On January 17, 1961, in his final address to the nation, President Dwight D. Eisenhower prophetically said the following: "we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex... Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

Today, we can see that we have failed miserably to heed President Eisenhower's warning. I feel that this is mostly because Americans have been so preoccupied with the "gotcha" politics of fear and personal destruction that we have elected many people who are threatening to usurp some of our most basic freedoms and who are definitely not watching out for us. Indeed it often seems that they are only watching out for their wealthy financial supporters in the corrupt high places of corporate greed. Now, more than ever, we must become "an alert and knowledgeable citizenry" that "can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together." But, of even greater importance, we must come to these "peaceful methods and goals" within OUR OWN borders and love and respect each other whether we are "White" (i.e. European-Americans), African-Americans, Native Americans, Hispanic-Americans etc. Whether we like it or not, ALL Americans are in the same sinking ship and we must help one another into lifeboats and swim together in order to survive the incipient storm.

Especially disturbing to me as a Christian, is that somehow Jesus' ministry of peace and love seems to elude so many of my American Christian brethren. They seem so ready and willing to follow and support the most divisive and militaristic politicians so long as these same politicians loudly and repeatedly proclaim their "born again Christian" beliefs and "family" values. Indeed Jesus warns us against "wolves in sheep's clothing." We must remember that while Jesus readily offered forgiveness and salvation to criminals, adulterers, tax collectors and other sinners, he offered very little tolerance and/or redemption for the religiously hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees of His day!

Equally disturbing to me as an American who loves his country is that somehow many Americans are convinced that they can only be considered patriotic if they support the above-mentioned militaristic and divisive "family values" politicians and their goals.

I believe that what we need in America today is a new idealistic, non-militaristic mind-set. A mind-set that not only rejects unnecessary wars, usually instigated for secretive and corrupt reasons, but also renews the possibilities of truly and finally achieving the ideals and visions of equality and the pursuit of happiness our founding fathers set down, but did not achieve or necessarily follow, in our Declaration of Independence.

I firmly believe that our hearts must change before we can expect our currently divided culture and politics to change. Indeed music often has a powerful and subliminally persuasive way of changing hearts. Therefore as a musician, I ask the question: How might I musically express this new mind-set? With these thoughts in mind, I present the following Medley of American Patriotic Music.

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I am an American.

And I am a Christian.

As an American, I am appalled at the current moral, military and political direction of my beloved nation.

As a Christian I am equally appalled by the so-called "Christian" rationalizations and support for this direction.

Near the end of the Vietnam conflict, I arranged a medley of American patriotic music in protest of that disastrous war. During that time I often played this medley, but after the war was settled, it ceased having any immediate meaning and I therefore stopped playing it. However I recently reexamined it and discovered that today (with some minor changes) it seemingly has an even far more cogent message than it originally had in the Vietnam era.

These thoughts are more fully confirmed by the beginning of the following fourth stanza: "Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand." We must remember that in 1814, the only ones who could legally vote and therefore the only true freemen who would "stand" (i.e. survive - especially in their own homes) were people of means, i.e. "white" European-American landowners of the male gender - maybe only 10% of the U.S. population of that time. It seems  therefore, that the logical question becomes, WHY ARE WE STILL SINGING ABOUT THIS IN 2008? Has the abolition of slavery, or the later civil rights achievements, voting rights (including women's suffrage), had no effect on current thinking? Have the vast majority of today’s American people somehow been subliminally hoodwinked into thinking that we can and should somehow revert to the racism, sexism, elitism and other inequalities of that past era? If not, WHAT IS the relevance of these words today and more importantly WHY IS THIS STILL OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM?

And later in this 4th stanza "conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'" First, who decides when we should wage war because "our cause it is just?" Is it our president, in direct influence of corporate giants such as Halliburton or Exxon Mobil, both of which helped finance his political campaigns and seemingly greatly benefited from the current Iraq conflict? Secondly, if we are to label ourselves "Christian," how can our trust for such ventures be in God when true Biblical Christian teaching is overwhelmingly unwarlike and peaceful ("turn the other cheek" Mt.5:39), loving ("Love thy neighbor as thyself" Mt.22:39), altruistic (Parable of The Good Samaritan, Lk.10:29-37), and non-materialistic ("You cannot serve God and mammon" Mt.6:24)?

