Tag Archive for: God Bless America

Our Favorite Patriotic Tunes, Part 1: ‘God Bless America’ vs. ‘This Land Is Your Land’

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As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the skies will be filled with not only fireworks but song. Those great patriotic tunes we all know by heart, even when we can’t hit all the notes. (Yes, “Star-Spangled Banner,” I’m thinking of you.)

Though the songs may be as familiar as the red, white, and blue, the stories behind them often are not.

Let’s look at a few.

Given what Alexander Hamilton called the “harmony of ingredients” that have made up the American populace, perhaps it’s fitting we start with the Russian immigrant whose songs fill chapters of the American songbook and who remained ever grateful to the land that gave him welcome as a little boy.

‘God Bless America’: 20 Years to Write, 4 Minutes to Become a Hit

It’s 1918. World War I is raging. A 30-year-old Russian immigrant named Israel Isidore Beilin—we know him as Irving Berlin—was at Camp Upton, New York, a crucial training and mobilization center during the Great War. He’d come up with a song for the finale of a show called “Yip, Yip, Yaphank,” which concluded with soldiers marching through the theater, out onto the street, then onto a transport to sail off to Europe. A rah-rah, off-to-war song.

The song was called “God Bless America.”

God Bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
To the right with a light from above
Make her victorious on land and foam
God Bless America, my home sweet home.

One problem. Berlin felt that putting “God Bless America” together with the song the soldiers were singing on their way out would be too over the top. So, he cut the song from the show. It then sat in Berlin’s drawer for 20 years.

Then in 1938, the songwriter happened to be in London when British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had his infamous meeting with German Chancellor Adolf Hitler. When Berlin got home to the United States, he tried writing a song expressing his feelings called “Thanks America,” which Berlin said he “tore up because it was very bad. It seemed a bad editorial set to music.”

He remembered “God Bless America,” and rewrote his war anthem into what he called a “song of peace.” He added an intro and changed the key line in the chorus to:

Stand beside her
And guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the valleys, to the oceans white with foam.

On Armistice Day—now known as Veterans Day—the popular singer Kate Smith premiered the song during a holiday radio broadcast.

This is that moment America first heard “God Bless America.”

“God Bless America” was an instant hit. However, one legendary folk singer was not a fan.

From Protest Song to Passionate Tribute

By February 1940, “God Bless America” was a national music standard. Woody Guthrie, the fabled troubadour of the Dust Bowl era, looked around at those still suffering from the Great Depression, and he wasn’t so sure God was blessing those people.

So, he set out to write a protest song in response to Berlin. He called it “God Blessed America.” Playing off Berlin’s scenic words, Guthrie painted some of the most lyrically beautiful imagery of America ever created.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me an endless skyway.
I saw below me a golden valley.
This land was made for you and me.

I wound and rambled. I followed my footsteps
through the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts,
and all around me, a voice was sounding,
“This land was made for you and me.”

All told, four exquisite verses.

However, Guthrie wrote two other verses. One took a shot at private property. The other, never recorded verse, took direct aim at “God Bless America”:

One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple,
by the relief office I saw my people.
As they stood hungry,
I stood there wondering if God blessed America for me.

However, by the time Guthrie got around to officially publishing the song in 1951, those last two verses were nowhere to be found, and the song had a new name: “This Land is Your Land.”

Its chorus remains as contagious as COVID-19.

This land is your land, this land is my land.
From California to the New York Island.
From the Redwood forests to the Gulf Stream waters.
This land was made for you and me.

Guthrie’s scathing protest song had morphed into a soaring America anthem of national unity, and one swell hootenanny sing-along.

Here’s the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary and a crowd of thousands with “This Land Is Your Land.”

Irving Berlin and Woody Guthrie may have started out figuratively face-to-face. But as we ring in our 250th birthday, those two American music titans stand side-by-side.

Next time, a trio of favorites we nicked from the Brits.

We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of the Daily Signal.

AUTHOR

Al Perrotta 

Al Perrotta is a contributing editor for the Daily Signal.

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Signal column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

God and the Jefferson Memorial

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Before he died, Thomas Jefferson expressed his desire that his three biggest accomplishments be listed on the obelisk that marks his grave at Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. They were that he was:

  • the author of the Declaration of Independence (the acceptance of which we celebrate in America at 250) and
  • the author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom (written in 1777 and adopted in 1786), and
  • the founder of the University of Virginia (Charlottesville).

