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 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.
I commented on the Daily News site, but I’ll post here since I rambled on for a bit:
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.