REFLECTIONS FROM THE REARVIEW
  • Home
  • Hello and Welcome
  • Blog
  • Worth Repeating
  • My Book
  • FAQ

Ensign

8/24/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Ensign - the Red Ensign specifically. It begs the question just what an ensign is - a bit of an arcane word that’s fallen out of regular use. An ensign is a banner, the flag flown on military ships to show your nationality when out and about and approaching a potential enemy. An ensign is the standard that announces your allegiance and your identity as a nation. If you look at the British ensign, it ties together the red cross of Saint George for England, the white cross of Saint Andrew for Scotland, and the red saltire (X-shaped cross) of Saint Patrick for Ireland. 

The Red Ensign also used to double as the emblem of Canada and no one thought this untoward until in 1965 Lestor B. Pearson came up with the maple leaf flag that we use as the national flag today. This masthead has also lately garnered some news in halls of learning. They are now teaching Canadian children that the Red Ensign is a symbol of white supremacy and extremism. On June 29th of this year, the federally funded Canadian Anti-Hate Network (https://www.antihate.ca/) launched a 50-page guidebook for public schools, aimed at confronting and preventing hate. The guidebook states: “Canadian Red Ensign - The flag of Canada until 1965. Its usage denotes a desire to return to Canada’s demographics before 1967, when it was predominantly white…The Red Ensign is often used by the younger alt-right/Canada First movement, but has been seen amongst older hate-promoting groups and individuals. It’s usage in modern times is an indicator of hate-promoting beliefs.” Yes folks, you heard it here first. If you are of white English heritage, be very afraid. 
Picture
​I was chatting with an immigrant recently. He told me in a very sanguine manner that the white race is declining, and in the land I was born, I will be a minority within the next twenty years, due to the aggressive immigration targets the Canadian government is presently pursuing. He knows it and his friends know it. Meanwhile they are inwardly celebrating and biding their time, happy that they will be at the forefront of all the “good jobs” out there due to progressive hiring strategies and their visible minority status. The demographic future he alluded to, was also borne out by the last Canadian census that announced that neither French nor English are the language spoken at home for an increasing number of Canadians. In fact, Arabic and South Asian languages were on the rise. The Canadian government flinched at the idea that its erstwhile most favoured child of confederation, the Francophones who currently hold all government positions of influence due to their bilingual status, are in fact declining in influence.

Ah those English. We thought it was a benevolent reign but some people apparently didn’t think so and were until now only biding their time waiting for the opportunity for some historic payback - because history always seems to be about payback by the people in charge, aimed at the people formerly in charge. 

I’d like to take a closer look at what it was like to come of age under those very “white” assumptions about life and the way things should be. It’s truly two different worlds. What was, and what it’s changed into. The fact is that when I was at school, to be white was pretty standard and the assumed majority. The dominant religion was Christianity, mediated only but what particular breed you were. Morals and rules were premised on Christian assumptions about equality and rule of law. The English basis of our nation was never apologized for, rather it was something to be recognized and celebrated. We were after all, the children’s children of the empire where the sun never set on its principal holdings.

Under this aegis, Canada was assigned the title of a Dominion, a stretch of land from sea to sea that was under the benign and uncontested control of Britain. It’s a pretty idea, with lofty sentiments attached about the kind of governance that should ensue. Peace, order and good government was the norm for those times. We were the generation whose families never locked the doors at night. 

Since it’s natural to love what is yours, and where you came from, I’m not jettisoning the British Ensign. The fact of any standard is that it’s not bad to be allied with a larger idea than the world that shines out of your own navel. It’s also a fact that you are always in life fighting for something, and at the same time against something. Often what you are fighting against, is falsehoods or at the very least bad ideas. 

To point out something which is false, does the world a favour. It seems by comparison, that it is enough these days to simply CALL someone a white nationalist, and it is assumed to be so. No proof necessary. But looking back at my life, what we were taught about ourselves and other people, the British way seems to be a more benevolent wielding of power that the current attempts at payback that are based on ill will, jealousy and spiked with a petty sense of vengeance. 

There is some irony, in that I am married to a Palestinian and their lament as a nation, is that their identity and past has been forcefully erased and often lied about. They are upset about that. On the same note, I should point out that I live every day with the knowledge that my past and what it meant is being lied about, rewritten by new victors, and effectively erased. I am not supposed to speak up about this for fear I should offend someone and be called a white nationalist. 

I will not apologize for being a descendent of the lone island that held off the last bout of fascism when Hitler assumed he would knock over all of Europe. My mom’s brother lies buried in a graveyard in Germany so there is some skin in this game in my own family line. We British descendants have a taste for fighting evil and falsehood when out and about. You might say we still fly under that banner of the Red Ensign and it’s not a bad standard to represent you. There is after all, English common law, the idea of due process, and the Magna Carta bundled into all of that. The residue of these ideas is why people still flock to Canada as a destination for immigration - suggesting implicitly that our historic systems are superior to the state of their own homelands. 

