[Yogi]

Streaker Streaker:

"Show some gratitude - or else!!"

Something akin to having to 'remind someone' to say 'Thank-you' to another who has just given them a wonderful gift. Perhaps they have always had 'more than they need' and as a result have developed a sense of entitlement. I would also bet that if these very same people had to go try to survive in the squalor and poverty of a 3rd world country for six months they wouldn.t find 'singing a song to be such an onerous task if they made it back to Canada!

[Streaker]

Yogi Yogi:

Streaker Streaker:

"Show some gratitude - or else!!"

Something akin to having to 'remind someone' to say 'Thank-you' to another who has just given them a wonderful gift. Perhaps they have always had 'more than they need' and as a result have developed a sense of entitlement. I would also bet that if these very same people had to go try to survive in the squalor and poverty of a 3rd world country for six months they wouldn.t find 'singing a song to be such an onerous task if they made it back to Canada!

Great, but you really think singing the anthem should be required?

[Yogi]

I have sang, and heard our anthem sung for over fifty years. I still don't 'sing it by rote'!

Of course we should sing the anthem a lot more often than 'at hockey games'. It sure doesn't seem to be a lot to ask of someone to express their pride in their country, if in fact they are proud of their country.

[Brenda]

Eisensapper Eisensapper:

Streaker Streaker:

lily lily:

I don't sing the anthem to show respect for the military. In fact, I don't usually think of them at all while I'm singing it.

I think of Canada.

Hear! Hear!

The thought that the military is co-opting the anthem is worrisome.

I actually have to agree with Streaker on this one, if the CF is the first thing that comes to mind when the average person thinks of our nation, that is a little alarming.
This is mainly because the average Canadian knows very little about our military, I enjoy Canadian patriotism but, you should know what it is that you are actually proud of.

But when an 11 year old kid says "singing the anthem every day reminds me of all the people serving in Afghanistan" it is ok?
I find that very alarming... She is 11 for crying out loud...

[Gunnair]

Regardless, I think the majority of the ire for this topic is that a policy was changed because the parents of two children complained. Subsequently, bogus concerns over student reaction and chaos in the classroom have been thrown out with ham fisted abandon to act as chaff to the media missile now locked on target.

Seems to me that if this is not either outright pandering to a tiny majority or the man running a personal political agenda, then the decision would have been reversed based on the larger number of people who wanted it back.

[Gunnair]

Streaker Streaker:

"Show some gratitude - or else!!"

Do you go out of your way now not to say 'thank you' to people because your mother told you to?

That being said, it has been alluded to by some that it is simply good manners and an incredibly easy and costless way to show pride and gratitude to the nation that protects and cares for you.

[Streaker]

What's the point of making people perform an insincere display of gratitude to Canada?

[Gunnair]

Streaker Streaker:

What's the point of making people perform an insincere display of gratitude to Canada?

Why should it be insincere? I think the question should be why they don't feel gratitude.

[Streaker]

Gunnair Gunnair:

Streaker Streaker:

What's the point of making people perform an insincere display of gratitude to Canada?

Why should it be insincere? I think the question should be why they don't feel gratitude.

Good question. I doubt that enforced anthem-singing will make an unpatriotic person into a patriotic one, though. It might even have the opposite effect, IMHO.

Genuine patriotism - consideration for your fellow citizens - has to come from something else. Maybe more emphasis on civics in the classroom would be more useful than just singing the anthem by rote.

[Gunnair]

Streaker Streaker:

Gunnair Gunnair:

Streaker Streaker:

What's the point of making people perform an insincere display of gratitude to Canada?

Why should it be insincere? I think the question should be why they don't feel gratitude.

Good question. I doubt that enforced anthem-singing will make an unpatriotic person into a patriotic one, though. It might even have the opposite effect, IMHO.

Genuine patriotism - consideration for your fellow citizens - has to come from something else. Maybe more emphasis on civics in the classroom would be more useful than just singing the anthem by rote.

Why does gratitude have to be equated with patriotism? I sing the anthem for a number of reasons, but certainly gratitude for the country I live in is one of the biggest.

Though I agree with your premise on what might improve patriotism, I don't think that the assumption to your argument, that singing the anthem by rote, is an accurate assertion. I would submit that we don't influence people to sing by rote, but with genuine feeling.

Should they not feel gratitude to live in this great land and with the people of this country?