Jeffrey Shallit, a long time opponent of intelligent design creationism, is an American citizen living in Canada. Why doesn't he become a Canadian citizen?[Towards a Canadian Republic]
My answer has always been the same: I'll seriously consider becoming a citizen when Canada removes one citizenship requirement: that I swear allegiance to "Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, her Heirs and Successors".It seems like an innocent enough anachronism to me.As an American who is proud of the republican tradition (small "r" in "republican", please), the citizenship requirement that one swear allegiance to a person seems unappealingly feudal to me. Paul McCartney famously observed that the current Queen is a pretty nice girl, but that doesn't mean I want to swear allegiance to her.
But the more important question is how does Professor Shallit feel about pledging allegiance to a "thing" as in ....
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
No comments:
Post a Comment