I also won’t apologize for Christianity since I don’t believe that anyone else has come up with any better idea. In a nutshell, Christianity at least values life, and puts everyone on equal terms as a child of God and an image of our creator. 

Whether what replaces us is better, I will leave history to decide. I will meanwhile be happy to take the Red Ensign as the banner and crest under which I have lived most of my life, without apology to any party who may take offence. 
0 Comments

    UNCOMMON
    ​THOUGHTS

    ...about common things. 
    ​

    Categories

    All
    Accidental Story
    Activist
    A Display Of His Splendour
    Adjusting The Recipe
    Ad Man
    A Flannery O'Connor Moment
    After The Tiger
    A High Christology
    A Little Bit Redneck
    All About Widgets
    Allah Wallahi
    All I Got
    Al Low Vs The Man
    All Roads
    All Saints
    Almost
    A Long List Of Thank Yous
    Amazing Grace
    A Month Of Sundays
    And A Little Child Shall Lead Them
    And Make It Beautiful
    An Offer You Can’t Refuse
    An Officer And A Gentleman
    Antique
    A Pile Of Wood And A Plan
    Are We There Yet?
    Artifact
    As Simple As Sunshine
    A Tale Of Two Crosses
    At Hand
    Attending To Beauty
    At War
    Baby Boom
    Bad-Ass Outlaw
    Bad Faith
    Badlands
    Bad Math
    Baked Boiled Or Fried?
    Balcony Lady
    Barcode
    Beautiful By Design
    Beauty For Ashes
    Beauty On Purpose
    Being Different
    Being Human
    Belial
    Beneficence
    Best For Last
    Better Mousetrap
    Betty Toop
    Beware Of God
    Beware Of Men Who Cry
    Big Buts Of The Bible
    Bit Part
    Blessed Are The Pew Warmers
    Bound For Beauty
    Brazier
    British Invasion
    Bronte Oak
    Bucket List
    But If Not
    But Is It Sandable
    But Is It True?
    Buyer Beware
    Call To Prayer
    Camp Of The Unknown God
    Cant
    Carlton The Delivery Man
    Car Wash
    Chaos
    Cherry Picking
    Cherry Top
    Civil Disobedience
    Class Monitors And Safety Patrols
    Click Bait
    Clothing Optional
    Cloud Of Witnesses
    Colour Blind
    Coming To My Senses
    Contra Mundum
    Couldn't Not
    Counting The Cost
    Covid Cut
    Crazy
    Creed
    Crooked Made Straight
    Crucified Man
    Curated
    Curse Of Adam
    Damascus Road
    Dangerous
    Dangerous Chemicals Of My Youth
    Data Overload
    Day Of The Dead
    Deliver Us From Evil
    Deposit Of Faith
    Dieu Et Mon Droit
    Different Drum
    Distressed
    Dog House
    Doing Church
    Doing The Lord's Work
    Doing The Math
    Do It Yourself
    Dominion
    Dominus Vobiscum
    Do-Over
    Do Something!
    Dreaming And Doing
    Edifice
    Egging Armour Hill
    English Leather
    Ensign
    Even As I Am Known
    Even Me
    Even Stranger Things
    Exiles
    Experience Wanted
    Faithful Servant
    Fallow Season
    Family Bible
    Family Business
    Feeling It
    Fellowship Of The Brush
    Field Of Faith
    First World Chair
    Fit As You Go
    Five Minutes
    Fixing The Machine
    Flawed People
    Flock Of Angels
    Follow The Money
    For A Season
    For A Time Such As This
    Fortissimo!
    Forward
    French Horn
    From A Distance
    Frozen Man
    Funny Words
    Gateway
    Genetic Lottery
    Gifting
    God Calling...
    God Save The Queen
    Going In!
    Gone But Not Forgotten
    Gone Fishing
    Good Bones
    Good God Almighty
    Good Government
    Good Luck Skippy
    Gott Mit Uns
    Greatest Is Love
    Great Reset
    Grocery - A Short Story
    Gross Anatomy
    Grunt
    Haka!
    Hammer And Tong
    Hammer Time
    Hands And Eyes
    Hands On
    Happy Rooster
    Hardwired
    Hearing Voices
    Heavy LIfting
    Hello My Juan
    Helping God Show Off
    Hidden In The Secret Place
    Hid In My Heart
    High Dudgeon
    History Bites
    Hockey Tape And Rubber Bands
    Hodge Podge
    Holy Disorder
    Holy Father
    Home Economics
    Hymn Stories
    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
    If You Go I'll Go
    Im Khalil
    Impossibly Cute
    In A Strange Land
    Incarnation
    In Code
    Incomplete
    Individual
    Influencer
    In My Own Time
    Inner FIfteen Year Old
    In Praise Of Culture
