Whoa Canada

I see in the news that Erik Millett, an elementary school principal in New Brunswick, is being pilloried for deciding that O Canada, which previously had been sung in his school every morning, will, henceforth, be sung monthly at general assemblies. Seems the whole country’s in an uproar about his outrageous lack of patriotic fervour. We used to say “Slow as molasses in January”, but I guess news days in February are slower still.

It’s hard to tell from the news articles and phone-in shows exactly what all the excitement’s about. In fact, I get the impression that, like most emotional reactions, it isn’t exactly about anything. Some seem offended that his decision was an accommodation to a few families who objected to the anthem on religious grounds. Others are concerned that once a month isn’t enough for the children to master the complexity of our national hymn. – All children seem to manage Happy Birthday and Jingle Bells, so I doubt that this can really be the case. – And some feel that Millett has revealed himself to be a traitor, and should, therefore, be deported to nowhere in particular; I suppose just forced to wander like Cain of old.

The real news story in all this, of course, is the reaction to Mr. Millett’s decision, not the decision itself. And the more the talk-shows can stir the pot the more they have to talk about. It’s all pretty hard on one hapless school principal and his family, but that’s show biz.

I understand that people are frustrated by what they perceive to be political correctness run amok. But the idea that children should be singing O Canada every school day seems bizarre to me. That’s about 200 times a year, or 2400 times in their 12 years of schooling. What better program could we possibly devise to ensure that kids grow up hating this song, or at very least treating it with utter indifference. If I were a supporter of the national anthem I think I would be applauding Millett’s plan.

We live in such an intemperate time. People get beaten for supporting the wrong football team, and shot for changing lanes without signalling. Our politicians misrepresent and vilify one another for marginal political advantage, and school principals receive death-threats for unpopular decisions they make. I know a church where a hymn book was thrown at someone during a congregational meeting, and another church where a fist-fight broke out in the parking lot over a decision that had been made. On several occasions I’ve even seen worship services disrupted by people storming out in anger because they didn’t like the sermon or the music.

Perhaps, rather than getting our kids singing incessantly about “patriot love” we should get them thinking and talking about just plain ordinary love. Perhaps, rather than repeatedly challenging one another to “stand on guard” we might better suggest that we all “stand down” a little.

Now, to be completely forthright, I should probably declare my own bias here. I am one of those folks who does not sing the national anthem. It has been my practice for about 35 years to stand when it is sung, but not join in. Like so many others, I have reasons for not singing it; faith reasons. And, if everyone will put down their pitch forks, in my next post I’ll tell you what they are.