Missing in those three accomplishments is that he was our third president or that he negotiated the largest land addition to the United States in our history, the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.

We often hear today that many of our founding fathers were essentially unbelievers. Jefferson is often held up as a prime example of this. Yet he wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence, which says our rights come from the Creator.

In 1777, the same year he wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious freedom, he helped co-found, as a layman, an evangelical church, which called for an evangelical pastor. Jefferson wrote the by-laws for the church, saying that he and the other layman were “desirous…of gospel knowledge” and wishing to have the Holy Scriptures explained to them. Jefferson gave more money for that church than any other layman.

The minister they called for that church, Rev. Charles Clay, was a patriotic pastor, ordained in the Anglican tradition. It was rare for ministers in that tradition to be evangelical or to be in favor of the American cause (as opposed to the British side), but Clay was.

Later, spiritually, Jefferson went on to harbor private doubts about the Trinity and other core doctrines of the Christian faith. These are well-documented in a book I cowrote with Charlottesville pastor, Dr. Mark Beliles. The book is Doubting Thomas, and it will soon have a new release (just in time for America at 250) as a shorter book, Thomas Jefferson and the God Who Gave Us Liberty.

Meanwhile, the purpose of this piece is to look at how God keeps showing up at the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. Visit that monument, and you will see repeatedly references to God, chiseled in stone. That memorial was built from 1939 to 1943.

In the Rotunda, we see this quote from a letter Jefferson wrote to founding father Dr. Benjamin Rush: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.”

In the Southwest Portico comes these words from the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson’s magnum opus: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men. We…solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of a right ought to be free and independent states…and for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.”

On the Northwest Portico, we see an excerpt from the afore-mentioned Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, described as “A Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom.”

It states: “Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or [burdens]…are a departure from the plan of the holy Author of our religion…No man shall be compelled to frequent or support religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively.”

In the original, Jefferson said more about the “holy Author of our religion,” that is, Jesus Christ, about Whom Jefferson added, “who being lord both of body and mind, yet chose not to propagate it by coercions on either, as was in his Almighty power to do, but to extend it by its influence on reason alone.” Said Jefferson: Jesus gave us religious freedom. We should extend same to others.

In the Northeast Portico we see Jefferson quotes from different writings of his: “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.” [emphasis added]

The secularists of today try to strip away our Judeo-Christian heritage. But chiseled in stone in monuments all around Washington, D.C., we see that the founders cherished our God-given rights. And, certainly, that included Thomas Jefferson, as seen in the memorial dedicated to his memory.

Author’s note: Here’s a discussion with Mark Beliles and me on God and the Jefferson Memorial.

©2026 All rights reserved.

For God and For County

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Approximately ten days ago, I was privileged to sit in a briefing hosted by the West Point MacArthur Society. The presenter was Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn (U.S. Army Ret) and former National Security Advisor to President Trump. I will share portions of that briefing in a near future article but here now, I enclosed a magnificent presentation also by Gen. Flynn and it is named: National Security Strategy – July 2025.

PDF of the National Security Strategy document

Gen. Flynn is the real deal. I was humbled to meet him weeks after he was removed from the Trump Presidency by the outlandish accusations, we now have come to learn were all lies, all made-up to demolish Mike. We would talk two sometimes three times a week on how he and Lori, his wife, were getting through the Valley of the Shadows and abandoned by very, very many. I can share that well behind the curtain, with no public around, few even wanting to talk with him much less say they knew him, Gen. Flynn cared about America and how to prevent what we are now learning was a vicious set of attacks to remove Trump and any and all who served with him against the plan to collapse America into the One-World Government. Lt. Gen. Flynn is the real deal, a real warrior for America and our freedoms as given to us by our founders, a Republic if we can keep it, as Benjamin Franklin said.

My previous article was named Change is Coming! Please believe me. Please do not dismiss my title or the information contained therein and within this posting, as mere conspiracy theory or theatrical. The MacArthur Society of West Point, Gen. Mike Flynn, President Donald Trump, and others, are attempting to get your attention. A civil war has been launched and is now being fought. Sometimes in the shadows, sometimes not. But the goal is to remove Trump and his entire team of America First Warriors, and then to collapse the United States into a Marxist nation in line with others across the world as the New-World Order is blooming except in America that stands as a blocking agent.

