Bigots of the World Unite!

I just saw a news piece on the CBC where a principal of a school in New Brunswick was villified by the community and even members of parliament. I was horrified to see that the leaders of this attack, including the members of Parliament, who got up on the hind legs to bellow about "patriotism" never bothered to get the facts straight. They slandered the principal with untrue "facts" and the news story didn't bother to be outraged about this. Instead, the "interviewer" kept asking the principal "Didn't you see this was sensitive? Why not just make the kids whose parents object walk out of the room and play the national anthem as before?" The interviewer was completely obtuse. Rather than object to the viciousness of the attacks on the principal, the CBC interviewer seemed intent only on getting the principal to fall down in abject surrender and promise to play the national anthem at the start the of the day, at the start of every hour, maybe enen grab kids at random every five mintutes and demand an on-the-spot rendition of "Oh Canada" to ensure that the highest goal of education in New Brunswick was fully achieved: completely facility in rattling off a patriotic ditty. That obviously is more important than reading, writing, arithmetic, common decency, or a respect for religious minorities.

The idiot CBC interviewer asked the classic question: "Well, why not just have those student's whose parent's object to the singing on religious grounds simply be excused from the class while the song is sang and then readmitted after the song is over?" This is completely tone deaf to the dynamics of peer pressure and the mocking of those who are "different".

The principal came up with what strikes me as a wonderful compromise. Reduce the monotony of a mindless repetition of the song (via a boom box broadcast over the intercom!) to one where monthly a student assembly is held where the students sing along in the anthem. Seems reasonable to me, but obviously not to the bigots who think that we all should be lustily singing "Oh Canada" as we walk down the streets or have an idle minute at home! Nothing better than mindlessly repeating lyrics to "drill" a good understanding of patriotism. Why waste time on discussing rights or looking a issues like accomodating a minority when we can bludgeon everybody with a daily Big Brother rendition of "Oh Canada" eeirly broadcast over an intervoice, a competely disembodied presentation with no heart, no human touch. Rote muzak equals patriotism. Thoughtful respect for others and less frequent but more participatory assemblies in which patriotism is highlighted is obviously too sissy, to namby-pamby for the thugs of New Brunswick who probably sing "Oh Canada" outside the bars as they beat up "the losers", i.e. anybody who doesn't meet their high standards of decorum, dress, and language.

Usually Canada is a tolerant place, but sadly the bigots among us want to turn us into a mini-Me US where you salute the flag, sing the anthem, wear a "flag pin" on your label, and always close any statement with "God Bless ". Nutty.

I cant' believe it: The CBC aired a sad story of a principal terrorized by thugs in his community when he moved from daily playing of the national anthem over an intercom to monthly assemblies where the student sang the anthem. The "patriotic" few threatened to kill the principal, one even came to the school and claimed he was going to drag the poor principal out into the parking lot and beat him "senseless". (Yes, storm troopers were an excellent emblem on national "patriotism" in NAZI Germany, every country should try that. I guess you sing a phrase, then lean into it and give a good kick to the bloodied victim, then sing another stirring bit of patriotic verse, then take another big kick at your victim. Yes, that is true patriotism!) This "news item" was presented and the focus was on "why couldn't the principal just do the 'right thing' and keep playing the anthem". Nobody at CBC thought to be outraged by the villification of the principal, nobody was disturbed that self-appointed National Storm Troopers were phoning death threats and physically confronting the principal promising to kick him until he was senseless. No problem there! The only problem was "how could this principal not want to play political muzak to his students?"

Hey... if you think indoctrination is the way to "teach" patriotism, then you must think that we need to go back to the good old days where one religion got the right to demand complete allegiance and if you didn't keep the religious rules you would be beaten, put in stocks, or burned at the stake. Yep, lets go whole hog and bring back the "really good old days!"

Now for an interlude of sanity...

I taught school two years in the mid-1970s in British Columbia. There was no daily political ceremony. No singing of the national anthem. But I never got the sense that the kids were any less "patriotic" than those who had anthems drilled into them every day.

Patriotism is not achieved by "drilling" it into somebody. Respect is not achieved by beating somebody up until they "show respect". Education is not achieved by beating kids until they can repeat by rote the "lesson" of the day.

I'm appalled that CBC aired this "news" story and didn't see that they ham-handedly supported the thugs in wanting to beat patriotism into people. Nutty!