Weblog Entry - 06/30/2002: "The Church and Patriotism"

06/30/2002 Entry: "The Church and Patriotism"

This has been the most difficult Sunday so far, being the day when the church plays its part in Independence Day celebrations. My plan had been essentially to ignore it, but the court ruling about the 'Pledge of Allegiance' rather scuppered my scheme. I felt I would have been failing in my duty if I had not addressed the issue as best I could. What I said amounted to a question: If you believe the US is a nation "under God", as the Pledge of Allegiance" says, what do you think that means? Some commentators have claimed that the words carry no religious content, but if that's true then it really isn't worth getting worked up about. I tried to suggest that the words of the pledge are only of significance if they are a pledge for the national life to be lived in such a way as to reflect the grace and compassion of God. I'm not sure how it was received - I know that a passing remark about gun control and the 2nd Amendment raised some eyebrows - but I did what I felt I could.I'm really not comfortable singing the National Anthem in church. It felt no easier here than it does on the (very) rare occasions that it happens at home.

Replies:

While I appreciate, and can understand Rev. Hall's uneasiness about singing the national anthem in church, I have no qualms about it. I am proud to be an American and my country is at war. I think we Americans take many things for granted, to the point of absurdity. I think we need to be paying a lot more attention to the things that really matter, like our freedom, which we can no longer take for granted.

Posted by Karen Lott @ 07/04/2002 06:42 PM CST

In reference to Rick's comment about the origin of the tune for the Star Spangled Banner: don't look too closely at the origins of a lot of our hymn tunes, espcially those like "What Child is This?", etc. - many were popular bar tunes of the day and caught the ears of an unchurched audience. Contemporary worship for the 1700's and 1800's?! You probably knew this already, but I couldn't resist. By the way, we're enjoying learning new hymns to us over here and are now in search of a Methodist Hymn Book to bring back to the US, full of Charles Wesley words and bawdy bar tunes. That's the rest of the story! Ivan

Posted by Ivan @ 07/02/2002 10:07 PM CST

If it helps any, Richard, I have a lot of trouble mixing patriotism with worship as well and I would consider myself a patriot. I think that as long as we are at war and as long as we are in the wake of Sept. 11, every chance to show "what we're made of" gets exercised in the US, both in the church and outside. By the way, there was NO mention of July 4th in our services at Murton or Sketty this past Sunday. They will be making a passing glance at it at Clydach, as you know, this Thursday, but Sunday the focus will once again be on the Lord and His table and Gospel.

Ivan

Posted by Ivan @ 07/02/2002 10:02 PM CST

Singing "patriotic" songs in church tends to raise the hair on the back of my neck just a bit. Somehow visons are glimpsed of the more unpalatable historical pairings of patriotism and organized religion. The emotions concurrent with patriotic zeal and religious fervor are just similar enough to be sometimes mixed, and confused. Each ought to be felt and appreciated apart from the other...

Yet love of the land of one's birth does blend well with religion in certain hymns. America the Beautiful comes to mind. It is very nearly a prayer. The Star-Spangled Banner, a militaristic piece whose tune is derived (as I understand it) from a rather bawdy old drinking song, is another matter. Some things absolutely do not belong in the Lord's house, and that, I feel, is one of them.

Posted by Rick O'Donnell @ 07/02/2002 09:34 PM CST

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