I agree that "shed" is subjunctive, and the line is in form a prayer -- cf. "God bless you" & "God save the Queen". This construction is used every day without any hint of instructing God %^).

My understanding is that what has foiled every attempt to replace "The Star-Spangled Banner" is that, for better of for worse, it has an enormous weight of tradition behind it -- and in such a ceremonial question, tradition is entitled to more weight than in some other matters. It is worth noting that Congress did not get around to making it official until the 1930s; up to that time it had no support but popular sentiment.

That "America the Beautiful" mentions God is *not* an objection in the opinion of this atheist. For one thing, the present anthem does the same, if you make it as far as the fourth stanza. But in any case, an occasional nod in the directino of our fellow citizens' consolations is not going to do us any harm.

If it actually came to a vote on the merits, I think I would go for "America the Beautiful". There are enough bombs bursting in real life without their getting into ceremonial songs; and it would be nice to have a tune that everybody could sing at once.