Every time I hear Lee Greenwood sing "God Bless the U.S.A." I feel an immense pride in my country and so "proud to be an American" as the song states. But recent news of an elementary school in Massachusetts making the children sing a different rendition, leaving "God" out of the lyrics, shocks and angers me. The children singing at a school assembly were told to sing instead, "We Love the U.S.A.", which is not a bad thing to say. It's just not the original song, penned by Lee Greenwood.

Fox News reports Lee Greenwood has some pretty strong thoughts about the deletion of "God". “Maybe the school should have asked the parents their thoughts before changing the lyrics to the song. They could have even asked the writer of the song, which I of course would have said you can’t change the lyrics at all or any part of the song. The most important word in the whole piece of music is the word God, which is also in the title God Bless The USA. We can’t take God out of the song, we can’t take God out of The Pledge of Allegiance, we can’t take God off of the American currency. Let us also remember, the phrase God Bless the USA has a very important meaning for those in the military and their families, as well as new citizens coming to our Country. The song is played at every naturalization ceremony behind The National Anthem. If the song is good enough to played and performed in its original setting under those circumstances, it surely should be good enough for our children.”

Well said.

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The Superintendent of that Massachusetts school finally listened to reason from complaining parents and said students can now sing the word "God" during the assembly. Gee, thanks, sir, for granting me that freedom. I don't know who came up with the politically correct position in the first place, but my prayers are going up for them. Here's that terrific song, forever on my favorite songs list.

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