MLB: Keep ‘God Bless America’ in Baseball

The singing of ‘God Bless America’ is a staple during baseball games. However, one columnist wants to see the MLB end that practice.

Recently, New York Daily News columnist Gersh Kuntzman published an article that featured an emphatic plea to the MLB to ban the song, ‘God Bless America’ from being played during baseball games.

I would like to start with a quick disclaimer; I can’t believe this is even a topic of conversation worthy of being published in a large scale newspaper such as the Daily News. The idea that a song can cause this much discontent in a sport is outrageous. The fact that a notable journalist would take his time to cover this topic is even more laughable.

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However, upon quick investigation of Kuntzman and the work he puts out for the News, it is unsurprising that he would put out an article of this sort. The first two headlines of his that I see on my search of him are “Firing an AR-15 is horrifying, menacing and very very loud” and “To gun lovers, you can’t even have an opinion on assault rifles”. It is obvious that Kuntzman has made headlines recently by tackling incredibly divisive and complex issues with a narrow and stubborn mind set. He has taken on the title of ‘Human Buzz Feed’. This is evidenced by his most recent article, the one that I am discussing.

As a quick pretext, I would like to note that I am in no way bashing Kuntzman as a person, or passing judgment on his character. I am simply addressing his opinions and the flaws I see in them and their execution.

Now, back to the discussion.

Why the vitriol for this song? It is a 40-word song that usually takes about a minute to sing between an inning of baseball. It is a way for fans to pass the time when they would otherwise be doing nothing, or scrolling through their twitter feed.

Kuntzman begins his argument against the song by likening it to saluting the dictatorial regime of Benito Mussolini. He explains his outrage that fans must stand up and place their hats over their hearts for a song that is not our national anthem. In what world is standing up and removing your hat grounds for outrage or dictatorial comparisons? It’s not as if the team is asking you throw your hat onto the field or do anything egregious that could endanger your life. They are simply asking you to stand and remove your hats. How hard can that be?

No level headed fan will be upset or outraged if you refuse to stand up or remove your cap for ‘God Bless America’. He is right, it is not our national anthem. We should not be forced, or coerced into standing for it, and we aren’t. It is a kind suggestion. Fans aren’t even forced to stand when the National Anthem plays. While it is my belief that every fan in the stadium should stand and remove their caps for the National Anthem, regardless of their citizenship, nobody is forcing anybody to do anything when these moments of tribute to our country.

He goes on next, to speak of the “self-righteousness, forced piety, earnest self-reverence” of the song. How can a song that barely makes up two tweets worth of characters contain all of these vain and arrogant connotations? Let’s take a look at the complete text of the song and try to find where these arrogant, “American” ideals lay.

God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home

I can say, in complete and utter honesty that I do not detect a hint of arrogance or forced piety.

What is arrogant about asking God, or a god to bless one’s country. If you are religious, then it is the ultimate gift, knowing your supreme being as bestowed upon your country a blessing. If you aren’t religious, then it’s just some lyrics from a song proclaiming your love of the country you are a citizen of. What is so arrogant about that? I contest that there is nothing arrogant about it.

The rest of the song goes along like any other patriotic song, listing the beauties of the country and all that Americans feel when they think of their country.

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In a continuation of obscure arguments, Kuntzman points to polls conducted for a book published by Sheryl Kaskowitz for her 2013 book titled, “God Bless America: The Surprising History of an Iconic Song”.

He calls attention to a poll that says 61% of baseball fans don’t want the song played at games. Where is this 61%? I have been going baseball games for my entire life and I have yet to hear one fan complain of the song or its place in Americas pastime. I am not saying this poll is wrong or biased, I am simply saying that I must only be seeing the 39% of fans who are okay with the song being played at games. That is quite peculiar if I am missing out on 3/5 of all baseball fans in the country.

Next, Kuntzman goes to the argument of 88% of atheists being against the song. Well of course they’re going to be against a song which implies a higher deity is passing blessing on our country. That’s what makes them atheists! Their discontent with this idea and their refusal to believe in a higher power! Their belief is just as valid and acceptable and that of any religious person and no person should ever be ashamed of holding beliefs of any kind.

As a final jab, Kuntzman lists the number of people that the song supposedly offends.

His second example is that of a British citizen that hears the song at a minor league baseball game in Brooklyn. He explains that the Brit smiled when the song was played.

‘“It’s exactly what I expect from Americans,” he said. “The self-righteousness, the patriotism. It’s always nice to see my opinions confirmed.”’

Where is the stated offence? Where does this visitor express discontent with song? He has made an argument that is not even backed up by his own evidence.

This column is riddled with examples of faulty logic and misleading, or even contradictory facts. I believe that God Bless America is a cornerstone of our national identity, whether you believe in a supreme deity or not.

It is from a time when religious fervor was main stream in the country. To condemn a song for having religious tendencies or values when they were accepted at the time of its conception is ridiculous and irresponsible.

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We have bigger problems in baseball than what songs are played between innings. I hope the Daily News takes into account these larger problems and addresses them over an issue as trivial and ridiculous as this one again.