O Canada: Ode to Patriarchy
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
I have a horrible confession to make. Before I say this I will say that I love my country. I love Canada, it’s the greatest country in the world and I am so glad I live here. And I have spent many times standing on guard for thee, singing this song loudly and proudly. Giving stern dirty looks to kids that squirm when they are supposed to be singing and showing their pride in their country. I have spent enough time showing love to Canada. But here it comes.
I don’t like this anthem. I never have. When I listened to it as a child I stood still and showed my respect the way that I was trained to do. If schools teach anything, it’s conformity. I did not understand what my discomfort with the anthem was based on but I just plain old didn’t like it.
Now, as an adult, I see it so clearly and plainly. How could any self-respecting feminist atheist not have a problem with it? I can not take a national anthem seriously that begs God to keep our lands free. WHAT? I refuse to ask imaginary sky fairies to keep my land free. Do it yourself. Keep your own lands free. Don’t look at God to do your dirty work for you. And what about that crap about “all thy sons command”. Are daughters chopped liver? I guess they aren’t good enough to command.
Even if we fixed the song by replacing “all thy sons’ command” with “all of our command” and “God keep our land” with “Let’s keep our land” it would still be a song that invites people to blindly love their country no matter what. What we really need is a song that teaches people that the government works for us, is accountable to us and no matter how great your country is, it could always be a whole lot better. Every citizen has an obligation to get off of their butts and make Canada better instead of waiting for somebody else to do it. Or pray to God to make their country better. Puh-leeze.
