There will be so much gas emitted today about Memorial Day. On a day that we are supposed to honor and grieve those lost to us in war, there will be far too many homilies to militarism with the “honored” dead waved in our faces like pom-poms. Words like this from King Banian, himself paying tribute to the vicariously blood-thirsty Mark Steyn:
Many widows (and some widowers) awake this morning to Memorial Day, whose spouses fallen understood the rest of [Revolutionary General John] Stark's more famous motto -- given late in his life from his Derry home -- "Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils." It is a very basic reaction to force, to coercion.
We can be glad that General Stark survived whatever battles he fought to utter those words and that King Banaian has managed to survive all the battles he fought so he could repeat them.
However, let’s look at the real face of remembering soldiers who died in war:
* * *
(Both photos from the Washington Post)
Bellowing, public professions of patriotism, like ostentatious, public displays of religion, are, at their core, mere narcissism.
So, weep for those who died in our names, and for our sake’s, but never allow them to be used as cheerleaders for the next carnage that war’s acolytes urge upon us.
Update: And you might take a look at this by Cindy Sheehan:
As the plane was on the approach to John Wayne airport, the Captain came on the intercom to remind us all to "remember our brave troops who have died for our freedom." Even in this post 9-11 paranoid paradigm, if I wasn't belted in for landing, I would have popped out of my seat at 13D and charged up to the cockpit to let the pilot know that my son was killed in Iraq and not one person anywhere in this world is one iota more free because he is dead.
No comments:
Post a Comment