Citizenship gone AWOL

We haven't forgotten the words, but we've forgotten how to sing | Marvin Olasky

ATLANTA—Have you noticed that people rarely sing the national anthem anymore at baseball games and other sporting events? WORLD reader Ruthellen Norman, who asked me that question, says these days we typically listen as an entertainer sings. The implications of this change would go beyond music and even patriotism. Just as in helping the poor, many of us have moved from active citizens to passive taxpayers, so most of us would be practicing nonparticipation generally.

I spent the Fourth of July in this city because I wanted to talk with Braves pitcher John Smoltz about the Christian school he has helped to start. (More about that in a later issue.) But the day also gave me an opportunity to test the nonparticipation hypothesis at three Atlanta landmarks: the Martin Luther King Jr. national historic site, the Jimmy Carter presidential library, and Turner Field, the Braves' ballpark.