born again american

I love my subscription to USA Today because I often run across things I otherwise would have missed. An example is the article I read about a patriotic song and video, Born Again American. (Maybe you caught it around the time of the inauguration and this is "so six weeks ago" for you.)

Anywhooo, it starts out with a guy in a cowboy hat sitting on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial singin' 'bout the hard times and you can't help but think, "Yeah, I know where this is going." But if you hang in there, it gets interesting. As the scenes shift, there's the inclusion of an Asian-American woman playing a cello by the Golden Gate Bridge, an African-American gospel choir on a ferry by the NYC skyline, a man in a Muslim robe from the Islamic Center and a woman cantor from Temple Ahavat Shalom singing together at the base of Mount Rushmore, etc. WooHoo! Diversity!

If you haven't seen the video and have 6 minutes, take a look:



The story behind the video is that Norman Lear (TV producer of hits such as All in the Family and liberal activist) asked Keith Carradine to write a song for him called Born Again American to "reflect a revitalization of the faith of all Americans in their country". (As an aside, I've liked Keith Carradine since the movie Nashville back in the day.)

I'm not totally comfortable with the term "born again American" because "born again" has so much baggage. I'm also not sure if I'm comfy with linking the Bible and the Bill of Rights (even though I understand the history) if this is to emphasize an interfaith vision. But I do like the idea that not just one party or group has a corner on patriotism -- liberal, progressive people are patriotic too! And rather than focusing on what divides us we need to focus on things that unite us including our shared history and belief in the founding documents, etc. It's a good thing to send the message that we're all in this together, and we'll need to work together to solve our current problems.