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Culture Watch:Note to American Red Cross: Neutrality Doesn't Exist
by Lee Warren (Lee's bio)
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The Orange County California Chapter of the American Red Cross jumped to America's defense recently when they discovered that a student led musical group planned to sing several offensive songs at an event to honor Red Cross volunteers who helped at the World Trade Center after September 11th.
The offensive songs? America the Beautiful, Prayer of the Children, and Lee Greenwood's God Bless the U.S.A.
No, I'm not kidding. The reason for the ban? Because they mention "prayer" and "God." Would Americans really have been offended by those three songs? They didn't seem to be offended by Greenwood's song, God Bless The U.S.A. which flew off record shelves and returned to the billboard charts seventeen years after it was released. They didn't seem to be offended when President Bush prayed for our nation and officially declared a national day of prayer. They didn't seem to be offended when they packed churches all over the country.
But the Orange County chapter didn't stop by just banning songs about God. The musical group also wanted to sing a song called Declaration, based on the Declaration of Independence. A spokesperson for the Red Cross told the leader of the musical group that their rendition of Declaration had to go because the declaration of independence, "is a political document that…may offend some." As if a political document is a bad thing.
Of course it's political. Thirteen colonies joined together and chose a side—the side of freedom—from a tyrant named King George III. Of course the Declaration of Independence offends some. I'm sure the signers of the Declaration offended King George greatly when they listed twenty seven reasons for declaring our independence.
Surely the Red Cross wasn't saying that the Declaration of Independence is offensive to Americans. If that was indeed the thought behind pulling the song based on the Declaration of Independence, the Red Cross really ought to rethink it's own name: The American Red Cross. How can an organization claim the name of American and then worry about offending people because of a song based on one of our founding documents?
Americans were offended alright—by the actions of the Red Cross. They began e-mailing the Red Cross and the response that the e-mailers received was astounding: "The Red Cross is guided by its Fundamental Principles that include neutrality and impartiality – and a guarantee that we provide assistance to people in need regardless of race, nationality or religious background."
If these are the fundamental principles of the American Red Cross, it's no wonder they are so mixed up. How can an organization claim to be neutral and impartial on one hand and exclude patriotic songs that mention the name of God on the other? When they excluded the patriotic songs and the songs about God, weren't they picking a side?
A public affairs director for the Orange County Chapter defended their position on the Fox News Channel recently saying, "We need to remain a neutral organization."
Note to the American Red Cross: neutrality doesn't exist. We always have to choose a side. Not choosing a side, is choosing a side. In Matthew 12: 30, Jesus said, "He who is not with Me is against Me…" In their haste to offend nobody, they may just have offended the One they tried to keep out of the ceremony.
Thankfully, after several days of defending their improper actions, the Orange County Chapter released an official apology that said the "judgment we made to exclude certain songs from the Sunday program was a mistake." The statement went on to say, "We want to apologize to the community and to any people who were hurt or disappointed by our actions."
As with any admitted mistake, one hopes that the Orange County Chapter of the Red Cross has learned a lesson. But I don't see how that can be the case until they change their goals and drop the ridiculous notion that they can be neutral in such events.
Copyright 2002, Lee Warren. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
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About Lee Warren: Lee Warren is a freelance writer from Omaha, Nebraska. He has written for various publications and is currently working on a novel. If you are interested in reading more of his work or in receiving his column via e-mail, please go to his website: www.leewarrenjr.com or drop him an e-mail: LeeWJunior@cox.net.
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