# God Bless America, Land that I Love **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 11, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514 "2021-09-11T14:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/1 "2021-09-11T14:46:08Z")
[https://i.imgur.com/TRnOSnr\_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium](https://i.imgur.com/TRnOSnr_d.webp?maxwidth=640&shape=thumb&fidelity=medium) [[Album] God Bless America, Land that I Love ![](https://i.imgur.com/TRnOSnr.jpeg?fb "God Bless America, Land that I Love") ](https://imgur.com/gallery/kiVL6Ap) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/2 "2021-09-11T15:21:33Z")
If you love America, what pictures or thoughts do you have? For me my country isn’t perfect, in a way that no country is, but it is beautiful and defines a unique spirit for us as Americans. Freedom and independence that endures. This is not a thread to knock America but to celebrate what makes America great and what you love about it. ---
**Author:** ![Somethingwitty1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/somethingwitty1/32/8899_2.png) [@Somethingwitty1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Somethingwitty1)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/3 "2021-09-11T16:16:30Z")
> **[Obergefell v. Hodges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obergefell_v._Hodges)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015) (/ˈoʊbərɡəfɛl/ OH-bər-gə-fel), is a landmark case of the Supreme Court of the United States which ruled that the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. The 5–4 ruling requires all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and the Insular Areas to perform and recognize the m... We aren’t perfect. But we live in society where we can address our imperfections. The founding fathers didn’t ban racism, sexism, or put the ADA into the Constitution, etc. But they improved upon the systems of government that existed at the time. And we continue to improve. Maybe not fast enough for some people. But we have improved over time. Sometimes I don’t think people appreciate that as much as they should. ---
**Author:** ![Somethingwitty1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/somethingwitty1/32/8899_2.png) [@Somethingwitty1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Somethingwitty1)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/4 "2021-09-11T16:19:44Z")
Also this. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ETroXvRFoKY/hqdefault.jpg "Reading of the Declaration of Independence") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETroXvRFoKY) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2021, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/5 "2021-09-11T16:34:20Z")
[![](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160927104012-911-firefighters-flag-restricted-super-tease.jpg) ](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/160927104012-911-firefighters-flag-restricted-super-tease.jpg) We are still here. We over-reacted to a great extent, and in the backlash some have forgotten what we are about as a nation in favor partisan politics, but we will recover. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/6 "2021-09-12T01:30:46Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > We over-reacted to a great extent, and in the backlash some have forgotten what we are about as a nation in favor partisan politics, but we will recover. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/7 "2021-09-12T01:50:14Z")
[![](https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/06/the-grateful-dead-2000.jpg) ](https://static.onecms.io/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/06/the-grateful-dead-2000.jpg) God, if you’re out there, bless America, and everywhere else too. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/8 "2021-09-12T05:16:54Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/WA8-KEnfWbQ/maxresdefault.jpg "WATCH: President George W. Bush's address to the nation after September 11, 2001 attacks") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA8-KEnfWbQ) President Bush’s statement to the American people later that evening. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/9 "2021-09-12T06:15:52Z")
[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lZ-UgAUEPa0/maxresdefault.jpg "This Land Is Your Land") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ-UgAUEPa0) Were it up to me, I’d toss The Star-Spangled Banner and give our national anthem to Woody Guthrie. It’s a shame that most people only know the chorus because it’s all they teach you to sing in kindergarten. ---
**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/10 "2021-09-12T08:16:12Z")
Warning: NSFW [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wTjMqda19wk/hqdefault.jpg "The Newsroom - America is not the greatest country in the world anymore...(Restricted language)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTjMqda19wk) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2021, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/11 "2021-09-12T13:26:24Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ-UgAUEPa0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ-UgAUEPa0) > > Were it up to me, I’d toss The Star-Spangled Banner and give our national anthem to Woody Guthrie. It’s a shame that most people only know the chorus because it’s all they teach you to sing in kindergarten. Excellent point. As I reread the lyrics I remembered some but not all of them. Here they are, from [woodyguthrie.org](http://woodyguthrie.org) — This Land Is Your Land Words and Music by Woody Guthrie © Copyright 1956 (renewed), 1958 (renewed), 1970 and 1972 by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI) _This land is your land, this land is my land_ _From California to the New York island,_ \*From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters; \* _This land was made for you and me._ \*As I was walking that ribbon of highway \* \*I saw above me that endless skyway; \* \*I saw below me that golden valley; \* _This land was made for you and me._ \*I’ve roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps \* \*To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts; \* _And all around me a voice was sounding;_ _This land was made for you and me._ \*When the sun came shining, and I was strolling, \* \*And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling, \* \*As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting: \* _This land was made for you and me._ _As I went walking I saw a sign there,_ \*And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.” \* _But on the other side it didn’t say nothing._ _That side was made for you and me._ \*In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people, \* \*By the relief office I seen my people; \* \*As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking \* _Is this land made for you and me?_ \*Nobody living can ever stop me, \* \*As I go walking that freedom highway; \* \*Nobody living can ever make me turn back \* _This land was made for you and me._ [https://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/This\_Land.htm](https://www.woodyguthrie.org/Lyrics/This_Land.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/12 "2021-09-18T17:52:19Z")
The Wilderness Act of 1964, signed into law by LBJ, is another reason I love America. I’ve heard it said that it is the first law in the world passed by any country to protect its wilderness lands (not sure if that is true or not). In many good ways, we lead the world in how to be better. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/13 "2021-09-18T17:57:47Z")
How many verses should be sung at gatherings? If not all of them, then which ones? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/14 "2021-09-18T18:04:20Z")
Americans with Disabilities Act. Our national parks are pretty good, too. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/god-bless-america-land-that-i-love/950514/15 "2021-09-18T20:22:57Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > We over-reacted to a great extent, and in the backlash some have forgotten what we are about as a nation in favor partisan politics, but we will recover. Is this an article of faith? It’s hard to tell if ignorance and hatred are at a higher level than they have been in the past, or decency and common sense at a lower level, but that’s the way it seems to me, looking back over the past 70 years or so. Maybe this is all pangs towards the birth of a better version of our country. I certainly hope so.