Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
More Voices
Religion News
What’s the role of America’s patriotic songs and symbols?

What’s the role of America’s patriotic songs and symbols?

Last updated on: June 22, 2024 at 2:05 pm by Richard Ostling

0 Comments

What’s the role of America’s patriotic songs and symbols? 2024-06-22T14:05:23-04:00 Richard Ostling

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Stars and stripes at Fort McHenry National Monument / Joshua Woods unsplash.com

THE RELIGION GUY’S ANSWER:

To thrive, the United States needs, yes, to be “united,” which is a challenge this polarized July 4th. The population’s hugely varied array of backgrounds has always meant unity grows from shared democratic governance and ideals rather than ethnic bonds or a single religious heritage.

In troubled times, this uniquely complex nation has sought to uplift shared symbols of freedom and fellowship, often with a religious flavor. That instinct presumably underlies this week’s new law in Louisiana that mandates Ten Commandments displays in classrooms, though the effect will likely be disunifying.

Back in 1931, during a terrifying economic Depression, President Hoover signed Congress’s bill to make “The Star-Spangled Banner” the National Anthem. That made permanent a similar executive order from President Wilson in 1916 as the nation struggled to avoid a savage world war.

Solace from “civil religion”

In the 1950s, threatened by expanding international Communism with its brutally enforced atheism, the nation sought solace and identity in “civil religion.” In 1951, the New York State Regents authorized a bland, non-sectarian prayer to God for daily schoolroom recitations (outlawed by the Supreme Court in 1962).

In 1953, encouraged by evangelist Billy Graham, President Eisenhower endorsed the first annual Presidential Prayer Breakfast. The following year, a campaign by the Knights of Columbus culminated in Eisenhower signing Congress’s bill to insert “under God” into the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1956, Eisenhower signed the law designating the national motto to be “In God we Trust,” taken from the rarely-sung fourth stanza of the National Anthem, and required it to appear on all currency.

When Major League Baseball resumed operations after September 11, 2001, the leagues ordered teams to play “God Bless America” at each game. Irving Berlin had revised and published his popular hymn in 1938 when, as the verse says, “the storm clouds” of world war gathered “far across the sea.” Baseball’s observance faded, but is still honored by the New York Yankees, whose town had come under attack.

Why did the government choose “The Star-Spangled Banner,” with Francis Scott Key’s words inspired during Britain’s bombardment of Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the War of 1812? There were other longstanding patriotic favorites, the frivolous “Yankee Doodle” and triumphant “Hail Columbia.” Also “America” (“My country, ‘tis of thee”), though the tune of Britain’s national anthem was not appropriate for America’s.

Musical unification

The rousing 1862 “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was fiercely disunifying, the North summoning God’s “fateful lightning” against the the slave state in the South. After the Civil War, “The Star-Spangled Banner” emerged as a much-needed symbol of national unity at ceremonies, and was well-established before the rise of the competing “America the Beautiful.”

This newcomer combined an 1888 hymn tune by Episcopal church organist Samuel Ward with a poem by Wellesley College professor Katharine Lee Bates, first published in a Congregational church weekly in 1895 and revised in 1904. The pious Bates invoked God in each stanza, so proponents of strict separation of church and state might spurn it as an anthem, while Key’s first verse avoids mention of God.

Ward’s flowing tune would have solved the major problem raised in Congress’s 1931 National Anthem debate, that it’s nearly unsingable by ordinary folk. Over the years, some have questioned the appropriateness of John Smith’s accompanying tune, a British barroom favorite to laud a wine-loving Greek poet, or have lamented that Key’s words are so narrowly militaristic. Not to mention that Key, who so proudly hailed “the land of the free,” was a slave-owner.

In 2016, National Football League quarterback Colin Kaepernick first famously kneeled in protest during the customary pregame Anthem. He explained, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses Black people and people of color.” The Anthem and professional sports, both of which had helped unify Americans, became racially divisive.

“Black National Anthem”

That message is radically different from the spirit of the “Black National Anthem” performed on Juneteenth this week, the beloved and soulful hymn “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Listen to it during worship at the 216-year-old Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City: www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGaEV_ir3KQ**/**. The stirring words can be read at https://genius.com/James-weldon-johnson-lift-every-voice-and-sing-annotated/,

Historical note: Juneteenth (June 19) was chosen in 2021 for a federal holiday celebrating the demise of slavery because on that date in 1865 an Army general read President Lincoln’s 1863 Emancipation Proclamation to freed slaves in Galveston. But it was Congress’s narrow passage of the 13th Amendment on January 31 that year, with ratification December 6, that outlawed slavery. Juneteenth thus overshadows the actual abolition, which was a historic Republican victory over Democratic opponents.

The hymn, praised last weekend in The Wall Street Journal’s “Masterpiece” feature, originated with a 1900 birthday tribute to Lincoln. The words were written by the son of a part-time Black preacher, poet James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938), soon after set to music by his brother, composer J. Rosamund Johnson (1873-1954). This brotherly duo later achieved considerable songwriting success on Broadway and Tin Pan Alley.

James is famed as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance best known for “God’s Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse” (1927). He was also a high school principal, college professor, United States diplomat, Florida’s first Black lawyer, and for a decade the first Black executive secretary of the NAACP.

Rolling music, contrasting verses

Rosamund’s distinctively rolling, gospel-inflected music employs the AABA structure of popular song for a march complete with a “break-up strain,” cleverly dramatized by an extra measure plus fermata. James’s poetry needs to be read in its entirety because the three verses are so different.

Verse one pulses with optimism about America with the “harmonies of liberty,” “rejoicing,” “a song full of faith” and “hope,” and “our new day begun.”

Verse two graphically recounts African-Americans’ “gloomy” past when “hope unborn had died,” with “bitter” beatings and slaves walking a path watered with tears and wading “through the blood of the slaughtered.”

Verse three reminds us that polls show African-Americans are generally more devout than whites. It consists of an emphatic prayer of thanksgiving to the God who “led us into the light.” There’s a warning that the populace must never “stray” from or “forget” God, and concludes with this vow: “May we forever stand, true to our God, true to our native land.” Amen.

More Voices

Politics and Religion

Uncategorized

America the Beautiful

Black National Anthem

Previous Post

June 7, 2024

How should Christianity relate to politics and culture?

Next Post

July 6, 2024 Might the Supreme Court OK school Ten Commandments displays?

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"(First off, a correction: telescopes were invented about 1,300 years after Ptolemy's death.)Skeptics have been ..."

Ray Ingles

UFO buzz: Will life on distant ..."

"NIPs... spurn labels and are averse to “organized religion” with its expectations about moral lifestyles ..."

Ray Ingles

How do categories differ among America’s ..."

"Atheists are those who are certain God does not exist, and the same for all ..."

Brian Westley

How do categories differ among America’s ..."

"We already know what happens, Christianity is the only worldview that has completely answered all ..."

Lekrikrekral

Why doesn’t the Bible mention dinosaurs?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet's visions include "Gog and Magog"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Amos Micah Daniel Ezekiel