THE PEOPLE’S
NATIONAL ANTHEM
Few people realize that prior to 1930 “The
Star
Spangled Banner” was not our national anthem. Before 1930 the song, “America”, also known as “My Country Tis
of Thee,” was the national anthem. It was called our national anthem,
and if
the audience at a political rally or social event was asked to sing the
national anthem everyone present sang “America”. However, even though the people of America
had made
the song “America” their national anthem, when a newspaper columnist
(in 1930)
pointed out that congress had never officially made “America” the
national
anthem a bill was rushed through congress making “The Star Spangled
Banner” the
official national anthem.
That leaves me asking, why was congress in
such a rush
to go contrary to what clearly seemed to be the will of the people.
Well, Laura
Ingalls may have given us a clue as to why,
in her
description of a 4th of July gathering where, after the Declaration of Independence
was read, “All at once everyone was singing:
‘My country, ‘tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.…
‘long
may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light,
Protect us by thy might
Great God
our King!’
The
crowd was scattering away then, but Laura stood stock still. Suddenly
she had a
completely new thought. The Declaration and the song came together in
her mind,
and she thought: God is America’s king.” [From the
book, “Little Town on the Prairie,” by Laura Ingalls
Wilder, pages 75-76.]
Consider carefully the words of the
last verse (the forth verse of “America”); the words that say, “Great God our King”.
That
verse was once “America’s” national anthem! In fact, it was still
being sung
in public schools when I was young. And, that verse declares God to be America’s king.
Now if you are wondering what
difference it makes, consider this. If God is America’s king, then our rulers must obey His Ten
Commandments. In other words, if God is our king our rulers are not
free to
commit murder, nor are they free to give others (namely abortion
doctors) a
license to commit murder. If God is our king rulers are not free to
live
sexually immoral lives, nor are they free to promote sexual immorality,
or
force Christians to accept that immorality as normal. If God is our
king, then
rulers are not free to attack our religious beliefs, nor are they free
to force
us to finance schools where our beliefs are ridiculed, or to send our
children
to schools that work to undermine the faith of our children.
Do Americans still have the freedom to
sing the fourth verse of our original national anthem in public
schools, or at
political rallies etc.? I say, try it and see! In my opinion, the only
people
who would try to stop it from being sung are those who do not want America to be ruled by God. And, those who try to
overthrow America’s “king” should be regarded as subversives.
[NOTE:
The 1931 movie, "Let Freedom Ring," starring Nelson Eddy, ends with the
entire cast singing all four verses of "America". If you watch that
movie think about the fact that everyone singing grew up at a time when
that song was our National Anthem.]