Just a little confused, here

I'm coming into this one a little late. I have only recently heard about this small elementary school in New Brunswick. Around Christmas there was a big stink because the school principal "banned" singing Canada's national anthem.

Well first off, apparantly the stink was overzealously fanned. It was all a matchstick conflagration. The principal had not banned the anthem. He had moved it from a daily ritual to a monthly one -- Oh Canada being sung only during a regular school assembly. Media in the area still pounced all over it, talons extended, announcing to the world that the national anthem was now banned at this school. The frenzy forced the principal to reinstate the daily ritual. He then went on sick leave from all the stress, having been made the scapegoat over what should have been a non-issue. He even received death threats.

I've read various reports and more than a few blogs on the issue. Everyone was so busy hating the school principal and blasting immigrant and visible minority groups that the real issue lies quietly under the carpet. The whole thing started when the parents of two students complained of having to sing the anthem. The parents were not immigrants. They didn't come from some far off land to force their traditions on the North American populace. It wasn't the line "God keep our land glorious and free" that was objectionable. They were supposedly Canadian.

They were, however, Jehovah's Witnesses.

Okay. This is the kind of thing that bothers me about organized religions. What god would object to singing a national anthem? This is not the same god that tells you to wear a funny hat or not shave or eat fish on Fridays, is it? How can some melodious ode to a geographic location be considered offensive to someone's religious beliefs? Is anyone who loves their country worshipping some sort of false idol?

The school principal was just the ant under the magnifying glass. Reports and blogs all stopped around March, so the last thing I read about the poor guy was at the end of February. He remained on sick leave then.

Maybe he was a bit reactionary. Maybe he was putting the needs two students ahead of the whole school's needs. But hell, my school hardly ever sang the national anthem and I don't feel any less nationalistic for it. My old stomping grounds didn't recite The Lord's Prayer every day, either. It was a Catholic school, to boot. School is for education. Other than ingraining the words into a child's head, a daily anthem has little to do with the learning process.

Still, it doesn't matter if its Oh Canada, The Star Spangled Banner, God Save the Queen (unless by the Sex Pistols) or even Jana Gana Mana. I don't care who or what you are. It should never be considered offensive to love your country.

I think the next time someone shows up at my door with a copy of Watchtower in hand, I will gladly accept it... after they sing the Oh Canada for me.