Alex MacDonald: The King and love of country
Call loyalty, restraint and selfless service "romantic" at your own peril.
On the morning of April 17, 2021, the world watched Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II sit utterly alone in Westminster Abbey as her husband of 73 years was laid to rest.
At the time, COVID-19 restrictions in England did not permit social gatherings. While the Queen was offered the ability to forgo the restrictions in recognition of the circumstances, she chose to subject herself to the same rules borne by the general public.
In doing so, the Queen exemplified all that is good and noble in the monarchy: fidelity, service, duty, reverence. She was rightfully hailed as the “perfect picture of selfless service.”
Yet some within the Canadian political discourse believe that interest in preserving the monarchy is an “elite obsession” that smacks of dissonance. J.J. McCullough in particular has argued that a conservative defence of the Crown is nothing more than a “perception gap” between the so-called elite and the exalted “real-world” voter.
It’s simply derogatory for self-professed conservatives to subject the monarchy to a weathervane relevancy test. Outsourcing one’s judgement of a fundamental institution to public opinion data reveals a lack of seriousness.
As an inherited institution, our constitutional monarchy should not, indeed cannot, be judged by contemporary feelings of relevancy, for its institutional character and worth transcend the present and these banal tests.
Bounding oneself to standards of contemporary relevance inevitably leads to irrelevance.
One only need review the precipitous decline in relevance of the Christian churches that have adopted a weathervane test for their moral ethics and traditions. In the name of modernising, conforming to the times, and shedding prejudices, many of them have discarded centuries-old teachings and traditions, only to be deserted by the same people they were trying to retain or attract.
Institutions are not judged by their present utility, nor our individual appeal to them, but by their ability to bind us together, to remind us of eternal truths, and to be a store of civilisational value to draw upon.
This is in part due to how institutions mould the characters of those who interact with them. Our institutions, the monarchy, the family, the community, and churches, are not passive backdrops to our daily lives. They instruct and guide us, offer meaning, and provide paths to real self-actualisation.
To degrade the monarchy, or any other inherited institution, to simple tests of relevancy, efficiency, or value for money is ultimately to worship at the altar of self. It is to detest being a noble subject of something greater than oneself. Rather than subscribing to something greater, something that calls the individual and nation higher in common cause, McCullough would prefer us to dispense with this “romanticised, fairytale version of Canada defined by dated theory and kitsch aesthetics.”
Call loyalty, restraint, and selfless service romantic at your own peril.
We need things that inspire awe and wonder, that cause us to look up. The pomp and circumstance of the monarchy do just that by retaining its aura. There is a goodness found in the ancient liturgies of our royal ceremonies that seems to depict the interface of the human and the divine. To sneer at this is only to reveal one’s lack of imagination and appreciation for high culture.
When we deride so-called ‘elitism’ or propagate a cult of mediocrity that masquerades as ‘common man conservatism’, we inspire contempt against the riches of our traditions and inheritances. Regrettably, we are already well down this path: the official residence of the Prime Minister lies in disrepair, and the costs associated with our head of government and Governor General conducting their state affairs are meticulously scrutinised to stoke animosity between the ruled and rulers.
Properly understood, it is not elite to cherish the goods of our communal life, the symbols, traditions, and structures that bind us together as one nation. Rather, in an evangelical spirit, one ought to seek to preserve, share, and promote these goods so that they may be enjoyed by all.
Love of country, including its head of state, should not be diminished to pearl-clutching or navel-gazing. It’s an act of charity towards those who have come before us and those we will bequeath our inheritance to.
As conservatives, it should be obvious that nothing is gained from this shallow-spirited institution-bashing. Rather, much is lost, or worse, that space and power are ceded to those who wish to cast Canada and its beloved institutions as illegitimate, worthless, and deserving of erasure. Enough of our shared national identity has been torn down by modern liberal vandals.
Our constitutional monarchy ought to be revered and preserved because in it is found the quintessential example of selfless service and subservience to the institutions that are greater than us, that pour more into us than we ever could offer to them. It remains a store of social, cultural, and political riches to be passed on, should we choose.
Defending the Crown is not a defining cause of Canadian conservatism, as some would have you believe; it is a defining cause of Canada.
Alex MacDonald works for Counsel Public Affairs. He formerly worked in the United Nations, the Government of Alberta, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa and in private industry.
This piece rang a bell for me, as a 34-year veteran of AA, I bought into the notion of placing my faith in a power greater than myself. For me, it was a mental return to my roots. A working-class kid from Southwestern Ontario, with one side of my family coming from the UK and another from Eastern Europe. For many years, I have returned on Remembrance Day to see childhood friends leading the local Legion Branch. I have a plot in the small cemetery outside the one-room schoolhouse my mother attended, as do my siblings. Mom and Dad are already there. My BC born Children understand why I have to be laid to rest there, and I am grateful for that. Just find something worthy in your past to believe in, and the ground you stand on will become firmer.