I haven’t identified myself as any sort of Protestant since high school. I can’t stand much of the happy-clappy worship that happens in evangelical churches today. But, I can’t help but retain an affection for “Amazing Grace”. Despite its perhaps questionable theological language, the simple message of divine grace coming and saving a wretch like me still has an impact on my heart.

In our house American Idol is watched. Not by my choice. American Idol is an amateur singing competition. Tonight the songs selected were by pop-folk songster Neil Diamond. Who won or lost is unimportant for this post. What is pertinent was the moment when Mr. Diamond himself came out and performed his version of “Amazing Grace”.

It’s amazing how a little rearranging of the words and the addition of new, peppier music can totally change a song. “Amazing Grace” was changed from an expression of Protestant piety into a “pretty amazing” celebration of…I’m not sure what. I guess the song could still be construed to be about repentance. It could also be construed to be about a girl named Grace. But isn’t that to be expected, when popular culture, the World if you will, appropriates something meant to be sacred and makes it something rather secular?

Of course, “Amazing Grace” has already been appropriated by the Zeitgeist so many times that it lost all of its original meaning. So perhaps this was a bad example. But I think that if “Amazing Grace” is dead, what Mr. Diamond did was desecrate the corpse.

By the way, this is not a commentary on any of Mr. Diamond’s other songs, and I apologize if I’ve offended any Neil Diamond fans in my readership.