A reader has directed me to this interesting story out of Kingston, Ontario, about a soldier, Harold Kinney, aka Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh, who no longer wants to salute the Queen:
A Canadian Forces officer is suing Canada's top soldier over a "degrading" policy that requires members of the military to toast the Queen and salute during the anthem, God Save the Queen.
Capt. Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh, an associate professor of physics at the Royal Military College in Kingston, Ont., wants a court to overturn the requirement for Forces members to publicly display their loyalty to the British monarchy.
The captian's birth name is Harold Kinney, before he legally changed it to this Irish spelling. Aralt for Harold, Chainnigh for Kinney, Mac Giolla for, well, giant pain in the butt, I suppose.
Actually, i'm being a bit unfair. Let me explain what I think is going on.
Harold/Aralt is feeling humiliated/náirigh:
"It's a situation of institutional harassment that members of Canadian Forces be obliged to toast the Queen of Canada at regimental dinners," says Mac Giolla Chainnigh, who also objects to officers being required to show respect to the Union Jack.
"You might, as a military officer, wish to express your unity with those who served Canada during a particular war, but (not) . . . the obligation to recognize a foreign monarch as having a situation of authority over the Canadian Armed Forces." He argues in his claim that the requirement to publicly express allegiance contrary to one's belief is degrading to an individual.
Mac Giolla Chainnigh -- who legally changed his name from Harold Kenny to its Irish spelling -- says he signed up for the Canadian Forces to serve Canada, not a foreign monarch. He was 16 years old when he enlisted and begrudgingly swore loyalty to the Queen.
His complaint has been dismissed by the Canadian Forces Grievance Board and by General Rick Hillier. He's now taking everyone to court over this.
Now it must be noted that Harold/Aralt is not looking to make Canada into a republic. He doesn't want everyone to stop toasting the Queen.
He just wants to stop himself.
Of course, he can stop anytime he wants just by resigning his commission. For whatever reason, he doesn't want to do that. He says he wants to to serve Canada in the armed forces, but it is just as likely he just likes the uniform. He certainly likes the title and such. I know because he posts quite frequently on message boards that deal with Gaelic or Irish culture, and that have nothing to do with the military or Canada. Yet he signs his messages in such a way as to leave no doubt about his rank and unit affiliation, such as on this genealogy site:
Aralt Mac Giolla Chainnigh, (Harold Kenny) Dr, Capt, PPCLI, kenny-h@rmc.ca
Department of Physics, RMC, Box 17000, Stn Forces, Kingston, ON, Canada, K7K 7B4
phone: (613) 541-6000 ext 6042, fax: (613) 541-6040
freagraí as Gaeilge le do thoil, oiread agus is feidir
I get the feeling he would miss it if he was forced to say, "My name is Aralt, just Aralt."
So here is a guy who is clearly proud of his position in the army, but has a problem with the Queen. What is going on here?
I think he's having a mid-life crisis.
He says he "grudgingly" swoar an oath to the Queen when he enlisted at sixteen, but I think he engaging in a bit of backdating, perhaps subconsciously. That's only a theory, but recall that he changed his name and started his crusade a mere five years ago. I'm guessing that something happened -- he met someone, he read a book, someone in his family passed on -- and he suddenly discovered his Irish roots in a big way. Not just Gaelic language and culture, but full-blown Irish republicanism.
But like most men in a mid-life crisis, he's torn about reinventing himself. He wants to recreate himself into old-blood Irish (you want to bet that he's started to sport an Irish brogue when he talks?), but he's can't just abandon the current circumstances of his life. So he's trying to reconcile the two, and that is driving his fight to drop his allegiance to the Queen.
I actually feel for the guy.
But all that doesn't change the fact that he can't win. As a soldier, his authority to wield a weapon (even if just in theory, since he is actually a teacher at the Royal Military College) is derived from the authority of the State. The authority is legitimized in the institution of the Crown in the person of the Queen. In the United States, that legitimacy is derived from the document of the Constitution executed by the office of the President. Other countries have different means of identifying and legitimizing the State. The problem for Kinney is that the legitimacy of the State can be derived from only one source. You can't have some soldiers not swearing allegiance to the State (whatever form that takes in your country) and some not.
In any case, his fight can only have a negative effect on morale. If I'm right on why Kinney is doing this, I hope the army is sympathetic but firm. Make it clear to Kinney that this is not negotiable (not that much about army life is up for negotiation) and that his fight is equivalent to an act of insubordination. He either stops or he leaves. There is no indication that Kinney has provided anything but satisfactory service while in uniform, and if he is really struggling with his identity at this stage in his life, maybe the best thing is for him to leave the armed forces and continue his personal journey on his own.
Is that more than he deserves? Perhaps. But an act of magnanimity from the Crown to one of her dissatisfied subjects would probably help put an end to a situation that is causing nothing but stress for all involved.
