There was an interesting debate among some Facebook friends this past week over the use of national hymns this past weekend, which was Memorial Day weekend. The person starting the conversation suggested that all national hymns (God Bless Our Native Land; My Country, tis of Thee; God of Our Fathers; O Beautiful for Spacious Skies; National Anthem) should be removed from the hymnal. There are other hymns that I know clergy avoid at all costs. I know a priest who refuses to have the congregation sing Alleluia, Sing to Jesus because one line says that Jesus was a victim in his death. This priest is convinced that Jesus knew he would die and acted anyway, and thought it was wrong to call Jesus a victim since he willingly took on his suffering. I know another priest who will not allow Onward Christian Soldiers to be sung due to its violent imagery.
"Why all the fuss?", you might ask, it's just a song. St. Augustine said that singing is praying twice- once through the beauty of music and voice, and once through the words of the hymn. For the same reason that parents don't want their children listening to songs about drugs and sex, the Church doesn't want people singing about bad theology, lest we "experiment" with it.
So what's going on with these national songs? I actually agree that most national songs have no place in a worship service. In thinking about this topic and reading some opinions online, I found one person who equated a church to an embassy. If you go to France, for example, you are on French soil. That is, unless you find your way to the US Embassy, then you are back on US soil. In the same way, a church building ceases to be within the borders of the US (or any other nation), but becomes the soil of the Kingdom of God. In church, the President/King/Leader is not our ruler, but God is. So to sing the national anthem of a foreign land is out of place. Furthermore, there is an assumption that in the Kingdom of God/Heaven, there are no countries, no distinctions of citizenship, as we are all citizens of God's Kingdom, so the fact that we have such divisions on the earth is a mark of sin. To celebrate these divisions, as noble as they might be, is to embrace this fractured reality.
Several of these hymns actually have great words and fine theology, but a few don't. O Beautiful for Spacious Skies has some problems (though we could start by getting rid of "America!" as a refrain). For reasons stated above, I do have an issue with the National Anthem (or flags in the church for that matter). There is nothing wrong with praising God for good land, for beautiful landscapes, and the richness of God's blessing on us. In a sense, there is nothing wrong with patriotism- being proud of your country and it's ideals. You can realize that ideally, there would be no distinction between one group or another while still thinking the the ideas of liberty, freedom, justice, and equality are good things for a state to uphold, and therefore being thankful that you live in a land that shares those values.
The problem is not that these songs foster a sense of patriotism, but rather that they fuel nationalism. Nationalism is a nuanced difference from patriotism; it is about your nation being better than others. Nationalism is seeing the US as the New Israel, or us being the elect and the others being the heathens. Nationalism prays "God bless the USA" while the better prayer is "God bless Creation." Some of these national songs would be better sung on days such as Thanksgiving, because they are songs primarily of thanks. But to sing them on days such as Memorial Day, July 4, or Veterans' Day is to promote nationalism and putting our country above others. And let us not remember, pride is often seen as a sin, so even being proud of our nation is a slippery slope.
Now on to other types of hymns- the example will be Onward Christian Soldiers. I'll admit, I like the tune, and even many of the words. Like the national hymns, the theology is mostly spot on- but there is the issue of war and violence. As the wonderful prayer for peace in the BCP reads "[in God's Kingdom] no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness, no strength known but the strength of love." War, again, reminds us that divisions are sin, and to celebrate sin is dangerous, no matter how noble the cause of war might be. I'm not pushing for pacifism here (that's another debate for another day), but I'm not sure that our prayers (hymns) should promote violence or use metaphors of war for how Christians should act. But it would be such a shame to lose such beautiful music and great ideas (Brothers, we are treading/where the saints have trod;/we are not divided,/all one body we,/one in hope and doctrine,/one in charity. -or- Onward, then, ye people,/join our happy throng;/blend with ours your voices/in the triumph song:/glory, laud, and honor,/unto Christ the King;/this through countless ages/men and angels sing). I guess I'm saying that I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, either in this case or in the case of national hymns (or at least some of them).
From the Hymnal 1940 to the Hymnal 1982 there were some hymns that were tweaked for the purpose of having gender neutral language. Now I'll be the the first to acknowledge that I'm not a musician, nor do I know much about hymnody, but perhaps someone who does could find ways to reword some of these hymns. Perhaps if clergy and music directors could find ways to incorporate these hymns into the Church year without stirring up nationalism, then we could celebrate their richness and indeed, pray twice with them.
So what do you think? And don't be shy- leave a comment.
