remember
Remembrance Sunday, a day to remember those have suffered and died in the service of thier country and those who mourn them. Remembrance Sunday, or any ceremony of remembrance, is not a glorification of war - it's a glorification of ordinary people who gave all they had for something they believed in. War cannot be glorified, it's seed is the degenerate son of every little thing that's wrong with us humans, and until the day comes when we are made better by some act of revelation or evolution we have to accept that the seeds of war are everywhere mankind is.
It is to me though a great irony that while the seeds lie in our weakness, the germanation may lie in our greatness. We could just choose to lie down. We could surrender our freedoms, our ways of life, our identities - no war would ever have been fought if the other side had just capitulated. But surely there lies the glory, that ordinary men and women are prepared to give up their lives for ours. That they believe that what makes this little community, this village, town, city, country so great is worth dying for - when ordinary people make such a sacrifice to protect their way of life, the ties of family, the past, the present, the future - that becomes something to be glorified, something to remember.
We don't glorify war, we remember war as the great beast it is - but those who died for and served us, we certainly glorify. It's all we can do.
«1 CommentsNovember 9, MMIII»
Reader Comments
About This
You've arrived at the homepage of Stephen Stewart. The archive is available here for those who want it. This site is happily hosted by Dreamhost. Click for more?
More!? OK then, but I can't help feeling that this will be a disappointment to you.
I work as a web designer in Belfast, and I live by the sea in a shoe. You can see me here, doing my livejournal pose as idoru called it. If you need to you can email me at carisenda -at- gmail -dot- com.
My hCard
Recent Comments
- Cybez on One's too many an' a hundred's not enough
- Nelly on One's too many an' a hundred's not enough
- adele on And the sky was made black with unescaped entities
- adele on And the sky was made black with unescaped entities
- sharon on Fifteens
- Nelly on Mother is it just a waste of time?
- Stephen on Mother is it just a waste of time?
links to other people's sites
Recommended Viewing
- 300
†
Does exactly what it says on the (comic book) tin. Loved it. - Little Miss Sunshine
†
Very funny, disturbing (the beauty pageant) and completely messed up -- but in a good way. - Laputa: Castle in the Sky†
Story great, characterization a little on the weak side -- though the big robots are cool. - Porco Rosso
†
Stylish, funny, exciting. - Grave of the Fireflies†
Very sad, which was a little unexpected since I didn't know much about it before watching it. Can be a little too slow in places though, otherwise it's very good. - Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind†
The story can get a little dense at times what with the various factions, but still really enjoyable, inventive and engaging. - X-Men: The Last Stand
†
Opportunity, talent, money - all blown. Over 3 films X-Men has hinted of something great that could have been, this last one says "No, sorry - not going to happen". Bah.
Perhaps the most important thing we can do is to remember the horrors of war in order to prevent it. My grandfathers went to war because politics failed. They were needed, and they went, and their sacrifices should be remembered as honourable. The acts of the nations leading up to war were less honourable, and we need to remember them, our political failures, and their terrible cost in human life.