I had a fat red state nag in a fanny pack and Old Glory t-shirt scream at me for not holding my hat over my heart during that song. First I told her nicely to mind her business before I told her to freak off.
Holy crap, she and I would've had words. I have this thing with that - so much so that it pisses me off when people do that during GBA. I find it disrespectful to the National Anthem. There is one song, the song of this nation, that demands one show respect in such a way. Extending it to any ol' patriotic song, in my view, cheapens the practice for the national anthem. It dilutes the significance of the whole affair. Mind you, I take my hat off during it. That is just showing proper respect to the country during a patriotic moment. Like the whole 'wearing a hat indoors isn't polite' type of thing - exactly why the cap should be removed for any patriotic song/moment. But holding the hat/hand over heart during the song is one step too far, and should be exclusive to our anthem.
For me it has little to do with the religious nature of the song... I feel the same way about the 'The flag still stands for freedom, and they can't take that away...' that was all the rage after 9/11. That said, the religiousness of God Bless America is absolute. Demanding people of other faiths, whether atheist, Shinto, Buddhist, Wiccan, Jedi or whatever, show their allegiance to a song that states unequivocally of faith in an Abrahamic, monotheistic God in a nation founded on religious freedom is... not cool in my eyes.
Then again, I was the insane seven year old who either went silent for the Pledge's 'Under God,', or added my own seven year old witty repertoire to fill the void and be lost/drowned out by thirty other voices. Personal faith is groovy. State mandated, indoctrinated, enforced proclamations of any and all faiths, not so much.
