Category Image Nationalism and the Church


I've fired up my album of Patriotic Music as I write this entry. I have to admit to loving the various patriotic songs and hymns we get to hear around the 4th of July. The question in front of me today, however, is would I like to hear this music in Church. More specifically, do I think its appropriate.

This morning I received an e-mail from an Anglican Music blogger , with the following statement: "I argue to you that the Greek and Serbian and Russian orthodox churches are too nationalistic. And then in my blog I go and argue in favor of nationalist hymns in the COE and ECUSA worship. So I guess you can skewer me." There are several interesting things worth commenting on. Are the various Orthodox Churches in this country too nationalistic? What is the Orthodox perspective on incorporating hymns reflecting nationalistic sentiments? What do I make of the practice in Western/Protestant denominations?

As a recovering AngloCatholic, I, too, grew up with the singing of various hymns such as the Star Spangled Banner, and America around various national holidays throughout the year. As you may surmise from above, I rather like those tunes. It seems to me that much of the opposition to hymns such as the Star Spangled Banner reflect the strange modern phenomenon of Americans feeling the need for false humility such that they denigrate the U.S. at every opportunity. Most, if not all, of the hymns for national days which have made it into American Anglican worship are there to thank God for His intervention in the founding of this country, and to request His continued intervention. That makes these hymns, frankly, quite consistent with most other hymns of Thanksgiving.

The only difference, and this may prove to be a key one, is that most other hymns are ones that Christians from around the world (assuming they spoke English) would feel comfortable singing. Most other hymns reflect events in salvation history, lives of saints, or God's interactions in our personal lives. The introduction of Nationalistic hymns into worship commits what is considered by many conservative Anglicans to be a significant error, the elimination of common prayer. Put yourself in the 1780's. If you were visiting the U.S. from England, would you feel comfortable singing "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"? In reference to you and your countrymen (albeit, this may be more pointed at the Hessians).

So, the argument is raised that these sorts of hymns are traditional, and so they are - within the context of the past 4 - 500 years. Along with the rise of nationalism. Let's look, for a moment, at Orthodoxy and see what a longer tradition provides here. I attend a Greek Orthodox parish . Although it is under the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch , and not the Archbishop of Greece , it is part of an Archdiocese founded to provide support for the growing number of Greek immigrants. Thus, you would expect that we would sing hymns about Greek independence as part of our service on March 25th (Greek Independence day, as well as the feast of the Annunciation). In fact, there is no such authorized hymn that I'm aware of. I do not believe that there are any hymns sung in honor of the Byzantine empire, the Russian empire, or any other state within Orthodoxy - although certain leaders that have been canonized, such as St. Constantine, have hymns written for them. I will admit that I have only had the smallest glimpse into the entire body of Orthodoxy hymnody, so there may be something I'm missing. The absence of Greek national hymns, though, is telling. On Greek independence day, we do have a big celebration after Divine Liturgy. Greek dancing, food (Lenten in variety, given the date), retelling of history, etc., is the order of the day. On the Sunday before the 4th of July, after the service, the choir sang America, and America the Beautiful as we were receiving the antidoron from our priest and exiting the Church.

So no, as I think about this, and look at the longer traditions, I think maybe it isn't appropriate to sing such hymns during worship. After the service, before the service, or at some special event, it would be absolutely appropriate. Its interesting that in looking at this, we see that the Orthodox churches may, in fact, be less nationalistic. Our church is very Greek, and quite ethnic. We certainly celebrate Greek Independence Day with gusto. But the Divine Liturgy, the Orthros that precedes it? No, those belong to the entire Church, not just the Greeks, or the Serbs, or the Russians.

Are the Orthodox Churches in the U.S. too ethnic? Probably. The ethnicities are what keep the parishes somewhat separate - although there is an increasing amount of effort, especially during Great Lent, spent on worshipping together. So hopefully, over time, we'll come to see our "ethnicity" as being American, and there will be a little less separation.

Posted: Thursday - July 05, 2007 at 04:36 PM          

©