brought tears to my eyes.   This is what it's all about.  Have we forgotten? 

I cried too. Freedom means keeping God in America....we can't have it any other way.  I hope and pray we can keep it.!

Thanks for sharing this. It's so encouraging. 

I didn't even know there are more than one verse to that song er rather poem.  This video has gone viral on FB and rightfully so.  I found it especially moving seeing people stand up for it once they recognized the song. 

I'm not computer savvy...what does this mean?

Means that it has been spread very quickly (like the virus do in schools).

FB = facebook a social networking site.

Ok. Many thanks.

and that this has been spread very quickly is good.....very good!   That's why you said rightfully so!

oh good idea A.D.  I have FB as well.  I should include it there.  I haven't seen it come up among my network of friends yet. 

Interesting that you ignore that

A. The song was written 200 years ago when christianity was the main religion of both the British Empire and the fledgeling USA.

B. It calls for us to conquer when our cause is just, and yet you have no problem with the fact that we haven't invaded any of the south american countries that feed drugs into the US.

Obviously, respecting a 200 year old poem only counts when it falls into your propaganda.

Now I'm not bashing christianity here, but aparantly eliminating the freedom of religion part of the first amendment is high on your list of things to do.

Additionally, it is not the second verse it's the fourth of five.

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

When our land is illumined with liberty's smile,
If a foe from within strikes a blow at her glory,
Down, down with the traitor that tries to defile
The flag of the stars, and the page of her story!
By the millions unchained,
Who their birthright have gained
We will keep her bright blazon forever unstained;
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave,
While the land of the free is the home of the brave.

That is a stretch.  Yes, the US was and still is a predominantly Christian nation, but Christians do not have a monopoly on God.

As for the jingoistic nature of the poem, of course it is!  It was written during the war of 1812, so is very military in its roots.

That one thing that bothers me to no end... someone sitting on their can while the national anthem is played.

I'm sure calling it the second verse was just an oversight. No big deal.

Here "the Star Spangled Banner" is shown as the having 5 verses while my old civics book has that the National Education Association in 1912 recommended three (this one in question as the 3rd) as the authorized version. In 1931, Congress enacted a law making the song our national anthem. 

Or rather when, in my case, it tickles my patriotism button.

hahaha

Who do you mean by "YOU"?

I use to think so, but I'm not so sure anymore that the US is a predominantly Christian nation. From what I see the general tenor of society is no longer Christian, far from it, at least not in the true sense of being Christian.

And some are actively and even militantly anti-Christian.

For me, that's one of the reasons why I admire these Tea Parties...they are out there standing up for convictions that are similiar to my own. They understand freedom need to be protected.

In general, if you get offended by the use of the word you in that sentence, you should consider yourself part of the group that I am talking to.

Actually, if you get offended by anything I post in the political section, you should consider yourself part of the group I'm talking to.