The issue of the American Anthem in a language other than English
This topic fascinates me. Seeing GWBush’s visceral declaration that the anthem should be sung/celebrated/performed ONLY in English just fascinates me further.
Here is my quick list of facts I’m gleaning from the world around me:
GWBush and many Americans feel compelled to go around democratizing everything. As the official “land of the free,” whatever the motivation is (be it hippy dippy or capitalistic), nobody here like tyrants, genocide, or any of that bad stuff OTHER countries have. So we all agree that America’s awesome, even if there’s still room for improvement, we wish the wonderfulness of the pursuit of happiness to all.
I’m going to generalize a good bit here, but for the sake of example… as a country that is predominantly Christian in faith, by default we can assume that we believe in the Ten Commandments, Jesus’ message, and that we command a certain morality that informs our radically compassionate tactics in looking out for everybody’s well-being.
Back in the day when only the clergy were educated enough to read the Bible in Latin, an English version of the Word of God proved to be the hugely significant springboard for spreading Christianity. It disseminated to even more multitudes when the paper back version came out. Then those wacky Gideon’s offering free copies, television, the internet—man, everybody had a shot at being Christian!
If a simple translation of the Bible helped the Christian faith take on the globe, then why wouldn’t a simple translation of the American anthem—only the most preciously genuine, heart felt poetry that endearingly radiates the pride we endure as Americans—wouldn’t it be key in spreading American ideals to the world??
I mean, look at it this way: the real solution to this whole immigration “problem” hot in the media right now is that America needs to take over the world and make it civilized and fair, just like America. You see, if the countries where immigrants are coming from live in a place just as bad ass as the United States, they wouldn’t need to be encroaching on our borders then, would they?
Clearly the correct answer to whether or not we approve of a Spanish version of the national anthem is that we don’t want a Spanish version—we want a version in every language on planet Earth.
Forget that crap where, by definition, all current Americans have immigrant ancestors (unless they’re Native American, of course), or that pesky freedom of speech thing, or whatever other reasons one may consider when being a bit more open-minded about dealing with foreigners… these things just don’t hold a candle our kind efforts of doing what’s right for everybody.
I’m on team America, dammit. I say let’s make every country super cool like us and allow many translations of our noble anthem.
May 6th, 2006 at 4:29 p
The God of the Ten Commandments is a vengeful God, not a compassionate God. He would tell the immigrants to go fuck themselves.
I happen to think the Spanish National Anthem is a good idea. I think everyone in this country should be taught English and Spanish. I am ambivalent about Mexicans and Latin Americans crossing into the border. “Give us your tired, your weak, your huddled masses;” we’ll have them buying Nikes and cheap electronics in no time.
That’s what we want, isn’t it? More tax-paying consumers? Open the gates!