Over the last four years I’ve had the privilege of playing in the Prattville Pops, a community band. In those years, I have mostly played – as long as I wasn’t heavily pregnant – patriotic concerts.
There are certain songs that choke me up every year. I almost break down while playing the “Armed Forces Salute” as audience members stand when their branch’s song is played. “America the Beautiful,” meanwhile, makes my heart soar with the notes.
"Battle Hymn of the Republic” affects me the most, however. I get chills playing it while listening to the chorus singing behind me. The soaring sopranos and the brass pushing along a marching line give me a sense of pride.
What really brings me to tears is the section usually sung acapella. The line goes, “In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea, / With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me. / As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, / While God is marching on.”
We played this song at our dress rehearsal a few days ago and I listened in awe as the soloists sang it. Not because the soloists were exceptional – they are! – but because my increased understanding of the Revolution gave this line more meaning.
My husband and I are currently reading Eric Metaxas’ new book, “Revolution.” Anyone who has read a Metaxas book knows that he is an exceptional writer. All his books are well researched, and this one is no exception. As I write this, I am only halfway through the book, but I have never been prouder to be an American after what I have read.
Metaxas stresses the underlying values of the Revolution and what caused Americans to begin pushing back against the British. He fleshes out better than I can the role of the Protestant Reformation in America’s founding. Arguably without Protestants, there would be no America.
But one shared value of all Christians is the same value that emboldened American colonists to stand up to Britain a decade or more before the Declaration of Independence was signed. This value is well articulated in the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” where it says, “As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free, / While God is marching on.”
The Revolution began over far more than just taxation, though that played a key part. Taxation was just the British way of making Americans the whipping boy – first for high expenses resulting from the French and Indian War, then to help the East India Company with which many British politicians were crookedly entangled.
In addition to taxation woes, the British stripped the American colonies of their ability to self-govern by disbanding their smaller congresses. They posted soldiers and cannons on the hills so the colonists felt the constant threat of enforcement. British soldiers ran drills loudly in the common areas and behaved in a lewd manner toward American citizens. American profits and labors were meant merely to bolster the British and colonists were to enjoy none of the liberties of citizens living in Britian as they did a century earlier. Indeed, the Americans were left feeling that the British were truly trying to enslave them.
The Americans knew they did not have equal rights because the king granted them; they had these rights because God granted them. Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” laid this out well, handing a heavy smackdown to the entire idea of a monarchy.
The colonists fought because they believed that God made them free, not the king. They were merely enforcing God’s righteous law. They devoted themselves to prayer and fasting, doing so roughly 15 times in the whole war. They called everyone to pray, fast, and search themselves for areas in which they could be further sanctified, believing that God would not bless them if they did not humble themselves. They knew that they would fight, but God would be the one “marching on.”
The “Battle Hymn of the Republic” was written around the Civil War. But the Civil War was just a continuation of the same values underscoring the Revolutionary War.
The truth is that God sent his Son to die to make men holy. This grants us all equality and rights. This gives us freedom in Christ. And this message has emboldened our founders and Americans for 250 years to fight to make men free – all while God is marching on!
Laura Clark is a wife, mother, and community activist. She currently serves as the interim president of Alabama Center for Law and Liberty, a conservative nonprofit law firm that fights for limited government, free markets, and strong families in the courts. Anything written by Laura for this publication does not constitute legal advice.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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