What are your thoughts on the third verse of the national anthem?

I had not heard that verse before. Reading it now, I find it offensive both in its references to slavery, and of course the suggestion that we "as in all Americans" place our trust in a deity.

Offensive passages or not, I've long thought America the Beautiful would make a far better national anthem simply because it is a better song, one that illustrates the country as a whole rather than just the country at war, and of course because the Star Spangled Banner just has far too large a spread from low to high notes that most people can't sing it correctly without either loosing tone in the low notes or cracking their voice in the high notes.

Kudos for asking the question, as long as people are open minded and bring forth a researched, reasonable discussion we all learn. Thanks for your posting.

It means that all are considered and covered.

I'm in the same boat too, the verse does take some getting use to.

Strongly agree with MSgt Roundtree's comments below. Our country was different then when the generations before us respected our God, our country and its flag. Now we have organizations and movements attacking those aspects of our lives that many still hold dear.

It is time to really get a good definition over what is meant by "separation of Church and State" as defined by certain legal opinions. The First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Just my personal opinion, but we have groups whose main purpose to attack our Christian faith and use a liberal court system to cry discrimination when they are the ones that are really discriminating. Interesting that they go to a baker who has a belief that does fit with their lifestyle when other bakers would welcome their business. I grew up when business had the the right to refuse service to anyone.

This comment may seem offline from from the original post, but it follows the part of the verse "And this be our motto - “In God is our trust,”

The verse refers to mercenaries and impressed sailors, period. This is just another attempt to stir up some crap. What's more, Colin K. didn't know anything about the third verse when he started this BS. He has a right to protest, I have a right not to watch, a right which millions of former football fans are exercising. Numbers for football in general are way down. Keep running the mouth, it costs the NFL a pile of cash. BTW, the original post only includes half the verse. Look at the whole verse, it's easier to understand what Key is writing about. This whole episode shows how little history Americans actually know, how easy it is for biased misanthropes with an agenda to manipulate people who don't actually know history--except that all of American history can be summed up in two words: Indians and slavery, everybody 30 and under knows that, right? Unfortunately, that's all they have been taught.

Progression--progress--is a constant struggle. We recognize that, as a species, we are fallible. It is the history of mankind, regardless of race, ethnicity, or religion. As we progress toward an ideal, be it "Land of the free, home of the brave," or "Liberty and justice for all," or "All men are created equal," or "Liberté, égalité, fraternité," we will always be beset by regression, through our own frailty, distrust, bigotry, &c.

Some studies have suggested that we are wired, from the time we are born, to learn which faces to trust--our parents who look like us and protect us--and who not to trust--strangers who don't look like us. Thus our progressive struggle to be inclusive, accepting, diverse, and trustful of those who don't look like us, talk like us, or worship like us, is, in fact, an internal struggle against our most basic human makeup, a genetic protective mechanism evolved within us over millennia. We literally are wired to be bigoted.

Being inclusive, accepting of diversity, empathetic with those from different cultures, rubs against our innate grain. It is a struggle that every generation before us has faced, often failing miserably, and, more importantly, it is a struggle that every future generation will have to face. Let's hope they do better.

If I were a child psychologist I would include a link to Stranger Anxiety. I'm a historian, so following is a link to a historical look at our ongoing debate over our National Anthem.

https://theintercept.com/2016/09/13/more-proof-the-u-s-national-anthem-has-always-been-tainted-with-racism/

For the record, my upbringing has wired me to look with disdain at any American who doesn't stand during the National Anthem. It's just who I am, and I'm getting too damn old to change.

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The Second and Third verses ...
As that we don't Use them or sing them and Because of the Controversy surrounding especially the 3rd Verse.… and they longer valid ... simply eliminate them ...

All verses are pertinent to all citizens. I see no offensive verses except maybe to enemies of our nation.

SSG Trust Palmer The Star Spangled Banner is a story and supposedly a TRUE story of a man on a ship being help captive and in the middle of a war and being bombarded with bombs. He was writing about this time...and his surroundings and how life was...as he knew it to be..... It was a very different time when this was written and I believe many take it out of its TRUE context. This being said, this now or taking it away is not going to change history. Just as I was/am totally against removing all things "CONFEDERATE" I am also against removing or changing the Star Spangled Banner.
The HISTORY of the UNITED STATES of AMERICA is our History and we should ALL OWN IT...and remember it...and remember how it evolved and changed and become what it is now...We should NOT be ashamed of it....times were very different back then and WE have all come a VERY VERY LONG ways.... We should never forget where we came from, how far we came and how much has been achieved since then....and NEVER forget how much has been achieved and strive to achieve more...for basic human rights...and for EQUALITY.....We WOMEN/FEMALES have come a long ways too...we no longer have to remain quiet and walk behind the man...we can vote and go to college and do all kinds of things women could not do when this country first started. CHANGE is a part of life and hopefully the Change will always be for the better and not for the worse.