Sixty Joyless De-Britished Uncrowned Commonpoor Years (1949-2009)

Elizabeth II Vice-Regal Saint: Remembering Paul Comtois (1895–1966), Lt.-Governor of Québec
Britannic Inheritance: Britain's proud legacy. What legacy will America leave?
English Debate: Daniel Hannan revels in making mince meat of Gordon Brown
Crazy Canucks: British MP banned from Canada on national security grounds
Happy St. Patrick's: Will Ireland ever return to the Commonwealth?
Voyage Through the Commonwealth: World cruise around the faded bits of pink.
No Queen for the Green: The Green Party of Canada votes to dispense with monarchy.
"Sir Edward Kennedy": The Queen has awarded the senator an honorary Knighthood.
President Obama: Hates Britain, but is keen to meet the Queen?
The Princess Royal: Princess Anne "outstanding" in Australia.
H.M.S. Victory: In 1744, 1000 sailors went down with a cargo of gold.
Queen's Commonwealth: Britain is letting the Commonwealth die.
Justice Kirby: His support for monarchy almost lost him appointment to High Court
Royal Military Academy: Sandhurst abolishes the Apostles' Creed.
Air Marshal Alec Maisner, R.I.P. Half Polish, half German and 100% British.
Cherie Blair: Not a vain, self regarding, shallow thinking viper after all.
Harry Potter: Celebrated rich kid thinks the Royals should not be celebrated
The Royal Jelly: A new king has been coronated, and his subjects are in a merry mood
Victoria Cross: Australian TROOPER MARK DONALDSON awarded the VC
Godless Buses: Royal Navy veteran, Ron Heather, refuses to drive his bus
Labour's Class War: To expunge those with the slightest pretensions to gentility
100 Top English Novels of All Time: The Essential Fictional Library
BIG BEN: Celebrating 150 Years of the Clock Tower

Saturday 30 December 2006

Simon Fraser's shock! Christian Coat of Arms

University dishonours tradition by axing crosses from its coat of arms

by Alan Ferguson

It was entirely predictable, I suppose, that the pointy-heads haunting the halls of academe should be leading the charge to erase what remains of the evidence of Canada's Christian heritage. I refer to the decision by Simon Fraser University to obliterate from its coat of arms two "crosses" -- or, as one university official provocatively called them, "crusaders' daggers."


Of course, once you've magically transformed the reputed instrument of Christ's death into an offensive weapon linked to medieval wars, it is so much easier to make a case for your pusillanimous actions. Nobody at SFU is prepared to admit it (they're tripping over their own tongues trying to pretend it's something else), but the crosses are toast only because they are a symbol of Christianity. And in today's hand-wringing culture of Christian self-abasement, to flaunt your particular religious icons in the face of a "diverse" world is an unforgivable breach of secular etiquette.

Whenever this column strays into the sphere of religion, which is not often, astute readers rush to their keyboards to tap out familiar denunciations. I am forcefully reminded that religious belief has been the source of dreadful conflict since time began; that free individuals no longer need God to tell them what to do or think, and so on. But we aren't born with an onboard moral compass. We learn as we go. And our source is the life around us in Canada, organized into at least a semblance of civilization grounded in common traditions. Throw out the traditions, strike them from our heritage like the crosses from the coat of arms, and what's left to guide our journey?

SFU seeks to explain itself by pointing out that the City of Vancouver has updated its emblem, replacing fishermen and loggers with a more contemporary design. But a university's heraldic shield is not like some corporate logo to be rebranded every time a new CEO takes the chair. And it should not be subject to change at the whim of some passing politically-correct fancy. Unless, that is, we are determined as a country to wipe out every last trace of our founding heritage.

What next? Should we be boarding up our cathedrals to avoid giving offence to non-believers? And what about those biblical quotations posted outside churches? How dare they foist their opinions on us in public like that!

SFU says that "questions" were raised about its crosses from the "international community." We can guess what that means: The university risked losing high-fee-paying foreign students who might object to studying at an institution with some apparent religious affiliation. How dreadfully embarrassing! Imagine subjecting would-be scholars to such a sacrilegious sight.

Funny how, in huge swathes of the world, another major religion is experiencing a great renaissance among millions of people who find no shame in glorifying the symbols of their faith.

More Simon Fraser idiocy here: "Colonial...by design: rethinking the name Simon Fraser University"

Beaverbrook

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

I call this move to remove the crosses from the Fraser Coat of Arms "historical vandalism."

If the crosses happened to be the hammer and sickle, the crescent moon and star, or the yin and the yang, any suggestion that they be removed would be met by the multiculti crowd with cries of "racism," "intolerance," "close-mindedness," "undemocratic," etc., etc., ad nauseum.

No doubt, there'd also be a grievance filed with the nearest franchise of Canada's Human Rights Commissions.

Thanks for your acknowledgment of traditions and a country's need to maintain them for continuity and stability. Ironically, it is Judeo-Christian values upon which all of Canada's major democratic insitutions are founded. And it is these values, enshrined in our laws and traditions, which have made Canada such a mecca for immigrants from countries where there are very few, if any, democratic institutions.