I attended a high-ranking military academy for my high school years. Our academy motto which remains on my class ring of 1969 is: Pro Deo et Pro Patria – For God and For County. I pray your motto will be the same.

AUTHOR

Lyle J. Rapacki, Ph.D.

©2025 All rights reserved.

Please visit the Arizona Today substack.

WEBSITE: arizonatoday.org

BOOK: Our Forefathers Truly Appealed to Heaven – Barnes N Noble, Amazon, Walmart Books, Books A Million (BAM) and now an eBook

Providence and America

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Did God providentially spare former President Donald J. Trump’s life on Saturday, July 13, 2024? The front-runner presidential candidate could easily have been killed in an assassination attempt, had he not turned his head about an inch or so.

As everyone knows, Trump was campaigning in Butler, Pennsylvania, a city north of Pittsburgh at an outdoor rally when he was shot at by a 20-year old with a rifle on the roof of a nearby building.

On Sunday, Trump gave honor to the Almighty, writing that it was “God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.”

Bill Maher, the irreverent comedian, in effect made the same observation—but not attributing the miraculous outcome to God. Trump was very lucky to be alive after this incident, said Maher in his own profanity-laced way.

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time God’s Providence touched America. Indeed, I believe that He helped create America itself, which despite all its flaws, has become the freest and most prosperous nation.

Butler, Pennsylvania was named after Richard Butler (1743-1791), who was a Revolutionary War officer. He served at Yorktown, where the war ended when the British General Cornwallis agreed to surrender. Washington gave Butler the honor to receive Cornwallis’ sword. Butler passed that honor to his immediate subordinate, Ebenezer Denny. At a Yorktown victory meal, General Washington made a toast to “The Butlers and their five sons!”

George Washington was a man who believed in Providence. Providence is simply an old-fashioned term referring to the Biblical God’s governance of the world—He provides for us and He answers prayers.

Dr. Peter Lillback, founding president of Providence Forum, and I wrote a book on the faith of our first president, George Washington’s Sacred Fire. Lillback donated Providence Forum to Coral Ridge Ministries, and I am privileged to serve as its executive director.

In our Providence Forum documentary series on the Christian roots of America, we have a whole episode on our first president, demonstrating that Washington was not a Deist, but rather an orthodox 18th century Anglican. In that film, Lillback told our viewers, “[Washington] believed in prayer, which Deists did not believe. There are over a hundred written prayers that can be found in his writings. He loved the doctrine of Providence; he uses it over 270 times.”

One incident in the life of the future first president was remarkable. On July 9, 1755, the 23-year old George Washington could easily have been killed in a battle that became a massacre. It occurred near Fort Duquesne outside of what is today Pittsburgh.

As the British and American troops—led by British General Edward Braddock—were in a forest by the Monongahela River, their path into the forest suddenly came alive with French and Indian troops shooting them.

Eyewitnesses said that they looked at Colonel Washington, expecting him to die at any minute–but he didn’t. One of these witnesses to the Battle of Monongahela said, “I expected every moment to see him fall. Nothing but the superintending care of Providence could have saved him.”

By the end of the massacre, Washington was the only British or American officer unharmed, with 714 Americans and British either killed or wounded. In contrast, the French and Indians lost three officers and 30 men.

Washington wondered how it is that in that battle men all around him were dying, while he was spared? He wrote a letter his brother, John Augustine Washington: “I now exist and appear in the land of the living by the miraculous care of Providence, that protected me beyond all human expectation; I had 4 Bullets through my Coat, and two Horses shot under me, and yet escaped unhurt.”

Jump ahead, and we see on multiple occasions during the American War for Independence, that Washington felt that God helped us repeatedly in that conflict.

As our first president, in his first official Proclamation for a Day of Thanksgiving (to God), Washington stated the goal, “That we may then all unite in rendering unto him our sincere and humble thanks–for his kind care and protection of the People of this Country previous to their becoming a Nation–for the signal and manifold mercies, and the favorable interpositions of his Providence which we experienced in the course and conclusion of the late war.”

Without God’s help, we would not have won this thing, said the father of our country. Thus, said Washington in a proclamation for the ages: “it is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.”

What happened on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania may well have been another example of God in His sovereign care keeping watch over America.

©2024. Jerry Newcombe, D. Min. All rights reserved.

