I vow to thee, my country — all earthly things above —
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago—
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And the problem is? How dare they remind us we live in a particular country.
I vow to thee, my country — all earthly things above —
The gist of the hymn is pretty much what St. Augustine argues in "The City of God," that we are citizens of two cities and should be loyal to our earthly city, so far as we may, but that we owe our primary allegiance to Heaven. I can't imagine why anyone would object to it.
I like that hymn, and I'm not even a Brit!
If the good Bishop isn't going to quote Stephen Decatur's toast correctly, he ought not use it at all.
"My country...may she always be right, but right or wrong, my country."
As soon as I read this I thought about 'There Will Always Be an England' and wondered if there will be..
This site notes that the left hates this song,too.
http://www.sterlingtimes.co.uk/alwaysengland.Html
There'll always be an England,
While there's a country lane.
Wherever there's a cottage small
Beside a field of grain
There'll always be an England
While there's a busy street.
Wherever there's a turning wheel
A million marching feet.
Red, white and blue
What does it mean to you?
Surely you're proud
Shout it loud
Britons awake!
The Empire too
We can depend on you.
Freedom remains
These are the chains
Nothing can break.
There'll always be an England
And England shall be free
If England means as much to you
As England means to me.
How beautiful...maybe it will become popular here.
Socialized medicine has parallels in Nazism as well. Interesting how the Left chooses its indignations.
We vow to build a country
Where all can live in health
Where no child need live in poverty
Where we will share our wealth
Where we fulfill the true potential
Of each and every one
And we achieve more together
Than we achieve alone
As democrats and socialists
We hold this to be true
From each by their ability
To everyone their due
We vow to build a country
Where none of us takes heed
Of birth or disability
Of race or sex or creed
By the strength of our endeavor
We can build the world anew
And put the power in the hands of
The many not the few
For there is a simple principle
That no one shall displace
We are all alike in humankind
We are the human race.
I bet they're already singing this at Princess Diana's old school in place of the version she sang as a child.
Is this bishop a 'friend of John'?
Did I miss something?
Another sad development in the EU's Northwest Islands Zone.
The UK can't really brag about their freedom of speech:
No Porking Allowed
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,151638,00.html
A man in the United Kingdom has been formally chastised by a court for labeling his parking lot a "porking yard" and offending Muslims from a nearby mosque in the process, according to the Scotsman.
Leroy Trought, owner of the Swan With Two Necks pub in Bristol (search), was ordered by a court to change the sign in his car park to the more proper "parking yard" and not to display any more signs that could be considered threatening, abusive or insulting at his establishment.
Apparently, Muslims attending a nearby mosque told police that the sign was racially and sexually offensive. The reference to pork was also deemed provocative and insulting.
Brit Bump.
Well he had a bit of a point in that we should not make say that faith and patriotism are one and the same - but adding in the America bashing causes any point to be lost.
Let His Lordship have it-
Lowehulme@btinternet.com
Unless you add the rest that was conveniently left off:
..."when right, to keep her right; when wrong, to set her right".
When did You last hear this one?
1. My country,' tis of thee,
sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing;
land where my fathers died,
land of the pilgrims' pride,
from every mountainside let freedom ring!
2. My native country, thee,
land of the noble free, thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
thy woods and templed hills;
my heart with rapture thrills, like that above.
3. Let music swell the breeze,
and ring from all the trees sweet freedom's song;
let mortal tongues awake;
let all that breathe partake;
let rocks their silence break, the sound prolong.
4. Our fathers' God, to thee,
author of liberty, to thee we sing;
long may our land be bright
with freedom's holy light;
protect us by thy might, great God, our King.
I mean...it's the "Church of England" ...a national church, fer cryin' out loud.