Whenever I bring up the central importance in Canada of Judeo-Christian values in a blog discussion, sadly even on Conservative blogs, the conversation immediately goes cold or I am verbally pilloried. Here's an example of the ad hominems hurled my way on the same topic yesterday:

- I've "attacked" ALL atheists;
- I'm "a piss-poor christian";
- I'm "one hell of a hypocrite";
- I'm "ignorant";
- I'm "bigoted"
- I'm "dishonest" and "perpetuate stereotypes";
- I'm a "pinch-faced Holy Roller";
- I'm "a narrow-minded pissant"

Anyone who wants to read what I wrote to "deserve" such verbal abuse, can check out this issue at The Shotgun Blog under my pen name 'been around the block.

No wonder Christians seldom speak out in the public square. The multiculti bullies and enforcers make life so unpleasant for Christians that unless you've got a particularly strong constitution and broad shoulders, you're likely to crawl back into your hole when the attacks begin.

What a country Canada has become under the Trudopey-an dispensation. Chretien and Martin, and now Dion, are merely Trudeau's puppets. Rid the public square of Judeo-Christian values, including the Monarchy, under the guise of "multiculturalism," which is just the buzz word for anything-but-Christianity.

Most Canadians are oblivious to this hi-jacking of our heritage and, moreover, don't want to be reminded of it. Does anyone else see the axe being taken to the root?

TIMBER!

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah. "Multiculturalism" is also the buzz word used to 'diplomatically' and euphamistically exclude not only Judeo-Christian values from the public square but Canadians' British heritage, as well.

Why are Canadians such wimps that we allow this to happen? So you get called a few names? What's more important: your sensibilities not being offended or defending the importance of both Judeo-Christian values in our nation AND our British heritage which has so enriched Canadian institutions since even before Confederation?

We have to choose, otherwise if we stand for nothing, we'll definitely fall for anything. Is this what most Canadians want to bequeath to their children and grandchildren? Nothing?

Anonymous said...

You are at least fortunate that you do not have to experience this first-hand. I happen to be a student at Simon Fraser University and thus have some first-hand experience with this inanity.

Granted, I'm quite glad that there isn't an instituitional discrimination of conservatives and religious by the faculty; pluralism is somewhat more common that expected, and some unpopular clubs such as the Pro-Life Club are left alone to flourish. Unfortunately, this is more than compensated by the, um, student movement on campus (Solidarity with Cuba. Enough said).

Nevertheless, I've had uncomfortable moments with some professors in the past, one of whom seems to believe (honestly, to his credit) that colonialism has 'destroyed' the Filipino culture. Well, excuse me if I, a Filipino, find some issue with that statement. I'm quite happy with what Western culture has given my native people, and I can only frown or shake my head at this attempt by others to portray me and other visible minorities as "victims".

In fact, I really do believe that all this talk about 'colonialism' is really an extension of the Victim Culture. Much of the talk in this regard seems to rest on the premise that the Evil White Man came and took away my rights, a story which is based either on hopeless ideology at best or a veiled attempt to conceal personal responsibility for societal ills at worst (possibilities in all manifestations of the Victim Culture). Instead of blaming the White Man, why not try seeing if you yourself are part of the problem? That usually helps.

I find it highly ironic that the stance of students against the Establishment is itself in conformity with it, with the elitist, politically correct, latitudinarianism in vogue today.

Anonymous said...

Well-said, Concerned Student!

Have lots of kids; I think they're likely to be more intelligent and open-minded than most!!

The Monarchist said...

Gentlemen - excellent comments. I hear your frustration, and of course share it. As usual it is open season on our heritage - be it monarchist, Christian or British - from "posthuman moderns" who have nothing better to do with their culturally self-loathing lives than to whittle this or whittle that on the laughable pretense that it actually offends them. We live in a militantly secular society that is hell-bent on getting its way. History teaches us that a society or civilisation is very rarely defeated from without, and almost always defeated from within. I have no advice other than to fight them on the beaches, and to publicly embarrass their ridiculous posturing at every turn.

Anonymous said...

Thank you. I'm trying to have at least four ;)

Though, my main concern at the moment is the lack of, um, female companionship...

Anonymous said...

NOTE-not only is SFU elites removing the two crosses from it's Coat Of Arms sadly, but also allowed a man named Joe, a atheist with a seemingly hatered at Christianity to teach a course at SFU- WHO Made The Bible. He was on The Standard tv show Dec.30th/06 Greater Vancouver, his explanation on the bible and Christiantiy all honest theology scholars would easily prove wrong. But then SFU teachers and boards are known as a bastion of political-lefty's. No doubt they'd like to remove Canada's Monarchy also.

Anonymous said...

NOTE-the SFU instructor name is Doug not Joe. / Also this Coat Of Arms matter at SFU has not been accepted yet,the decission apparantly will be made this April or May/07.-{Burnaby Now newspaper-Jan.3rd/07.}