REFLECTIONS FROM THE REARVIEW
  • Home
  • Hello and Welcome
  • Blog
  • Random Gatherings
  • My Book
  • FAQ

British Invasion

10/11/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
That’s my grandfather’s flag, the one he would dust off every Dominion Day and hang with pride in the yard. Today, it adorns my daughter’s bedroom wall. She is celebrating the British invasion, but for different reasons than my own. The British flag has now been reduced to my culture’s version of chicken balls, served up with plastic chopsticks and a fortune cookie. 

But it wasn’t always this way. The switch from the Union Jack to the Maple Leaf, occurred within my lifetime and I can still remember my mother complaining that the communists were taking over. Canada used to be psychologically tied with the Commonwealth via two World Wars, but that seems to be no more. A recent Ipsos Reid poll discovered that many Canadians are now unfamiliar with John McCrae’s famous poem, “In Flander’s Fields”. The poem makes them uncomfortable and they don’t like to be reminded that someone else made sacrifices to which they are beholden. This sentiment may be in part due to the baggage recently foisted upon history by cultural Marxists who want to reposition our British heritage as colonial, outdated, and reeking of white privilege. 

A lot has been said about the Royal Family as well. They have been castigated as atavistic cultural shibboleths that are no longer relevant. I was happy for this reason, to take in the Netflix series “The Crown”. It captured not only the unique personality and dignity of our current Queen, it also underlined the importance of the Crown within a constitutional monarchy. 

We still enjoy this tie to the Queen via our Governor General, as a symbol of democratic authority when a government is chosen by the people in a fair election. The fact is, Canada is still a country with good institutions. Attractive enough that people from all over the world flock here, and share the chance to live a peaceful and prosperous life. You might say that just like imitation, immigration is a pretty sincere form of flattery.

​There is a reason for the stability of our country and its institutions. It’s the great Charter, and I am not talking about Trudeau’s much vaunted Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That particular document has more often showed up in the news like a boil that won’t heal, every time someone claims rights but is not prepared to balance that with responsibility. 

The charter I am talking about is the Magna Carta, the legal document ratified by King John at Runnymede in the year 1215. King John was in danger of being overthrown by his barons because of his famous abuses of power. He agreed to a charter of basic rights that originated from the long history of English common law. Common law was ‘common’ because it was derived from an extensive record of civil disputes and how they were settled. The genius of common law follows the axiom “Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done”. That is, common law weighed up individual rights alongside the history of what was seen to be fair. The result is that most people recognize common law judgements as balanced and grounded.

The Magna Carta is deeply seated in the unique Christian notion that every soul has worth before God, and that even a sovereign must answer to God in the end. Go elsewhere in the world and you will quickly see how bad things can get in the absence of such basic underpinnings as “...To none will we sell, to none deny or delay, justice.” 

The Magna Carta and its ties the English Common Law tradition, allows us to live in a stable democracy. The Crown has ensured long-lasting governments which secede through election, not coup d’etat or war. A constitutional monarchy, is a model that has thrived wherever it was replicated around the world. 

So... I am not ashamed of my British heritage. Those who criticize it, do so out of ignorance, refusing to recognize the many and obvious benefits that have come on down the line and still echo in the hallways of freedom. The idea that authority can be legitimate is under attack all over the world, rapidly being replaced by identity politics. This clash of factions is eating away at the concept of due process, it is often enough these days to simply be denounced when someone does not like your class, race, or religion. It is a trend that left unchecked, will champion violence and lead to rule by the mob. If we fail to understand the roots which sustain our democracy, we stand to lose it. And so I say heartily, God save the Queen. And God save our English heritage. It might be the only thing left in Canada that is still saving us. 
Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    UNCOMMON
    ​THOUGHTS

