Some fairly heated rhetoric is being directed at Ted Berg following his recent post seconding Thomas Boswell’s suggestion that ballparks stop playing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch at baseball games.

The full post is worth your time, but Ted writes:

“But the song itself always seemed like a strange choice. One of the big selling points on the ol’ U.S. of A. is freedom of religion, and “God Bless America,” coming on the heels of attacks closely tied to religious fundamentalism, felt like a reactive and potentially alienating choice.

Plus it’s just not that good of a song. “America the Beautiful” is like 100 times better, especially if it’s being performed by Ray Charles on video.”

Responses in Ted’s comments section have included “Pedro”, who wrote:

“Since when is THE foundational principal our founding fathers used a “potentially alienating choice”? This principals allows anyone to worship any way they want to in America.”

“Izzy” also added:

“I think your comments are absolutely disgraceful to the thousands of people and their friends and families who lost people on 9/11 as well as to all the men and women who went to Afganistan [sic] and Iraq to try to prevent another 9/11 from happening..”

Let me start by saying I agree wholeheartedly with Ted. In general, I never really understand the motivation of people who wish to make brief displays of patriotism mandatory at any given time. If the essence of American life is the freedom so often talked about, why exactly shouldn’t people be free, at a baseball game, to not think about politics and the dangers of the world during the time they are at a baseball park?

I’m pretty sure patriotism derives from a source other than angrily denouncing anyone who doesn’t sing “God Bless America” at ballgames. And there are those, such as “Izzy” and “Pedro”, who appear to feel differently. Fortunately, I live in a country where both opinions are allowed.

But the America part is only half of it- there’s also the God part. When Pedro speaks about “THE foundational principal our founding fathers used”, I assume he is referring to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, since the decision to sing “God Bless America” at major league ballparks came roughly 175 years after the death Of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams in 1826 (same day, too!), and thus can’t be said to be, strictly speaking, originalist intent.

That reads, of course, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Very little is said about forcing people to sing a song about God.

That doesn’t make singing God Bless America at ballgames unconstitutional, of course. And it is not as if singing about God will burn atheists like rain on a Wizard of Oz witch. It is simply- well- alienating. And unnecessary. To my knowledge, the song has not prevented any terrorist attacks, post-9/11.

Put in reverse: if we  lived in a country where the majority of people were atheist, a song extolling the virtues of living a godless life wouldn’t kill those devout theists in the crowd, either. Let’s say “Louie, Louie” were really as dirty as the FBI thought it might be. It wouldn’t be the end of the world for 50,000 to sing it every Sunday. It would just be- alienating. And unnecessary.

Let me be clear- neither Ted Berg nor I want to prevent anyone from singing “God Bless America”, “Louie, Louie”, or even “God Save the Queen” (how un-American can you get!) in your own homes, or even to break into it, at your own prompting, during parts of a baseball game. I’ve certainly heard worse at Mets games, usually due to Guillermo Mota.

But it does strike me as fundamentally un-American to force those people to loudly proclaim their religious and patriotic beliefs, on cue, simply because they are attending a baseball game.

And what of the insidious idea that Ted, by proposing we eliminate this song from baseball stadiums, is insulting all victims of 9/11 and the wars we fought to prevent another 9/11 (not sure why he used the plural of “war”, but hey, it’s his comment)?

All I can think is that “Pedro” and “Izzy” must beat themselves up over their inability to sing “Remember Pearl Harbor” when they goes to the bathroom after the second inning, “Over There” when they gets a hot dog in the fourth inning, and to chant The Mourner’s Kaddish in Hebrew as they fight Citi Field traffic home after the game in honor of the six million who died in the Holocaust.

And I haven’t even mentioned whichever song goes with the Virginia Tech Massacre, Columbine, or the women who died in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

A lot of tragedies have befallen America and American families. I’m not sure singing about them at baseball games with a non-inclusive, mediocre song will undo the damage.

And the failure of”Izzy” and “Pedro” to vigilantly keep up the memory of the Lost Colony of Roanoke, 1588 through song doesn’t make them bad Americans.

It would be nice if “Izzy” and “Pedro”, and anyone else willing to defame the patriotism of those who disagreed with them about how to express it, would pay Ted the same courtesy.

Tags: God bless America, Ted Berg, Thomas Boswell