Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And if you think about it, the first verse is just one big long question asking whether or not you can see the flag. Especially considering recent events in American history, I'd say this verse is particularly relevant.
I was also thinking about the people who sing the national anthem. It seems as though most of them are just trying to get their 15 minutes of fame in. There is no reason for a singing of the national anthem to trudge along like a funeral march or include a roller coaster of added scales that get you off tune more often than not. Just sing it straight, people! LDS Hymn Book straight. That's all you need. This is about a symbol of freedom and liberty to worship as we please, not a talent show for you to show off the extreme heights and depths of your vocal ability. The audience should be able to sing with you and not get lost in all your melodic traipsing.
Today I read an article about some evangelical preacher's criticism of Glenn Beck. (Not John Beck, which I keep having to remind myself. When I was thinking about what I'd say to that preacher today, I kept saying "John Beck" in my head. But it's Glenn. Promise.) Not that I'm that much of a Glenn Beck fan. I think he's a little way too over-the-top for me. What got me was the "Beck is helping to lead many innocent souls into the lies of the Mormon cult and their souls to hell." Then there was the whole "If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for Satan!" deal that gave him a permanent spot on my "Do Not Like" list. Again, it wasn't the fact that it was Romney he was criticizing. I don't think the criticism was really even pointed at Romney. It was pointed at Mormonism.
You know what I wanted to ask that guy? I wanted to ask him what his hatred of Mormonism was founded on. Wikipedia? Could be, because some other ant-Mormon has made it his job to post lies on all the LDS related articles and change them the moment someone else corrects it. The minister stated that we were as Christian as Muslims. I'm kind of wondering if he even knows the real name of our Church. We wouldn't put Christ's name in the title if we weren't Christian. I wanted to challenge that minister to read 3 Nephi, just that one part of The Book of Mormon, and tell me we weren't Christian. Then I wanted to invite him to a Family Home Evening, preferably one with small children and fun portrayals of scripture stories and activities and treats, and afterward have him tell me that all the people he just spent time with were going to hell for being Mormon. (Because he says that's where all Mormons are going.)
To conclude, I wanted to tell him that we'll see who's laughing on the other side. :)
But, luckily I don't have the opportunity to speak my mind to that rather prejudiced guy. He's probably only looking for a reaction. It's much better to not react to crazies like him, because then they only get more worked up and you've wasted efforts on someone who is never going to change his mind whether his view is truth or not. So I'll just vent on my blog and continue living my wonderful Mormon life and just pity him because he doesn't have an eternal family like I do. :) (The article I read about his comments is here: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700136115/Glenn-Beck-Mormonism-attacked-by-Bill-Keller-minister-who-targeted-Mitt-Romney.html)
Another thing I've been thinking about along those lines is this whole Huntsman and "it's tough to define" his membership thing. I think it's a little cowardly. Just say you are or say you aren't. Teetering on the fence isn't going to win you votes in Utah (which doesn't have that big of an influence on the outcome of the primaries anyway...). I did read an opinion piece on this that I thought had a funny conclusion. I didn't totally agree with the writer's view, but I thought the end was clever:
"The intrigue resulting from admitting our religion is tough to define begs more questions and hopes for more answers. He could have said, 'Yes, I am a Mormon,' and if he had, the conversation would have ended there. But keeping a door open for more inquiry also keeps the door open for more discussion. At least, I can't wait to hear more about how the ghosts of his ancestors make friends. Huntsman's words: 'I come from a long line of saloon keepers and proselytizers, and I draw from both sides.'
"My only hope now is that Huntsman will define what is exactly 'tough to define' about his Mormon membership and doesn't wait until national polls decide how Mormon he needs to be to win. In the meantime, I have him to thank for my newest go-to phraseology. For instance, the next time someone asks about the state of my hair color, I have the perfect retort.
"'Well, that's tough to define. There are varying degrees of color. I am a blonde right now, but I am proud of my brunette roots. Part of me is blonde, part brunette — I draw from both sides.'
"Thanks, governor." (http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705372744/How-defining-were-Jon-Huntsmans-comments-on-his-Mormonism.html?pg=1 Yeah, another Des News. I just like knowing what's "going in my neck of the woods," as the one guy from the Today Show says, okay?)
The reason for making the pie was we had a ton of ground beef sitting in our fridge. Lesson learned: don't ever cook ground beef unless you have paper towels on hand. Especially don't cook it without paper towels if it's a three-pound mound you received from your husband's grandparents, because that means that you have a huge plastic container of ground beef stuck together with fat (which has pooled at the bottom of the container in a nice, greasy blanket) that you have to figure out how to cook with for a week and a half. (Seriously. I cooked it last Monday and we haven't finished it yet. Although...I'll let Jeff finish it, because all that's left has a yummy, white coat of fat all over it.) Home grown beef is definitely not the "extra lean" kind.
I was a little worried about the sauce, because usually my mom uses leftover gravy for meat pie sauce. I wasn't really sure how to fake gravy, so I decided to make a roux and use beef broth and a little milk instead of cream. Then I added a bunch of seasonings, of course. It worked great! I was kinda proud of it, to be honest. It thickened up nicely and almost tasted like gravy. I added the ground beef and part of a package of mixed vegetables (why go through the work of cutting vegetables when you're using ground beef?) and threw in the boiled potatoes, dumped it in the pie shell, put the crust on top and voila!
I also made cinnamon-sugar crusts with the leftover dough. You have to make this when you make meat pie. It's tradition!
When we were eating, Jeff asked, "Is this a French meat pie or an English meat pie?" (As if I only make French or English food! Okay...that may be close to truth.)
I said, "I dunno. It's American!" to which Jeff gave a quizzical look.
"This isn't really American. Chicken pot pie is the American version."
"It uses ground beef," I said. "And I made it up, so it's American!" (Well, made it up with influence from my mom's recipe...)
Jeff had to agree I had a point.
See? As much as I love Europe and European cuisine, I still love my country and am incredibly proud to be an American.
So there.
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