JMJ
June 10,2011
We Canadians do not pledge allegiance to our flag. We pledge allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, her heirs and successors. New Canadians are to take the pledge of loyalty to Her Marjesty and to promise to obey her laws. If you get a speeding ticket it is officially Her Majesty who gave it to you.
I have never felt compelled to stomp on, rip up, or torch an American flag whether I saw it on this side or the other side of the 49th. parallel. If I did do so I know that it would be an act of boorish contempt for someone else’s home. history, traditions and symbols.
Americans do not like titles. They are illegal. It is not Lord Conrad Black whom they had in prison because he made too much money or something. It is Conrad Black and you’ll be lucky if you can get a Mr.out of them. The man who is second in line for the throne, his father being first in line, is Prince William for short. His wife is Duchess Katherine. They, in Canada ,are not Will and Kate. They aren’t movie stars, commodities, or brand names. They are people who embody our traditions, laws and culture along with the rest of the Royal Family. They deserve our respect because when we respect them we respect whom we are, what our country has been, is and could be.
Whether we are immigrants or many generation Canadians we are to be loyal and respectful, yes even reverent , to our Sovereign and Her family. Then why do we allow Safeway , Co- Op and other grocery stores to display in the most conspicuous spot , right near the cash register, magazines that state blatant lies about Royal Family members, complete with composite fake pictures. No the Duchess is not cheating on her husband. Just when could she have arranged it in her schedule since her wedding at the end of April? No, her sister is not secretly dating Prince Harry. And if she was, why would an American trash magazine be the only ones who know the secret?
Stores make all kinds of economic decisions about everything. It is not called censorship when we had to look all over Prince Albert, and La Ronge for lye for a soap making project. It is just an in-store decision . They can say those magazines are there because they sell. So does pornography yet grocery stores don’t want to offend their customers and probably their staff so they don’t sell it. The problem is that these trash magazines do sell and many of their readers actually believe the stuff. The problem is people including me compulsively read the titles and more unwelcome trash is in our sight and mind. I don’t want to go away mad when we finally get to buying groceries. I just want to go away.
When people constantly read that x, y, z have had a divorce, a,b,c, are cheating on their spouse and worse then they think this is the norm. These people are famous. They are our standard. It doesn’t matter if I do the same. If they live like this why should I put on airs and think that I can have a good marriage? Those magazines beginning at the pictures and the titles harm and hurt. They help destroy lives.
Which brings me to HELLO CANADA. Hello Canada is an upscale magazine with stories about the Royal Family which are actually true. In the issue after Queen Victoria celebrations there were delightful pictures of the celebration outside of Buckingham Place. One photo could have been a copy of a painting of a celebration 200 years ago. My desire is to read the entire magazine, put it in the home and eventually the school classrooms and library. After the first twenty pages I threw it a way. I don’t want to see adultery idolised by seeing Schwarzennegger’s illegitimate son and co-respondent sharing the same cover as Duchess Katherine. I don’t want to see a movie star in a swimming suit that would be an occasion for sin for many.
Yes we know that many Americans miss having a royal family. But they made that decision in 1776 and we should respect it. The former husband of a person who is part of the Kennedy family is not royalty. The Kennedys aren’t even royalty. Movie stars , daughters of publishing moguls are not royalty. That does not mean that they are not, at times, of interest.
The point of royalty is you are born to it and may be married to it . It is a duty imposed at birth. Being a movie star is a vastly different tract with little or no responsibilities other than what all of us have, that is to lead decent lives. Hello Canada should know better. Prince William and the Duchess are photogenic to the nth degree but they would still be Royalty and part of the family that reigns over us if they were ninety years old, talked with a stutter, had big ears and a ruddy complexion from working on an organic farm. What is objectionable is Hello Canada is turning our royal family into movie stars . That degrades and cheapens us and them. That confuses our traditions and responsibilities. It turns human beings into a commodity, which is what pornography does. The Royal Family is firstly a group of individuals made in the glory and likeness of God, like all of us. For this they deserve respect, privacy in their private life, and no lies told of them. The public head of the family is the Head of State of this Constitutional Monarchy called Canada. They’re more than a flag. Don’t trash them . Gay. .
