September 16, 2007
separation of church and stadium
Filip Bondy, longtime NY Daily News columnist wrote a brave column condemning the persistent stadium (and arena) practice of singing God Bless America.I'm at Shea Stadium today for a Met game, which has at least one advantage over a Yankee game: "God Bless America" won't be eating up time during the seventh-inning stretch.I commented on the Daily News site, but I'll post here since I rambled on for a bit:
I hate that song, and I really don't see why I can't feel free to say that. First of all, it is Irving Berlin's most simplistic and banal melody -- other than the intricate intro that is usually skipped. And then there are the many reasons it makes me uncomfortable watching an entire stadium of fellow countrymen sing about how God is, or ought to be, on their side.
Thanks for this Filip -- it's an unpopular sentiment and will likely pre-qualify you for a stream of hate mail, and I applaud the bravery for speaking up. I've always felt uncomfortable listening to God Bless America being sung in arenas and stadiums too. But as Ed rightly points out, there's no actual church-state issue here because the state isn't present.
Sporting events are regularly attended by hundreds of thousands of people each day and night, and these events represent opportunities for subtle group indoctrination. When else are you asked to stand and sign along with 20 to 50 thousand others? Over time, repetition gels into belief. Whether Steinnbrenner is the State or not shouldn't matter--the issue is cultural sensitivity. Religion is an intensely private liberty to which everyone has a right, including Buddhists, Hindus, and other non-monotheistic religions, along with the 'non-religious' -- agnostics and atheists. Having God Bless America sung night after night sends a message to these minority groups that they don't belong, and should be considered outsiders.
As for the sentiment itself, I agree with Fliip--promoting the idea that the creator of the universe somehow plays favorites based on man-made geographically drawn borders is profoundly narcissistic (after all, if he's blessing one nation, who is he/she not blessing?). It's the global parallel to the nearly identical conceit implied when winning players 'Thank God' for their victory.
If you truly believe that God likes your team or your country better, take a look at the world, and tell me why God is concerning himself with the Red Sox Yankees series while millions starve to death or live each day under oppressive, abusive regimes. And if your answer is that God has appointed America to fix these problems, take a closer look ... because we're not.
posted by scott pilutik at September 16, 2007 11:16 AM