separation of church and state

the following motion was made at the meeting of the southern baptist convention today...

[B. Smith] of Colfax Baptist Church in Colfax, N.C., made a
motion that the annual meeting, “after the call to order by
the president, present the American Flag by an honor guard,
composed by the five armed forces.”

my question is...why?

why do we have to have the american flag and an honor guard at a meeting of messengers to discuss the church of our lord?

i often wonder how many people will be shocked when they get to heaven and see that there is no american flag and english is not the "national" language of the new heavens and teh new earth.

we must be very careful that we do not confuse patriotism to our country with our faith.
i am thankful for our country. i am very appreciative of those who are and have served in our military. a good rendition of the national anthem will get me a bit misty. but i do not believe we are a christian nation, or that we are favored by god. i don't believe there is any evidence to prove otherwise.

god loves believers from other countries just as much, and certainly not any less than he loves american believers.

america is *not* god's favorite country and we are not his favorite believers.

we are blessed to live in a country with such religious freedom (relatively speaking), but if america were to fall (as all other great nations throughout history have) would our response demonstrate that we are more patriotic to "old glory" than we are to the king of kings?