Unfortunately, in my opinion, our present national anthem represents a mind-set which exudes a completely obsolete and backward military, political and religious morality which, approximately since 9-11-01, has largely accelerated and led our nation to its present state of militarism, division, confusion and chaos. We have conquered Iraq in a pre-emptive war, waged for deceptive and erroneous reasons. This "conquering" only took several weeks because of our military superiority. But for the last 5 years we still have no clue as to how to win over the people of Iraq because in reality our "occupation" has no moral authority. In other words, for trumped up reasons which are somehow veiled in pseudo "Christian" rationalizations, we can easily militarily conquer a foreign land. Yet many are shocked because we are viewed by the natives of that land (and much of the rest of the world) as bullies who are attempting to control and occupy their land for our own greed and purposes (which, unfortunately, in my opinion, is exactly what we are doing). In the meantime, at home the average American worries about the vast economic strain this supposed "war on terror" against vague and elusive "terrorists" and "enemies" who supposedly stockpile nuclear and other "weapons of mass destruction," has cost us. Our national debt has ballooned astronomically out of control, possibly putting us in an economic tailspin we may never fully recover from. There is an ever greater economic disparity between wealthy and poorer Americans (which includes the so-called middle class) - thus making a mockery of our beliefs and ideals of basic equalities and opportunities among all Americans. We also have recent legislation which seriously threatens to curtail some of our most basic democratic rights and freedoms of privacy (both financial and otherwise), search and seizure, etc. (Patriot Act). Is this the legacy we desire to leave to our children?

I FOLLOW THIS WITH "TWINKLE TWINKLE LITTLE STAR," A CHILD'S SONG. THIS SYMBOLIZES THE SUFFERING AND DEATH OF OUR INNOCENT CHILDREN FROM THE NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST THAT EVENTUALLY MAY BE INEVITABLE SHOULD WE CONTINUE TO FOLLOW OUR CURRENT MIND-SET.

Next I play "America The Beautiful."

Stanza 1
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

"O beautiful for spacious skies" In this statement our poet (Katharine Lee Bates - 1895) gives us a prophetic vision of the importance of the earth's atmosphere which is today on the brink of becoming so polluted that the health of all life may already be irreversibly in jeopardy. Indeed we now know that some species are in imminent danger of extinction because of climate change caused by pollution. (This change will ultimately also apply to humans - it may well cause drought in present fertile areas and excessive rainfall, flooding, tornados etc. in other areas, thus threatening our own survival.) Also humanity is in ever greater risk of various serious respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses because of other air pollution.

O beautiful "For amber waves of grain," and "Above the fruited plain!" Here our poet celebrates and praises the gift of our land with its rich fertility to feed us. Furthermore she understands that "Man does not live by bread alone," (Mt.4:4) but also by a higher spiritual essence. "O beautiful for purple mountain majesties." Indeed, not only has God given us sustenance for our physical needs but also a land of incredible beauty and majesty to bolster this spiritual essence and as evidence of the awesome power and greatness of Our Creator. And finally "America! America! God shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea!" This exhorts us on how to thank our Creator and how to behave to edify ourselves and preserve God's great gift to us.

Stanza 2
O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

Our poet singles out the pilgrims of 1620 as examples of both the best of Christian behavior and how "White" European-Americans and Americans of other "races" and cultures should respond to each other in brotherhood. Upon arriving at Plymouth Rock, the pilgrims found two vacant native American houses with much needed food inside. To prevent their own starvation, they consumed the food but vowed to repay the natives, which they did six months later when they finally made contact with them. Thus began a trusting and peaceful friendship that was to endure for over 50 years. The stories of the first Thanksgiving and how these pilgrims were taught fishing and planting corn by these natives (especially by Squanto) and the reciprocal protection by the pilgrims of our American natives, are supreme examples of how the people of widely divergent cultures and "races" that now make up our land can and should create a "thoroughfare of freedom beat" across the wilderness of fear and ignorance that seems to presently occupy the American psyche or mind-set. Indeed if any group of Americans is oppressed and consequently denied their freedom and rights, it is my belief that ALL AMERICANS will ultimately be denied these same freedoms and rights!

America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,

This prayer is especially cogent today when our nation seems so intent on destroying our earth by pollution and global warming and dividing us by haves and have nots, race, ethnicity and gender. Indeed, if America is to truly become a Christian oriented nation we must do a far better job of following the greatest of Christian commandments:

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)

In light of the above, how can we truly love the Lord "with all thy heart,...soul,...and mind" while we, with blind ignorance and arrogance, destroy his creation - this earth He has so graciously given us? And how can we "love thy neighbor as thyself" while many Americans so willingly and ignorantly continue to follow the malicious propaganda of certain media commentators, writers and politicians who engage in the politics of fear and demagoguery to divide Americans into isolated and suspicious - even paranoid - subgroups of "race" and class. This brings us to the following exhortation in the next verse of this stanza:

"Confirm thy soul in self-control,"

