Reply to "America the Beautiful" a 'Christian anthem'?

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Reply to ""America the Beautiful" a 'Christian anthem'?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Ameriac the Beautiful is sung in Catholic Mass. They don't allow secular songs as part of Mass. I have always viewed it as religious and patriotic.[/quote]
Religion and patriotism do not mix. Patriotism creates 'us' and that philosophy excludes the rest of mankind.
Religion is for all of mankind (or at least supposed to be).
The two philosophies do not have anything in common[/quote]

When I was a kid, they played "Blowin' in the Wind" in Catholic Mass.  I have also heard "Morning Has Broken" by Cat Stevens.[/quote]

Here is some info on Blowin' in the Wind, also from Wikipedia:
[i]Pete Seeger who first identified the melody of "Blowin' in the Wind" as Dylan's adaptation of the old Negro spiritual "No More Auction Block". According to Alan Lomax's The Folk Songs of North America, the song originated in Canada and was sung by former slaves who fled there after Britain abolished slavery in 1833. In 1978, Dylan acknowledged the source when he told journalist Marc Rowland: "'Blowin' in the Wind' has always been a spiritual. I took it off a song called 'No More Auction Block' – that's a spiritual and 'Blowin' in the Wind' follows the same feeling."[7] Dylan's performance of "No More Auction Block" was recorded at the Gaslight Cafe in October 1962, and appeared on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.
Dylan critic Michael Gray has suggested that the lyric is an example of Dylan's incorporation of Biblical rhetoric into his own style. A particular rhetorical form deployed time and again in the New Testament and based on a text from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel (12:1–2) is: "The word of the Lord came to me: 'Oh mortal, you dwell among the rebellious breed. They have eyes to see but see not; ears to hear, but hear not." In "Blowin' in the Wind", Dylan transforms this into "Yes'n' how many ears must one man have ...?" and "Yes' n' how many times must a man turn his head / Pretending he just doesn't see?"[8][/i][/quote]

Let's be clear, when someone says a Negro Spiritual, that does not make it religious.  The lyrics of No More Auction Block are:

[quote]No more auction block for me,
No more, no more.
No more auction block for me,
Many thousands gone.

No more pint of salt for me,
No more, no more.
No more pint of salt for me,
Many thousands gone.

No more driver's lash for me,
No more, no more.
No more driver's lash for me,
Many thousands gone.

No more auction block for me,
No more, no more.
No more auction block for me,
Many thousands gone.[/quote]

I daresay any atheist who was a slave could sing this song and mean it.
[/quote]

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