Until a couple weeks ago, I always had the greatest respect for Kate Smith. The fact she could sing and I cannot had something to do with it. So did my mother’s admiration for her; my mother was a singer and a larger woman, as was Kate, and mom always respected people who were larger than average and excelled in their craft.
But the main reason I respected Kate Smith was her famous and inspiring rendition of Irving Berlin’s 1938 classic, God Bless America. As someone who always loved both God and country, I found that song to be a thrilling tribute to both. The words are simple but stirring:
God Bless America, land that I love.
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam.
God Bless America, my home sweet home.
God Bless America, my home sweet home.
Recordings of Kate Smith singing this song have inspired literally millions of Americans, from the darkest days of the Great Depression, through World War Two, and even up to the present. Famously, her recording was played by the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team instead of the National Anthem to start many of their games – especially the ones where a lot hung on the outcome of those games. The Flyers compiled an impressive win-loss-tie record of 100-29-5 whenever they played her singing God Bless America (she also sang it live for them four times).
The game I remember most was when the Flyers played the Soviet’s Red Army team in January of 1976. The Red Army had beaten most of the NHL teams in a series of exhibition games before coming to Philadelphia. I lived in the area at the time, and watched on TV when the teams took to the ice. They lined up for the playing of the National Anthem, when over the speakers came the unmistakable voice of Kate Smith singing her song. The stands went crazy as the crowd of thousands started cheering and belting out the song. I remember seeing the puzzled and shaken looks on the Soviet players faces during the song. Kate’s magic worked once again, as the Flyers went on to win the game 4-1.
But then, just about a month ago, there surfaced a recording of Kate singing a much less inspiring song. In fact, it was a terrible song, filled with the most offensive lyrics against blacks – referring to them in derogatory terms and saying they were made to serve as slaves. It was so bad, that I actually laughed, not because the lyrics were funny – they weren’t – but because the song was so over-the-top terrible. It was almost a parody of such songs, but sadly, it was not. Kate . . . how could you?
Since the publicizing of that awful song, Kate’s recording of God Bless America has been removed from the Flyers’ playlist, and a statue of her which stood outside their arena has been removed, after first being covered in protest of the racist song. Since then, arguments have raged about race, political correctness, and what response we should make regarding our heroes’ failures. Does a bad act disqualify the good acts a person does?
I remembered a line from Shakespeare’s play, Julius Caesar. After Caesar was assassinated, those contending for power attended the public funeral. Marc Antony addressed the crowd, beginning with these words:
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
How true that is for Kate Smith, at least at this point in time: the good she did for so many people by singing what has virtually become our second national anthem, will likely be “interred with her bones,” while the evil of that other song lives after her. It’s really a shame to see her fall from grace.
But the best understanding of her failure, and ours, comes not from William Shakespeare, but as always from Scripture, which teaches that even among the “best” of us, we are still sinners, who mix the bad with the good we do. We confess this each Sunday at the start of our church services when we say the words of 1 John 1:8, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” Romans 3:10 (quoting Ecclesiastes 7:20) proclaims that no one is righteous, not even one. Even as forgiven Christians – as the people the Bible calls saints – this is true; we still sin. The most perfect and righteous person you know (Jesus excluded) stumbles. Search long enough and you will find some sin that needs confessing.
This is because we are all sinners, ruined by the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden. We who were created in God’s image became corrupted by sin, so that we act in ways which are commendable (our good deeds) or are condemnable (our sinful deeds). Usually, the two are mixed, so that our good actions may be motivated by selfish desires.
Martin Luther and his followers taught this truth, calling it by a Latin term: simul iustice et peccator, meaning “at the same time saint and sinner.” By this he taught that you and I are enduringly sinful and cannot summon up righteousness by our own actions, yet also completely forgiven because Christ’s righteousness is imputed, or reckoned, to our account by God’s grace through faith. A forgiven believer will still sin.
Now, not knowing anything about Kate Smith’s faith or standing with God, I cannot say she was both saint and sinner, but her life reflected what all our lives demonstrate, which is a mixture of good and bad. As with her, so with all our national heroes – Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, etc. – unpleasant truths about them come out and statues are toppled, history books get rewritten, and school names are changed. Maybe the problem is not that they were all flesh-and-blood people who shared in the sins of their eras, but that our public adulation of them was unrealistic. If we are now taking their statues down from their pedestals, it’s because we put them up there in the first place.
While we do thank God for the good actions of our heroes (living and dead) we must be careful not to make idols of them, which is a form of idolatry, but rather to honor their often selfless actions and accomplishments which have made our country and our world, a better place. It’s good to thank them for the good they do and encourage them and others to strive for such good works; at the same time it’s right to criticize and discourage the bad things they have done. The hard part is not to condemn the sinner for their sins, nor idolize the saint for their good deeds, but to see in each person both saint and sinner, who stands in need of God’s grace and forgiveness, just as you and I do.
So let us not be quick to condemn people, for though sinners, they were made in God’s image. God loved them enough to send his Son to redeem them while they were still sinners (Romans 5:8). Jesus came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10), and commanded us not to judge them for the specks in their eyes without first removing the logs from our own eyes (Matthew 7:3-6). This in no way excuses their mistakes, but it gives us the right perspective on life – and on ourselves.
Thus, while we can still be grateful for the inspiration Kate Smith gave us for so many decades, we can also hope that her other song be buried in the dustbin of history. As for her statue: aren’t we commanded not to make any graven images (Exodus 20:4)?
Kate, how could you? Maybe because you’re too much like us . . .
May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.
Read: Matthew 7:1-6, Exodus 20:4-6, 1 John 1.
A very interesting story. Thanks for the perspective on sin/goodness, thankful or critical feelings vs. idolization and never ending condemnation. Of course the need for God’s grace and forgiveness, what a true gift.