It Was on a Friday Morning
Citing lines like "To hell with Jehovah," critics branded the song blasphemous; controversies arose on several occasions, most notably when it was included in the 1974 government-published Book of Worship for United States Forces.The military chaplains responsible for the hymnal resisted these calls, which they viewed as demands for censorship that threatened the separation of church and state and their independence from political pressure.[5][7] For the English hymnologist Erik Routley, "Friday Morning" – a "theological exploration that opens up a terrifying vision of the real source of human grievance" – was "without question" Carter's greatest song.[16] Later that year, the Church of Scotland's General Assembly narrowly voted against giving its endorsement to a songbook containing "Friday Morning"; an opponent said it "would cause confusion and distress...no matter how exquisite the irony may be to enlightened spirits", while a supporter said the line "to hell with Jehovah" had been taken out of context.J. Edward Moyer, a Methodist professor of church music, contended that the song could have "no salutary effect on any human soul", asking: "Can any congregation worship with such blasphemous words as 'To hell with Jehovah'?"[19] In a June 4, 1976, speech in the House of Representatives, John T. Myers, a Republican congressman from Indiana, denounced the "so-called hymn" and urged listeners to write to the President about it, saying that "we should be on our knees praying for our country" if the Chaplains Board "has reached this low.[22][23] Some opponents called for the song to be cut out of the hymnal with razor blades,[19] and congressmen said it was "blasphemous and offensive" (William Hughes)[24] and "composed in a spirit of hate" (Jim Collins).[30] In a July 20 memorandum, Meade wrote that it would damage the "delicate two-institution foundation" of the military chaplaincy if the Department of Defense overrode the "church side" on a purely theological matter, although he indicated a willingness to make revisions in later editions.[19] An October 1976 article in The Saturday Evening Post quipped that the song was "almost as explicit as Matthew, Mark and Luke" and suggested that "if Congress is concerned with morality, Congressmen should start with themselves".[35] The scholar Jacqueline E. Whitt wrote in a 2014 book that the controversy illustrated how rising conservative influence on the military could clash with an institutional chaplaincy committed to pluralism and ecumenism.
Sydney Cartercrucifixion of JesusThief on the Crossblasphemousmilitary chaplainsseparation of church and statefolk revivalLord of the DanceThe TimesCecil Sharp Housepenitent thiefthe DevilPilateoriginal sinErik RoutleyN. T. WrightGordon WakefieldPaul OestreicherDonald SwannWorld Council of Churcheswhy God allows evilKidbrooke SchoolEnoch PowellInner London Education AuthorityChurch of ScotlandGeneral AssemblyArmed Forces Chaplains BoardUnited States Air ForceStrom ThurmondJames SchlesingerJohn T. MyersMelvin PriceHouse Armed Services Committeeblack massWilliam HughesJim CollinsGerald Ford1976 presidential debateVeterans AdministrationHenry J. MeadeAir Force Chief Chaplainthe agency's administratorThere Is a Green Hill Far AwayUnited Church of ChristAmerican Baptist ChurchesFirst AmendmentDonald RumsfeldEarl MarlattThe Saturday Evening PostDon HustadOestreicher, PaulThe GuardianThe Leader-PostThe IndependentProQuestCambridge University PressStainer & BellEerdmansRoutley, ErikWright, N. T.InterVarsity PressWakefield, Gordon S.Hunt, KenOxford Dictionary of National BiographyThe RepublicThe Daily TelegraphDaily RecordCongressional RecordThe Atlanta JournalThe Washington PostThe Kansas City StarThe PressSt. Louis Post-DispatchSeattle Post-IntelligencerThe Times HeraldDes Moines TribuneDuke UniversityHustad, DonUniversity of North Carolina Press