beautiful" in which the phrase "God shed His Grace on Thee" has been REMOVED.
See, from:
The Dregs of the Whine Cellar (Barrel I)
Posted on 12/18/01 1:17 AM Pacific by Mercuria"Several weeks ago I took my sons to see that (noncontroversial) children's hit flick, Monsters, Inc., at a United Artists theater. We settled into our seats, my eldest navigating his posterior and the popcorn, I juggling the toddling one and the root beer and perusing the trailers for appropriate subject matter for the next family excursion.Mercurial Times exclusive commentary. All reprints must credit the author and Mercurial Times.And then, for the first time in my life, I saw a propaganda piece. Live.
Seeing as this is my first war as a (still only) resident of America it was inspiring, "uniting". I thought of Rosie the Riveter and all the "Go, USA!" I had missed out on during wars past, and felt a hearkening back to a history of a nation united for "Right".
My five-year old and I unconsciously held hands and surreptitiously sang along as multi-landscapes, multi-ethnicities and a booming tenor filled the theater. Sing along, please, as we did:
O beautiful for spacious skies,
for amber waves of grain,
for purple mountain majesties
above the fruited plain!
America! America!
and crown thy good with brotherhood
from sea to shining sea. Notice something missing? We did. My son, sweet innocent that he is, thought, no doubt, as he hurried to catch up to the lead, that he had screwed up the words. I knew I hadn't. But somewhere, someone had decided to. On purpose.
I arrived at home ready to stomp my own sour grapes and began to make some calls to find out who had authorized this "inclusive" deletion. Katherine Lee Bates, the pen of the prose, may be deceased, I thought, but I'm most decidedly not and I am mad, as hell, and I don't feel like taking this PC-crap anymore. "Just pick another freakin' song, then!", I was going to yell.
And "You offended ME, get it? Someone's STILL offended!"
Or how about "God. GodGodGodGodGod." Oh, how the imaginary diatribe flowed angry and articulate through my noggin as I looked up numbers. Ooh yeah, and I was going to record it all and play it on my radio show, and show someone, boy.But I couldn't get beyond theater location recordings and voice mails and it was time to make dinner and fold laundry and plan a Christmas Pageant and change a diaper. When it comes to my whine I guess I'm a nouveau beaujolais, I ain't got the time to fer-, er, foment.
At least not on my own..."(Emphasis added by me.)(For the REST of AnnaZ's wonderful editorial, CLICK HERE.)
God.
Next question?
WHO is responsible for removing "God shed His Grace on Thee" from "America the Beautiful?"LOL!God.
Next question?
O.K. NEXT question: Assuming that He would choose to use us humble vessels to to bring BACK those missing words, how might we best proceed to fulfill His will?
You know, I've read that line about the skirts on tables being there to hide the legs as though they were indecent, a simulacrum of human nudity; upon reflection, I think they were put there to hide the damage caused by nicks and scrapes from use and to hide the dust bunnies.
The communists are defeated, yet here we are using newspeak: diversity = uniform thinking; compromise = not; inclusive = exclusive; minority rights = denying majority rights.
My grandmother was embarrassed that her initials were "L.E.G."
And I knew an elderly lady who confessed to my wife (not to me, certainly), that when she was young, she and a friend tore from a book a page on which the word "leg" was printed in the text, so that those who read it afterward would not know they had seen such a word.
Contemporary Liberal censorship is every bit as absurd as these examples, Liberals every bit as ridiculous. Theirs is just another example of prudery or neo-puritanism.
Don't bother explaining it to Liberals though. They're either deep in denial, or they're too stupid to understand what you're talking about.
Liberals are such fools!
This happened at the theatre I go to too.Do you remember the particulars?The weird thing is that they re-inserted "God shed his grace on thee" a few weeks ago, and then removed it again recently.
Was it also at a United Arts theater?
Who were the singers?
Who produced the video?
Thank you for validating AnnaZ's observations.
Let's ROLL....
KATHERINE LEE BATES (1859-1929) wrote the beloved words to this song in 1895 after a climb up Pike's Peak in Colorado. There the view inspired her to convey the beauty and majesty of America. Although many composers vied for the honor of setting Bates' words to music, she herself chose the melody "Materna", which Samuel Augustus Ward (1847-1903) had composed in 1882 for his hymn "O Mother Dear, Jerusalem." [Classic Songs of America, pg. 8]
- Jeff in (thank God) WV
The key to this travesty is that Mercuria resides in The People's Republik of CALIFORNIA!Perhaps. But Hollywood EXPORTS much of this simple-minded atheism - all over the world.
Coming soon to a theater near YOU...
UA Guest Relations page...send e-mail, comments!
"We guarantee a magical movie experience! If we have not exceeded your customer service expectations, please let us know!"
Well...they ASKED...!
Reformation starts in the Church. Has to.
There will be no lasting success in the "culture wars" -- none -- until the American Church repents of its doctrinal and ecclesial sins.
If the American Church is not Reformed, the "culture war" is lost already. Except it be preceded by spiritual reformation of the Church, there is absolutely no chance of national spiritual renaissance. None. God sheds His Grace, or His Judgment, upon a Nation in large extent according to His estimation of the purity of that nation's churches.
While all sorts of diverse socio-political action are useful and meritorious, they are holding actions at best (and are even sometimes misguided, or at least ultimately pyrrhic). If you want to contribute something lasting to the Reformation of America, contribute to the reformation of your local church.
Without Reformation of the Church, there will be no Revival in the Land.
United Artists Theatre Circuit, Inc.
9110 E. Nichols Avenue, Suite 200
Englewood, CO 80112-3405
(303) 792-3600
Since people are getting wary about snail-mail, 'twould behoove us to call in and voice our comments...as well as getting a fax number!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.