‘It’s a New Day’: Mike Johnson Brings Principles and Purpose to Speakership

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While D.C. politicos scramble to figure out who House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is, here at Family Research Council, we needed no introduction. To most of us, the young-looking Louisiana lawyer represents the best the movement has to offer. “He’s a social conservative’s conservative,” Politico pointed out in a lengthy piece about his relationship with FRC. But more than that, he’s a man who deeply loves God and this country. So as senators like Susan Collins (R-Maine) turn to Google to find out who the new speaker is, we can tell you simply: he’s the real deal.

My boss, FRC President Tony Perkins, met Mike more than two decades ago when the future speaker was just an up-and-coming law student at LSU. During Tony’s days in the Louisiana legislature, the two crossed paths a lot, eventually working together on a blockbuster bill that became one of the first abortion clinic regulation laws in the country.

“You mentioned how far back we go,” Johnson said in an interview on “Washington Watch” a couple years ago. “I saw you as a young state legislator, and I remember that your banner and your motto when you ran for office was ‘raising the standard.’ And that resonated with me, because I felt that same call on my life. And in so many ways, Tony, you were a huge influence on my life. I saw that you could do it. … [Other] people that I knew [also] did it right and did it well, and they followed the Lord first. And it showed in all their work and their life and their family. And that was a great encouragement to me.”

As Johnson alluded to in his speech before the House chamber Wednesday, the road to Congress was paved by his God-fearing parents. “I was blessed,” he emphasized to Tony. “I was raised in a Christian household, and my parents — I was actually the conception of a teenage pregnancy my parents’ junior year in high school. And they dropped out, decided to have me, and keep me. And that’s why I’m so pro-life today. I’m a living example of faithfulness. … They just trusted God.”

And made sacrifices. “My dad went to work early. They didn’t finish high school. Then he went back later, got his GED, but I don’t have any memory of not being a Christian,” Mike said. “I got saved when I was seven years old. I got baptized in a horse trough out behind our old country church in northwest Louisiana. And I was just raised to know and understand and believe that faith is very real. And it was just part of the fabric of our family, and who we are.”

But the fabric of that family was tested when Mike was just 12. His dad, an assistant chief for the Shreveport, Louisiana fire department, was a training officer. “And on September 17th, 1984,” he remembers, “he went into work on a hazardous materials leak in a cold storage plant. And the building blew up. He was burned 80% of his body, third-degree burns — and given a 5% chance to live. His co-captain died in the fire, so it was a terrible tragedy. [But] God miraculously saved my dad’s life.”

“He had a long journey back,” Mike said. “He lived another 30 years. And he was in pain every day — but he survived. … I was the oldest of four kids in my family,” he pointed out. “[And I learned that] our faith was real. … God saved my dad’s life … and I just knew that prayer worked. So that’s never left me. It’s been with me my whole life.”

When Tony asked Mike what surprised him most about his time in Congress, he replied that his answer was “kind of a sad one.” “I was surprised to see that many members of Congress are elected to serve, and they don’t truly have a fully formed philosophy of government. Some of them are not even crystal clear on what their worldview is, you know? And so it has an effect on their work and the decisions they make. … If you don’t have a fully formed philosophy of government, if you don’t have your principles set in stone … before you get there, then you’re going to be easy prey for all the influences that are out there.”

That’s why, he says, he’s been trying to encourage his colleagues to think about what it means to be a Christian in public service. “The only seedbed of virtue,” Johnson insisted, “is in religious faith. I mean, men have to understand that they owe an allegiance to a higher power, and they have a judge that is above all others. And that is what has guided our country since its founding. And that’s what’s going to continue to guide it. So we shouldn’t make apology for it. We should go out and live that boldly and encourage others to do the same.”

He owes that strength of conviction to a number of people who encouraged him along the way. “I had a mentor when I was really young, [and he] told me one time — he said, ‘Mike, you know what? Always remember this: What is popular isn’t always right, and what is right isn’t always popular.’ And we have to remember that even in politics, you know, highest levels of elected office in the country, that’s a pretty simple axiom that everybody needs to follow.”

Now, Johnson is passing that advice along to his four children — and all of the young leaders he meets. At the time, his son, Jack, was just starting high school, and he wanted to make sure that his son was firmly rooted in truth. “I said, ‘Listen, I want you to be real intentional about this. You know, the calling of a Christian young man or young woman is that you are not called to be a thermometer. You’re called to be a thermostat. What does that mean, Jack? You know, what does a thermometer do? Well, a thermometer goes into a new environment, takes a temperature, and adjusts to it. That’s not what we do. The Christian young man or woman is called to be an atmosphere changer, to be a thermostat. So you walk in, and you hold that standard, raise the standard.’”

