O' Canada Please stop with the BS!

Canadians are so polite! I hear it all the time. It's something I'm proud of! Something I'm not so proud of is the complacency of Canadians. I suppose it's part of our politeness that we endeavour not to offend anyone, but we've taken that to the nth degree. Right now we are having a debate about O' Canada. It's our national anthem. A few people are taking offense to the lyrics for a couple reasons.

Firstly, some people have a problem with the lyrics “in all thy sons command”. What about the women who serve and all the women who have sacrificed some people protest. Okay, well in 1913 the line was "True patriot love thou dost in us command" and was changed to what it currently is. One could speculate that it was because of the suffragette movement, or the fact that we were on the brink of a world war and we needed our sons to serve. Personally I'd like to keep it as a reminder that really it was our sons that bled and died for our country originally. I'm glad that women are now able to serve our country in the army, but I still believe that we have to honour our past. But that is just my humble opinion.

Secondly, some people take offense to the “God keep our land” part. Some of us believe in God, some of us don't, some of us call God something else. Take it out! Make it equal for everyone.

It is equal to everyone. But what about the misogyny and the religion, I can hear it now. If you don't like that version then sing the french version! Wait what? Isn't the french version just a translation of the English version? I thought so too, until I really thought about it. Okay, I took french in school and can probably order a hamburger with out offending someone. (If someone could tell me how to order it well done that would be great because I found Quebec tends to under cook their burgers). I digress, the French version is NOT the same as the English one. I actually feel like a terrible Canadian for not knowing this. Here is the French Version:

Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

O Canada!
Land of our forefathers,
Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious garland of flowers.
As is thy arm ready to wield the sword,
So also is it ready to carry the cross.
Thy history is an epic
Of the most brilliant exploits.
Thy valour steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights.
Will protect our homes and our rights. 

No sons no God, it's the original version of the anthem which was written in French.  So my solution is you don't like the words in the English one, sing the French one.  We have 2 official languages in Canada.  Sing one of them and STOP COMPLAINING!