Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024 | 2 a.m.
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The NFL has decided to include “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a Christian hymn that reflects the book of Exodus, before some of its games.
As the hymn has been popular with Black churches and the Civil Rights Movement, it is sometimes referred to as the Black national anthem. That seems to be enough for some people to revile the song without listening to it or at least reading the lyrics, even to the point of boycotting the NFL.
Just read the final verse of the song and ask yourself what the hair-on-fire pundits find so offensive.
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by Thy might lead us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee;
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand.
True to our God,
True to our native land.
This is a song that evokes faith in God and a backbone of patriotism.
In contrast, compare that with the third verse of the poem that inspired our national anthem, which includes:
No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave.
People can always find something to be offended over, but this was just dumb.
