Time for a social experiment. Bear with me and please read the following statement:

Les gens doivent comprende que, loin d’etre un obstacle, la diversite des langues, des religions et des traditions dans le monde est une grande richesse qui nous offre de precieuses occasions de nous reconnaitre dans les autres.

Youssou N’Dour

Huh? Wha? Did you even read through that entire sentence? Here’s the English translation:

People need to see that, far from being an obstacle, the world’s diversity of languages, religions and traditions is a great treasure, affording us precious opportunities to recognize ourselves in others.

Bunk. When in Rome, brothers and sisters. Let’s all speak the same language so there won’t be misunderstandings, conflicts, suspicions, obstacles to Human Oneness. Would Christians love Muslims any better if they understood their religion? Would the KKK appreciate the plight of African-Americans if they just sat down to dinner with them?

Humans are naturally divisive, cliquish, and suspicious. The fewer obstacles we have between us, the closer and more comfortable we’ll be with each other.

The quote above is from a Starbucks coffee cup here in Canada. The reason Canadian Starbucks coffee cups look like the Rosetta Stone is because a handful of Canadian French wannabes forced this bilingual packaging law on the country a few decades ago. You should hear some of the locals here in British Columbia – where only 1.4% of the population speaks French as a mother tongue – curse the insanity of this divisive and confusing law.

One point four percent. And for this I endured two years of French classes in high school? Diversity is interesting, sure, but not if it’s forced on us. That just makes us resentful.

If I ever get to visit France, I would want to speak their language. It’s part of the experience, it’s their heritage, it sounds beautiful, and it’s the only practical way to order Le Big Mac. Speaking English in France would only slow things down, and create frustration and animosity.

The same goes for speaking French in America. In fact, I’ve never met a French person who didn’t make a valiant and well-appreciated effort to speak English in America. French-Canadians, on the other hand…

Jim Lawter

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