Our constitution's first amendment guarantees us freedom of speech and press. I feel that our founding fathers believed that this freedom would lead to a reasonable discussion of issues and injustices and ultimately to a more just and superior democratic republic. Indeed the ideals of equality and "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," set out in our Declaration of Independence were ONLY IDEALS when our nation was founded and when slavery was allowed and only "white" male landowners could vote (only about 10% of our population). Indeed, today it is EVERY ADULT CITIZEN'S responsibility to take the time and effort to thoughtfully, calmly and logically sort out the blaring din and screaming voices of modern politics to vote responsibly. In doing so we will indeed confirm our collective American "soul in self-control" and support and VOTE FOR candidates who appear to HAVE more reasoned voices and are most likely to unite ALL AMERICANS in "a more perfect union" (as one prominent politician recently put it). Therefore we should have an ever greater realization of our founding fathers' initial ideals. In short, an America where traditional class, "racial," religious and gender barriers become ever more insignificant and, at least within our borders, we progressively fulfill the great Christian commandment to "love thy neighbor as thyself." This brings us to the ultimate conclusion of this Stanza with the following verse:

"Thy liberty in law!"

To me it is obvious that if we become an America that follows the above precepts of love and respect for ALL AMERICANS, that we will elect those who will create laws that promote liberty and justice for all. In doing so we will become an ever greater democracy which will ultimately shine like a beacon of light for the entire world and which will regain the respect and trust we have, in recent years, so egregiously and shamefully lost.

The main themes of "America The Beautiful" are contained within the above first two stanzas. The remaining six stanzas are further (and sometimes somewhat repetitive) elaborations of these themes but nonetheless have many illuminating and valuable thoughts:

The glorious third stanza which speaks of the true American hero as one who strives for liberty, would sacrifice himself for his country and loves mercy more than life. To my mind, the late Dr. Martin Luther King serves as a supreme example of this heroism:

"O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness
And every gain divine!"

In the fourth stanza:

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears!

Who or what is a true patriot? The answer is contained in this fourth stanza. It is one who "sees beyond the years." That is one who is a GOOD STEWARD and believes and acts in ways that will leave America a more humane, loving place than he found it for future generations. One who supports a clean, pollution-free America who's "alabaster cities gleam" which are "Undimmed by the human tears" of the dirt, poverty, drugs, crime, and racism that today seems to be such a large fabric of so many current American cities.

STANZA 7
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!

I am old enough to vividly remember the Vietnam war protests and demonstrations of the 1960s-70s. Many of these demonstrations included flag burnings. I believe that the vast majority of these "burnings" were done to demonstrate the selfish greed and racism that seemed to many to be the true motives for this Asian war of supposedly freeing the South Vietnamese from communist aggression. Yes, the flag-burners were labeled as completely unpatriotic anarchists at the time. But is not this very banner a symbol of America and what it stands for, not only to ourselves, but to the rest of the world? Today, our flag and America's reputation is even more deeply stained because of the Iraq War and the "selfish gain" it seems to represent. Indeed, at this point, I feel that America must make something of a "quantum leap" AWAY from the sort of selfish militarism of the past 45 years as evidenced in the Vietnam and Iraqi conflicts, and, at least amongst ourselves, leap TOWARD our ideals of equality and the pursuit of happiness or a "more perfect union." Only then will we become the above-mentioned beacon of light and only then will "selfish gain no longer stain the banner of the free!"

Finally, it is my feeling that a symbolic start toward this more just, loving American mind-set would be for us to adopt America the Beautiful as our official national anthem in place of The Star-Spangled Banner. Of course this would only be a beginning. We need to clean our hearts, and in the process cross those artificial lines which have traditionally kept Americans apart and suspiciously fearful of each other. Today there is simply no excuse for not doing so. We have seen the destruction of America's reputation abroad because of our selfish greed and militarism in Iraq. We must therefore somehow disengage ourselves from this conflict while simultaneously making PEACE in that region. Even more important, we must recognize that all Americans are in the same boat and we must make PEACE amongst ourselves - the rich, the poor, "white" European-Americans, "black" African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Native-Americans etc. - before this boat becomes a sinking ship and we ALL drown. Today, this "PEACE" is rapidly becoming an absolute necessity for our survival as a nation. And this thought of PEACE brings me to the conclusion of this medley.

I close with "Taps." This is the traditional bugle call which signifies "rest in peace." There are no official lyrics as such. But it is most often used at the close of the day at the time of sleep. It is also used at military funerals to signify "rest in peace" forever, or rest in the eternal "peace of God which passeth all understanding." (Phil 4:7)
Lawrence Johnson