    In Praise Of The Middle
    In The Details
    In The Spirit
    In The Usual Manner
    Invader
    It's All A Stage
    I Will Remember
    Jackass
    Je Me Souviens
    John Henry
    Judge Not
    Jurisprudence
    Just A Few Words
    Just Have Faith
    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
    Lawn Nazi
    Lemonade
    Less Is More
    Lessons In Empathy
    Let Me Count The Ways
    Let's Go RIde A BIke
    Licking The Spoon
    Like A Flint
    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
    Lost In Translation
    Luck Of The Stable
    Made To Dance
    Madonna
    Magical
    Make A Baby Laugh
    Make It Nice
    Maker
    Maker’s Mark
    Manifest
    Manwich
    Ma-pitom
    Marbles In Spring
    Measure Of A Man
    Meat Power
    Memory Box
    Men In Loincloths
    Men's Barber Shop
    Messiah
    Middle Ground
    Middleman
    Mistakes All In
    Montreal Spice
    More
    Morse Code
    Mosh Pit
    Moving Parts
    Mr. Good Enough
    Mr. Resolve
    My Neighbour
    Mystery Of The Cheshire Cat
    Myth Of Sisyphus
    My Wife The Movie Star
    Name Calling
    Natural
    Needed Time
    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
    Obsessive
    Offended
    Oh Jerusalem
    Old Growth
    Old White Men
    On Adult Admission
    One Coffee At A Time
    One Smart Farmer
    One Thing
    On Richard Rohr
    On The Lam
    On Writing Clearly
    Ordinary Time
    Orwell For Our Times
    Out Of Egypt
    Over And Again
    Paint Over That
    Paper Boy
    Particularity
    Particularity Of Place
    Particulate Matter
    Part Of The Tradition
    Pater Noster
    Patina
    Pea Game
    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
    Prepper
    Prince
    Print Shop
    Prisoner
    Promises Promises
    Proof Text
    Psalm 1
    Psalm 19
    Psalter
    Put Away The Books
    Putting Up The Lights
    Rainbow
    Recognition
    Red Haired Step Child
    Reduce Reuse Recycle
    Resin
    Restoration
    Resurrection
    Retro
    Rosemary And The Drug Dealers
    Sad Face
    Sandwich
    Say My Name
    Scars
    Scrooge's Bedsheets
    Second Naiveté
    Seeing Red
    Seven Sixty-Five
    Shouting From The Areopagus
    Shrove Tuesday
    Silent Witness
    Slippery Slope
    Small-c
    Small Graces
    Sock Monkeys
    Someone To Watch Over Me
    Song For The Lowly
    Sore Afraid
    Special Language Store
    Squat
    Squeeze Gently
    Starting With What Is True
    Status Quo
    Still True
    Street Food
    String Too Short To Be Saved
    Strongman
    Sufficient To The Day
    Superstar
    Take A Punch
    Takedown
    Talking Head
    Talking Your Parents Down From The Ledge
    Telling The Story
    Thanksgiving
    The Bliss Of Ignorance
    The Church Invisible
    The Crossing King
    The Evil Day
    The General
    The Great Mystery
    The Harrowing Of Hell
    The Joys Of Hash
    The Man Who Was Always Right
    The Other Place
    The Place Beyond Knowing
    The Quickening
    The REAL Jesus
    The Reason For The Season
    Therefore Choose Life
    The Rules
    The Secret History
    The Stand That Wouldn't Stand
    The Table-ness Of A Table
    The Way
    This Is My Body
    This Is The PLACE
    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
    Time Warp
    Tim Falladay
    Tims No More
    Tin Hat
    Tonto And Me
    Touching Stones
    Trevor’s Super Bad Day
    Trick Key
    Tubafore!
    Unbelievable
    Under A Bush? HELL NO!
    Uninvited
    Unlikely Saint
    Unmedicated
    Unspectacular
    Use Gently
    U-Turn
    Value Added
    Veni Vidi
    Virge 'n Mary
    WASP
    Watching Paint Dry
    Wayside Chapel
    Weaker Sex (?)
    We Stand On Guard For Thee
    We Were Waiting
    What Are You Prepared To DO?
    What Doesn't Kill You
    What Lazarus Knew
    Wheat Gum
    When Cows Fly
    When Odd Becomes Interesting
    Where Art Comes From
    While You Were Sleeping
    Why I Still Like Cowboys
    Witness
    Woke
    Wood Show
    Words
    Words... The Right Tool
    Worthy Adversary
    Worthy Is The Lamb
    You And Me And Rob

    RSS Feed

Contact Us

    Subscribe Today!

Submit
Picture
  • Home
  • Hello and Welcome
  • Blog
  • Worth Repeating
  • My Book
  • FAQ