Posted on 11/06/2001 1:10:34 PM PST by madison46
AMHERST, N.Y., Nov. 6 — If you watched the World Series, you might think “God Bless America” had become the national anthem. I admit it’s easier to sing than “The Star-Spangled Banner.” But it begins with the word “God,” and in a land of unprecedented religious diversity that is exclusionary language.
Political Correctness at its worst.
In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple Near the relief office - I see my people And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin' If this land's still made for you and me.
Not exactly National Anthem type lyrics.
* 10935 responses
Star-Spangled Banner 36%
God Bless America 36%
America the Beautiful 19%
This Land is Your Land 6%
None of the above 3%
More like 72% vs. 28%!!
In the best MudBoySlim tradition:
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHWWAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
Want some cheese with that whine?
The Star Spangled Banner
by Francis Scott Key (1779 - 1843)
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Star-Spangled Banner 35%
God Bless America 36%
America the Beautiful 19%
This Land is Your Land 6%
None of the above 3%
God Bless America is a beautiful, stirring song, of course, and any American who finds it offensive, in my opinion, should stay home. The practice of singing the Star Spangled Banner before the game, and God Bless America in the seventh inning, was a wonderful touch, so far as I am concerned.
Frankly, I wonder why the poll, which offered several alternatives, completely ignored "America." You know, "My Country Tis Of Thee, Sweet Land Of Liberty," etc.. I believe that it was treated as the Anthem before Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner, and also has some very stirring, heritage celebrating lines.
What dysrons, like the media writer in the linked article, do not seem to understand in their frenetic pursuit of the politics of "diversity," is that opinions such as his, actually explode the rationalizations by which others have promoted the concept. If it means that the rest of us have to give up major parts of our culture, it obviously is no concept that we want to buy into.
I could get a lot blunter, but it is time to call it a day.
William Flax Return Of The Gods Web Site
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