GagaGod Bless America
Some perspective from one Canadian
America is Gaga over God.
Lady Gaga was the latest in a long list of Americans to summon His name in her hymn to her great, God-fearing nation. Then, whether ironically or to score some not-so-subtle political points about her belief in an inclusive America, she added a lyric from Woody Guthrie’s classic protest song “This Land is Your Land” to “God Bless America” during her halftime show at Super Bowl LI. (We’re not sure if this too was a deliberate attempt at Gaga irony by juxtaposing “God Bless America” with a song that was inspired by Guthrie’s weariness at hearing Kate Smith’s rendering of that anthem, as pointed out elsewhere.)
Without offense to your country or its God-fearing Christians — and maybe Jews too, but certainly not those who worship the God of Islam since it’s been made clear they don’t count — it’s important that Americans understand the effect of invoking God’s name has on people of other nations. Especially a Canadian living next to Trump’s America.
When Lady Gaga crooned the opening lyric to “God Bless America” it conjured unpleasant memories and history of a militant America. A bullying America. An exceptional America that places itself on God’s altar of righteousness, the “City on the Hill” that feels guided by divine providence.
For a hockey-loving Canadian, it also recalled unpleasant memories of Smith bellowing out that song at the beginning of Philadelphia Flyers’ home games in the 1970s. Kate Smith was considered the team’s good luck charm. She was the voice of God, if you will, in leading the ‘Broad Street Bullies’ to a string of successes as they went out and beat — and beat up — other teams.
They were the ugly days of hockey. Kinda like politics in America today.
And invoking God’s name in the service of your nation can be, outside observers would argue, ugly too.
To be sure, we Canadians can’t be smug when it comes to claiming God for one side. It’s in our national anthem too with the invocation to God to “keep our land glorious and free.”
It’s just that in America, you seem to really claim God. All for yourself. The real God. The “Judeo-Christian” God of Steve Bannon’s worldview.
It’s on your currency. It’s in your Pledge of Allegiance.
It’s all part and parcel of the long-running American script that yours is the “greatest country in the world.” That’s a claim that even honorable presidents, like Barack Obama, have made time and again. (Alas, again, we in Canada cannot afford to be so smug. At least one former prime minister claimed we were number one.)
Every one of your presidents, at least going back to Richard Nixon, signs off his speech with the phrase “God bless America.” It may be no accident that tricky Dick invoked the good God’s name during the dark days of Watergate. Hell, if you’re gonna go down in flames, you need all the help you can get.
So it would seem that we should be accustomed to all this God/America is great stuff right? After all, is it any different than seeing an athlete point to the sky and claim He was the reason why his team won over the other guys? I’m sure the Atlanta Falcons are regretting worshiping at Satan’s black mass the night before the Super Bowl.
It’s just that this God bless America mantra has become suffocatingly cult-like in a world where too many believers are taking His will into their own hands to devastating effect — whether it’s ISIS bombing civilians or a lone sniper opening fire and killing worshipers in a Quebec mosque.
It’s particularly odious when you hear God’s name on the lips of one Donald J. Trump.
The leader of the free world must cringe at the very thought of having to cite the name of One greater than himself. But there he was, in his Inauguration speech, asking God to bless America, just like every other president.
There was Trump, shortly after vowing to “unite the civilized world against radical Islamic terrorism, which we will eradicate completely from the face of the earth,” switching to the good God of the New Testament and saying,
“The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”
That line followed Trump’s inane claim that, “When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.” Perhaps Adolf Hitler and Vladmir Putin weren’t so patriotic after all then.
There was Trump, reverting right back to his Old Testament God, saying,
“When America is united, America is totally unstoppable. There should be no fear. We are protected, and we will always be protected. We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most importantly, we will be protected by God.”
When it comes to God, America, be careful what you wish for. Because if the Almighty can bless America, He can sure as hell damn you too.
Claudio D’Andrea has been a journalist for 30 years, writing and editing for newspapers, magazine and online publications. You can read his stuff on LinkedIn and Medium.com and follow him on Twitter.