    ...about common things. 
    ​

    Categories

    All
    Accidental Story
    Activist
    Adjusting The Recipe
    Adult Admission
    A Flannery O'Connor Moment
    After The Tiger
    A High Christology
    A Little Bit Redneck
    All About Widgets
    Allah Wallahi
    Al Low Vs The Man
    All Saints
    A Long List Of Thank Yous
    Amazing Grace
    A Month Of Sundays
    An Offer You Can’t Refuse
    Antique
    A Pile Of Wood And A Plan
    Are We There Yet?
    Artifact
    At Hand
    Attending To Beauty
    At War
    Bad-Ass Outlaw
    Bad Faith
    Badlands
    Baked Boiled Or Fried?
    Balcony Lady
    Beautiful By Design
    Beauty For Ashes
    Being Human
    Belial
    Beneficence
    Beware Of Men Who Cry
    Big Buts Of The Bible
    Blessed Are The Pew Warmers
    Bound For Beauty
    British Invasion
    Bronte Oak
    Bucket List
    But If Not
    But Is It Sandable
    But Is It True?
    Buyer Beware
    Camp Of The Unknown God
    Carlton The Delivery Man
    Chaos
    Cherry Top
    Class Monitors And Safety Patrols
    Clothing Optional
    Cloud Of Witnesses
    Contra Mundum
    Couldn't Not
    Counting The Cost
    Covid Cut
    Creed
    Crucified Man
    Dangerous
    Dangerous Chemicals Of My Youth
    Dieu Et Mon Droit
    Different Drum
    Distressed
    Doing The Lord's Work
    Do It Yourself
    Do-Over
    Do Something!
    Dreaming And Doing
    Edifice
    Egging Armour Hill
    Even As I Am Known
    Even Me
    Even Stranger Things
    Fallow Season
    Family Bible
    Family Business
    Fellowship Of The Brush
    Field Of Faith
    First World Chair
    Fit As You Go
    Fixing The Machine
    Flawed People
    Flock Of Angels
    Follow The Money
    For A Time Such As This
    Fortissimo!
    French Horn
    From A Distance
    Frozen Man
    Funny Words
    Genetic Lottery
    Gifting
    Global
    Good Bones
    Good God Almighty
    Good Government
    Good Luck Skippy
    Gott Mit Uns
    Greatest Is Love
    Gross Anatomy
    Grunt
    Haka!
    Hammer And Tong
    Hands And Eyes
    Happy Rooster
    Hearing Voices
    Hello My Juan
    Helping God Show Off
    Hidden In The Secret Place
    High Dudgeon
    History Bites
    Hockey Tape And Rubber Bands
    Holy Disorder
    Home Economics
    I AM
    I Cannot Help You
    I Could Be Wrong
    I Dare You
    Idiots
    If You Build It
    If You Get There Before I Do
    Im Khalil
    Impossibly Cute
    In A Strange Land
    Incarnation
    Influencer
    In My Own Time
    Inner FIfteen Year Old
    In The Details
    In The Usual Manner
    Invader
    Judge Not
    Just A Few Words
    Justice
    Just In Our Own Time
    Just Like God
    Keep Calm And...
    Keeper
    Keeping House
    Keeping On Keeping On
    KJV
    Knock Yourself Out
    Kumbaya
    Kybo
    Lamentations
    Lemonade
    Less Is More
    Let Me Count The Ways
    Let's Go RIde A BIke
    Linked In
    Little Boxes
    Liturgy
    Lo And Behold
    Logos
    LOL
    Looking Back On The Forward Looking
    Looking For Some Real Good News
    Lord Jesus It’s A FIRE
    Lorem-ipsum-dolor
    Lost-and-found
    Luck Of The Stable
    Magical
    Make-a-baby-laugh
    Make It Nice
    Maker
    Maker’s Mark
    Ma-pitom
    Marbles-in-spring
    Measure Of A Man
    Memory Box
    Men In Loincloths
    Men's Barber Shop
    Middle Ground
    Middleman
    Mistakes All In
    Montreal Spice
    More
    Morse Code
    Mosh Pit
    My Neighbour
    Myth Of Sisyphus
    My Wife The Movie Star
    Name Calling
    Natural
    Neighbour
    New Day
    New Wine
    Next To Godliness
    Next Year Country
    No Fancy Diagram Needed
    No King But Caesar
    None Deserving
    North Of Ground Level
    Nothing Particularly Important
    Nothing Personal
    Not Waiting For Godot
    No Wonder
    Oak
    One Coffee At A Time
    One Smart Farmer
    One Thing
    On Richard Rohr
    On The Lam
    On Writing Clearly
    Ordinary Time
    Out Of Egypt
    Over And Again
    Paint Over That
    Paper Boy
    Particularity
    Particulate Matter
    Part Of The Tradition
    Pater Noster
    Patina
    Pelagian
    Perfect
    Perfect Crime
    Perfect Ride
    Philosemite
    Pilate's Dilemma
    Pinky Swear
    Place At The Table
    Playing Favourites
    Pop-a-corn!
    Potato War
    Preaching Parrot
    Predators
    Prince
    Print Shop
    Prisoner Of Jesus Christ
    Proof Text
    Psalm 1
    Psalm 19
    Put Away The Books
    Putting Up The Lights
    Reduce Reuse Recycle
    Restoration
    Rosemary And The Drug Dealers
    Sandwich
    Say My Name
    Scars
    Second Naiveté
    Seeing Red
    Seven Sixty-Five
    Shouting From The Areopagus
    Shrove-tuesday
    Silent-witness
    Small-c
    Small-graces
    Sore-afraid
    Squat
    Starting With What Is True
    Street Food
    Superstar
    Take-a-punch
    Takedown
    Talking-head
    Talking Your Parents Down From The Ledge
    Telling-the-story
    Thanksgiving
    The-best-for-last
    The Bliss Of Ignorance
    The Church Invisible
    Thecrossingking
    The Evil Day
    The-general
    The Great Mystery
    The-joys-of-hash
    Themysteryofthecheshirecat
    The-particularity-of-place
    The-quickening
    Therefore-choose-life
    The Table-ness Of A Table
    The Way
    Though One Be Raised From The Dead
    Thoughts On Sixty
    Three Jews And A Gentile
    Thrice Wise
    Throwing The Spaghetti Against The Wall
    Timeless
    Time Vs Time
    Tim Falladay
    Tims No More
    Tonto And Me
    Touching Stones
    Trevor’s Super Bad Day
    Trick Key
    Tubafore!
    Unbelievable
    Under A Bush? HELL NO!
    Uninvited
    Unspectacular
    Use Gently
    Watching Paint Dry
    Wayside Chapel
    Weaker Sex (?)
    We Stand On Guard For Thee
    We Were Waiting
    What Are You Prepared To DO?
    What Lazarus Knew
    When Cows Fly
    When Odd Becomes Interesting
    Why I Still Like Cowboys
    Witness
    Woke
    Wood Show
    Woodworking Lessons In Empathy
    Words
    Words... The Right Tool
    Worthy Adversary
    You And Me And Rob

    RSS Feed

Contact Us

    Subscribe Today!

Submit
Picture
  • Home
  • Hello and Welcome
  • Blog
  • Random Gatherings
  • My Book
  • FAQ