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Yesterday, with perhaps more fervour than usual, many Canadians proudly sang O Canada as we, collectively and individually, reflected upon our national identity and heritage.
But a growing number of Canadians either gritted their teeth and mouthed a line or two, or fell silent when others sang the phrases "God keep our land glorious and free!" or, in the French version, "car ton bras sait porter l'épée, it sait porter la croix."
Reflecting our history, both versions of the anthem have a clear religious, even Christian wording.
Yet, as Canada becomes ever more multinational and pluralistic, are those words still appropriate?
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It's a fascinating debate with wide-ranging implications.
That's why globeandmail.com has invited our regular panel from several major faith-based communities and a representative of the atheist/humanist/free thinker groups to debate these questions:
Given Canada's history of intertwined politics and religion, and given Canada's increasing multicultural nature, should all references to "God" be removed from our national anthem, O Canada? What does the inclusion of "God" say about our country? What would its elimination say about our country?
As usual, the panelists each have written a short essay and have answered questions from our readers — all of which you can read at the bottom of this page.
The members of our panel are:
Michael W. Higgins is President of St. Thomas University in Fredericton and past president of St. Jerome's University in the University of Waterloo.
Dr. Higgins is a broadcaster, author and co-author of numerous books and CBC Ideas series, including Heretic Blood, The Muted Voice, Power and Peril and Stalking the Holy.
Jennifer A. Harris is an Anglican Christian. She is assistant professor of Christianity and Culture at the University of Toronto.
Her teaching interests include Christianity and contemporary popular culture, sacred space, and the Bible in medieval society.
Lorna Dueck, an Evangelical Christian journalist, writes a monthly column for The Globe.
She is also executive producer of Listen Up TV, a weekly newsmagazine on spiritual perspectives in current events, seen Sundays on Global TV, and Thursdays on CTS, Salt and Light TV and Christian Channel.
Sheema Khan also writes a monthly column for The Globe. She has a Masters degree in physics and a Ph.D. in chemical physics from Harvard. She has worked in R&D, is an inventor and has worked at law firms in intellectual property law.
Ms. Khan also served as chair of the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN) from 2000-2005.
Justin Trottier is executive director of the Centre for Inquiry Ontario, making him the first full-time paid staff member at the first venue dedicated to humanists and freethinkers in Canada.
He is co-founder of the political advocacy group Canadian Secular Alliance, as well as president of the multimedia outreach group Freethought Association of Canada.
Editor's Note: globeandmail.com editors will read and allow or reject each question/comment. Comments/questions may be edited for length or clarity. HTML is not allowed. We will not publish questions/comments that include personal attacks on participants in these discussions, that make false or unsubstantiated allegations, that purport to quote people or reports where the purported quote or fact cannot be easily verified, or questions/comments that include vulgar language or libellous statements. Preference will be given to readers who submit questions/comments using their full name and home town, rather than a pseudonym.
Michael Higgins: Although in a multicultural, multiracial and multifaith society, one should always be attentive to the particular nuances, needs and sensitivities of all the constituent parts, the temptation to eradicate difference in the interests of a common harmony is a false irenicism.
True harmony — not the ersatz kind preferred by ideologues — is built on the pillars of mutual respect, intelligent discernment of history, and genuine openness to correction.
The erasure, temporary or permanent, of God in our national vocabulary — anthem, Constitution, Charter, etc. — is hardly enlightenment.
The passion to do so has the whiff of Robespierre about it: Temple of the Goddess of Reason, the radical emergence of a new calendar, the extirpation of historical memory.
Not a Canada Day comfort.
God, for me at least, is not a static or single-definition concept. It admits of infinite — well not quite Infinite — variety and resonance.
