Public worship?

To the editor:

The rulers of the Roman Empire insisted, for almost three centuries of the common era, that all Romans make a public display of worship of its traditional deities, like Jupiter and Juno.

President Trump puts required devotion to nationalistic symbols as equally demanding of a public display of devotion. However, many Americans are ignorant of the historicity of this symbology.

For example, “God Bless America” is not our national anthem. “The Star-Spangled Banner” is. Moreover, it was only made such in 1931, and it was not until 1942 that we got an official pledge of allegiance, which originally made no reference to a deity. It was only in 1954, during the bleakest portion of the Cold War, that “under God” was added to it.

Before World War II, there were no patriotic displays before the beginning of American sporting events. Nowadays, even a brutal blood sport requires such a display. 

Contestants also made personal religious gestures, like the sign of the cross. Do they really think that their God is inclined to favor them over their adversaries? What a degrading view of a supreme being!

Or do they desire to reduce religion to a kind of sympathetic magic wherein going through the right motions leads to automatic success?

Alan Saks