Why do we have a rubbish National Anthem?

[The Avon Lady]

Originally Posted by kurtz

and what do we have? Some dreary little ditty asking some deity of middle eastern provenance to look after some unelected foriegner who's been placed in charge of us.

Where in "God Save the Queen" is this mentioned?

[kurtz]

Originally Posted by The Avon Lady

Where in "God Save the Queen" is this mentioned?

Where it says "God Save the Queen"

[The Avon Lady]

Originally Posted by kurtz

Where it says "God Save the Queen"

Aha!

[Smaragdadler]

Originally Posted by kurtz

Where it says "God Save the Queen"

The term god has nothing to do with the Jewish יהוה.

Etymology of the name God:
http://wahiduddin.net/words/name_god.htm

Names of God in Judaism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God_in_Judaism

In old German dialects, 'got' was the general term for a numinous being - the kind of primal power that affected everything, without having a definite shape of its own. 'Got' was not to be mixed up with Wotan or Odin, which were already concrete formulations. 'Got' thus corresponded to the Indian 'Atman', while the gods were seen as mortal beings.
----
The earliest written form of the Germanic word "god" comes from the 6th century Christian Codex Argenteus. The English word itself descends from the Proto-Germanic *ǥuđan. Most linguists agree that the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form *ǵhu-tó-m was based on the root *ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either "to libate" or "to call, to invoke".

The capitalized form "God" was first used in Ulfilas' Gothic translation of the New Testament, to represent the Greek Theos, and the Latin Deus (etymology "*Dyeus"). Because the development of English orthography was dominated by Christian texts written in Latin, the capitalization (hence personalization and personal name) continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic "God" and the "gods" of polytheism.
The name "God" now typically refers to the Abrahamic God of Judaism (El), Christianity, and Islam (Allah). Though there are significant cultural divergences that are implied by these different names, "God" remains the common English translation for all. The name may signify any related or similar monotheistic deities, such as the early monotheism of Akhenaten and Zoroastrianism.

God at wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God

Here's a good national anthem for the world i think!

[The Avon Lady]

I'm speechless.

[kurtz]

@ Smaragdadler

Fascinating links thanks, but as one of the points out (wiki I think) the term has come to represent the Abrahamic deity.

Mike

[Tronics]

Can't change the star spangled banner, it would take an act of Congress, and Congress usually defers to tradition.


If they were going to propose changing it in a semi-serious light, then I'd rather it become 'My Country Tis of Thee' instead of 'America the Beautiful'.