At the end of the day, Mike said, “You live according to that truth that you know, and it will change the atmosphere you’re in. And people will look to you. … [They’re] dying for truth and authenticity. They want to know that there really is an absolute … that there’s a standard.” He pointed to Chronicles 6:9. “The eyes of the Lord range throughout the whole earth, seeking those whose hearts are holy, committed. There’s only a few in every generation, but if you’ll do that, God will give you His blessing. He’ll give you His platform. His promotion principles will set in place, and He’ll give you things that will amaze everyone.”

They were prophetic words for a man whose heart is holy, whose God has just given him that enormous platform he spoke of. And yet, back in January, Mike would have been the last to guess that when he and a handful of Republicans knelt in the House chamber to pray for the speakership, they would ultimately be paving the road to him.

As Tony said in a Newsmax interview Wednesday, America can be proud to have a man of substance at the helm. “That’s why he’s the first speaker, I think since 2011, to have unanimous support from his colleagues on the Republican side. … I’ve known Mike for 25 years, and he is going to be an excellent speaker for the times in which we live.”

Looking back on the arc of their long friendship, he said with pride, “He has a sense of purpose, and that comes from his faith. … And this is what’s important, because in politics this has gotten lost. It’s really about people. And he cares about people,” Tony insisted. “… He told me this morning, I was talking to him as he was working on his speech, and he said, ‘It’s a new day. They’re going to see a new thing in this Congress.’”

And those of us who admire him believe it.

AUTHOR

Suzanne Bowdey

Suzanne Bowdey serves as editorial director and senior writer at The Washington Stand.

RELATED ARTICLE: Tale of Two Speeches: Speaker Johnson, Minority Leader Jeffries Articulate Different Visions for America

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

You will NEVER guess what one Sheriff has done To Combat Political Correctness!

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The age of Political Correctness is coming to an end. At least that is what the vast majority of Americans and even Europeans are hoping because the recent spat on American college and university campuses has many Americans shouting, enough is enough. People are seeing that Political Correctness is anti-Constitutional and anti-American.

We have heard about a number of Sheriffs across the nation standing up for Gun Rights and the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution. But now we are starting to see these same lawmen (that includes women who are sheriffs as well – I’m not PC) across the nation standing up against this vocal Political Correctness garbage.

One, in particular, is causing quite a stir and he only began his “campaign” a few days ago. This Georgia county sheriff decided to put up a sign that puts Political Correctness in its place. In an effort to “stir people’s belief and patriotism,” Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley posted a new sign Tuesday morning outside of his department that says his county is politically incorrect, and if you have a problem with that, you can leave.

Paid for by Jolley, the sign reads: “WARNING: Harris County is politically incorrect. We say Merry Christmas, God Bless America, and In God We Trust. We salute our troops and our flag. If this offends you… LEAVE!” Jolly said Tuesday he was tired of the silent majority becoming “more silent.”

The sheriff paid for the sign out of his own pocket and then erected it at his county line. What the sheriff has found out is that many within his jurisdiction have similar sentiments and some have even asked how they could place similar signs on their own properties.

The sheriff did not ask for donations to help defray the cost of the sign, but he says he has gotten checks from citizens that helped pay for the sign. He has received overwhelming support for the sign that cost him $553, he said. He purchased it from D&S Sign Company on Linwood Boulevard in Columbus. Jolley said several citizens have wanted to post one on their property. Some have even sent checks. “The sign has been purchased double,” he said.

Sheriff Jolley is not trying to offend anyone who does not believe as he does. In fact, the sheriff says that folks can worship whomever they wish but as for him and his house they worship Jesus Christ and he does not feel that he has to be quiet about it while others who worship other gods do not have to be silent.

In fact, Sheriff Jolley says it’s time for the silent majority to be a lot more vocal. His office has about 75 employees total and he does not interfere with the worship habits of his staff. The sheriff only wants to tell Americans they have a right to stand up for what they believe and that they have the freedom to express those beliefs.

Let’s hope this trend grows all across the nation and Christians and Jews begin to once again feel they can be out in the open about their faith and not be silent simply because someone else says they are offended.

Now if that offends you, I would suggest you do not read this.