As an Englishman I have often wondered about this phrase, seemingly uttered by every US President after every speech. Who exactly is the God in question, I thought the USA was set up as an secular state.
Bill of Rights, Amendment I: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
And why he is saving America in particular? Surely religion is not bound by national boundaries. Indeed this is a cornerstone of the christian church.
Are you sure you are listening correctly? The presidents have usually ended their speeches with “and God bless America”. I’ve never heard a president say “God Save America”.
Asking God to save the queen is not silly because she is the head of the Church of England. As far as the Anglican Church is concerned she is God’s representitive on Earth and it is presumably in his interest to keep her alive.
Not to mention, Presidents often close with, ‘God bless America’, or some variation. I do not believe that I have ever heard a President say ‘God save America’.
Well, pretty much every country thinks it’s doing the right thing. Here in the States, most people believe in God and hope He blesses us – guides us to do the right thing, helps us do it, gives us all kinds of goodies, etc. The implied missing word is “may,” as in “May God bless the United States.” It’s kind of a begging thing. Kind of unseemly to an atheist such as myself, but mostly inoffensive.
::checks forum to make sure this is Great Debates::
Well, it would make more sense if it was “God save America”, insofar as America at the moment needs saving more than it deserves blessing. Even some atheists would note that while they do not believe in God, we could use all the help we can get.
It marks the end of the speech, and I’ve heard it used all my life by Democrats and Republicans. It’s also the title of an extremely popular song that people have suggested be our national anthem, so the phrase has sort of entered the lexicon generally.
And from a country whose national anthem is “God Save the Queen”, I’d think you’d understand. What, the singing of it is not a total heartfelt beseeching endorsement of the Deity protecting those dumpy German folks? It’s a catchphrase and traditional and can be sung comfortably by Catholics and athiests and other such riffraff?
Well, this atheist rolls her eyes in mild dismay when she sees “God Bless America” stickers in store windows and on cars and people’s doorways. It’s this “my God can whup your God” nonsense that’s gotten us into all this trouble in the first place.
This was my point. Besides, why would any God bless a country that was originally set up without the slightest mention of the almightly. You can say God Bless an individual but for him to bless a whole nation, a large fraction of whom either down believe in him or believe in a different flavour, seems absurd to me. I find it amusing that America is filled with so many ardent christians where as England, an official christain state, has a large majority of commited agnostics. Force anybody to believe something and they, given a little freedom, will try their hardest to believe in something else.