I don't believe singing the anthem leads to anything practical. They're going to keep singing it at assemblies, just not every day. That's what my school did in the 80s. The only thing that changed since then is people like to manufacture stories which will cause outrage. If this is the biggest problem we have in education, things must be great!
Anthem ban 'political correctness run wild': Conservative MP
- Thread starter Praxius
- Start date
OK, want me to be serious? Fine, I think this is funny; seriously. So I had fun making a mountain of a molehill. 
Looking at it that way, I do agree that education should be a federal and not a provincial matter, unless we want Canada to eventually fall apart into 13 separate nations in the futrue. Education is such a fundamental shaper of a nation's identity that it is unbelievable that the feds have not even tried to put up a fight. Bismark and the Pope had actually engaged in a Kulturkampf (Culture war) over education, with both sides recognizing its significance in shaping young minds. Bismark saw education as a means to instil nationalism in the young, while the Pope saw it a a means to promote the Roman Church. Both were smart enough to recognize that he who controlled the schools controlled the destiny of the nation. Bismark won, and so did nationalism.
The feds seem to be oblivious of this. he who controls the nation controls the future generation. The provinces control education, and so they are far, far more powerful than the federal government in spite of the fed's apparent power with control over currency and the military and the police. That is nothing compared to control over education. Bismark and the Pope understood this, as do the provinces, especially Quebec. So when will the feds wake up?
Geezus, just when I was preparing a rant on why Ottawa loves Manitoba best! Being serious is the pits!
I can agree with some points here. To sing the Canadian anthem, or recite the Lord's Prayer, or God Save the Queen can give a certain sense of unity in a group. Besides, with one person singing and the others listening, it's not like anyone is being forced to say anything he might disagree with. All he has to do is show some respect and remain silent.
Personally though, I'd like to promote something more universal. The Lord's Prayer is common to many countries around the Crhistian world, and little if anything in its is truly offensive (not to mention that it is even more traditional in Canadian schools than the national anthem). My next choice would be the Royal Anthem as it would promote unity with the Commonwealth. But even failing either of these, at least the national anthem could unite Canadians. If the reason for its demise has anything to do with parts of the anthem having become outdated, then why not revamp it? The Royal Anthem had been revamped many times throughout its history to reflect changing beliefs. The historical version is much more militaristic, whereas the modern one is more peaceful. If that is what has turned people away from the national anthem, then let's revise it or, better yet, just go back to the Lord's Prayer, which is at the same time more tradition and more peaceful.
By the way, I'm not Christian myself so this is not a matter of promoting the Christian Faith per se.
Another possibility would be to compose a Baroque a capella tune for the Lord's Prayer, making it an official alternative anthem, with people being free to choose between that, the Canadian anthem or the Royal Anthem.
Another point with the Lord's Prayer is that it could unite both French and English Canadians. French Canadians might dislike the Royal Anthm for obvious reasons: it has nothing to do with their culture and history.
And some more peaceful souls might object to some verses of the Canadian national anthem, especially the French-language version. But the Lord's Prayer woudl be common to most Canadians in either language, and be quite readily accepted by many immigrants to Canada too, and give a stronger sense of unity across the Christian world.
And some more peaceful souls might object to some verses of the Canadian national anthem, especially the French-language version. But the Lord's Prayer woudl be common to most Canadians in either language, and be quite readily accepted by many immigrants to Canada too, and give a stronger sense of unity across the Christian world.
Jeeez. Canada is multi-faith. Excluding polytheistic people would be losing sight of the original intent to give people something to be unified about.
Here's an a cappella version photographed with patriotic maple leaves in the background. Sorry, it's not my tradition, but, hey, as long as you don't put me in a camp, I'll go along with it!
YouTube - "The Lord's Prayer" By The Martins Acapella
YouTube - "The Lord's Prayer" By The Martins Acapella
'In all thy son's command'. Sounds not only religious, but, ironically enough, even more Christian than the Lord's Prayer.
'Our Father which art in heaven'. 'Our' is not specified, and so is left open. 'Father' likewise is left open to interpretation. 'Thy kingdom come' is easy to interpret, regardless of religion, as the idea of a great king establishing a just kingdom, something all can agree to.
'In all thy son's command' is an obvious reference to Christ, thus making it, ironically enoug, even more explicitly Christian than Christ's own words!
Hmmm... could that be part of the objection for some people?
Another point about Multi-Faith.
I don't profess the Christian Faith myself; I have my own religion. But really, there is nothing I can see in the Lord's Prayer that is very offensive. Students who don't like it stay quiet. And like I said, even for a non-Christian, the Lord's Prayer is more multi-Faith than the Canadian naitonal anthem which is explicitely Christo-centric and militaristic at the same time.
I don't profess the Christian Faith myself; I have my own religion. But really, there is nothing I can see in the Lord's Prayer that is very offensive. Students who don't like it stay quiet. And like I said, even for a non-Christian, the Lord's Prayer is more multi-Faith than the Canadian naitonal anthem which is explicitely Christo-centric and militaristic at the same time.
How do you figure? Thy son is referring to the country's sons, not some deity's sons. roflmao
lmao I bet 99.9% of the world's people know that Christianity capitalizes "father", has a place called "heaven", and thinks it is the ONLY true faith.
See my first reply in this post.
You think? lol
Interesting history here:
O Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"In all thy sons command" used to be "thou dost in us command" in the original 1908 version with no religious reference, but was changed to the current one in 1914 by Robert Stanley Weir along with another verse of a religious in 1926 that didn't stick.
It would seem that the Canadian national anthem has had a tradition of evolving already, so why not continue this tradition by bringing it into the 20th century? I don't know if I agree with changing the anthem, quite honestly. I think I'd rather just search out an already extant traditional text that reflects modern standards and that could simply be revived. Failing that, though, I'm just pointing out that revising the anthem would in no way be breaking with tradition, seeing that revision is part its tradition already.
O Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"In all thy sons command" used to be "thou dost in us command" in the original 1908 version with no religious reference, but was changed to the current one in 1914 by Robert Stanley Weir along with another verse of a religious in 1926 that didn't stick.
It would seem that the Canadian national anthem has had a tradition of evolving already, so why not continue this tradition by bringing it into the 20th century? I don't know if I agree with changing the anthem, quite honestly. I think I'd rather just search out an already extant traditional text that reflects modern standards and that could simply be revived. Failing that, though, I'm just pointing out that revising the anthem would in no way be breaking with tradition, seeing that revision is part its tradition already.