Re: “Victoria building relations with First Nations,” Dec. 16.
We human beings are fond of our traditions, ceremonies, rituals and symbols. Most of us are content to live with them without analyzing them too much.
When the atheist or the Hindu wishes you a merry Christmas, it doesn’t mean that they have become born-again Christians. It is an expression of goodwill and a wish for a happy holiday. People go to court all the time and take the book in their hand when they take the oath. They may be an atheist, or someone who seldom thinks about religion, but they know that the Bible becomes an important symbol of a promise to tell the truth. Perjury is perjury, whether you believe or not.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy. The monarch simply becomes a symbol of the state and the oath is really loyalty to the state. Lighten up.
Of course, it is not rational to choose the head of state by accident of birth, but the irony is that some of the constitutional monarchies are among the best-governed countries in the world and they seem to work well enough.
Ray Ferris
Victoria
