Britain: Turning into America
It’s no secret that Americans are fiercely nationalist and not very patriotic. Nationalism is, of course, rallying behind what the government stands for while patriotism is rallying behind what the country stands for, so we see Americans trying to overturn their Constitution and other anti-American things in the name of nationalism, things such as teaching religion in schools and curtailing freedoms, all anti-patriotic activities.
Britain may be starting down the very same slippery slope. Former attorney general Lord Goldsmith has been tasked with a review of citizenship (why is this even necessary?) and among his suggestions is a requirement for schoolkids to swear allegiance to the Crown and country. Not a requirement so much, but an “option” where no doubt peer pressure will do the rest, like it does in the US.
It’s an affront to everything Britain is. I’m having a hard time putting it in words just how anti-British such a scheme would be. A fat American tourist with a burger in one hand, cheap camera around his neck and a Texas vest complaining loudly that the bus didn’t go where he wanted it to go is more British than a scheme to have schoolkids swear allegiance. The very core British values that, presumably, Lord Goldsmith has been tasked with investigating are exactly the values under threat from such a hare-brained idea.
We already have these ‘citizenship ceremonies’ for immigrants, those not born into British citizenship. They’re exactly what they pretend to be, a ceremonial ‘welcome to Britain, our values are now your values, our laws are now your laws, our freedoms are now your freedoms’ and I’d fully expect to swear the same regardless of which country I was immigrating into.
What I should not expect, and indeed must not, is to place that same oath on people who are already British. For proud Britons who love their country, their freedom and their democracy, the mere thought of requiring British citizens to degrade themselves (of course the implication will be that you’re not really British until you’ve done the ceremony) and their children in some parade to mock everything that Britain is, it’s just offensive.
The Scots have already dismissed it, but that’s to be expected from them, they never did like London. Teaching unions have poured scorn on it and republicans* are up in arms.
*No, not members of the backwards anti-democracy Christian fundamentalist political party in the US. People wanting to proclaim Britain as a republic and to end the monarchy.