Rememberance Day

Here in Canada we observe Remembrance Day on November 11. It has become our custom, besides having a national holiday, to act in silence and reflect upon the tragedy of war. In the eleventh month, on the eleventh day, at the eleventh hour, we collectively think "Lest We Forget".

And as usual, my mom forwards a bunch of stuff to my email in support of the cause. I suspect she does not know how much I respect this tradition; I do wear the poppy, I do attend the services, and I do observe the silence. Just as I always vote, I always observe Remembrance day.

One of the emails she has forwarded again, as I have seen it before, has images of various flag-draped coffins and armed forces personnel from recent times. That is to say, the recent conflicts in West Asia, or Persian Gulf region. As I do respect the Armed Forces and the intention of Remembrance Day, I felt compelled to reply with the following statement:

"As usual, I will observe November 11 publicly. I agree that it is important, as I feel that this is our most important and relevant public ceremony. I feel obligated to remind you my dear that we are not part of the United States, nor the U.K.

It is true that we are allied with these nations. However, I have no doubts that many of the images of U.S. and U.K. soldiers are taken from the illegal war in Iraq, which Canada is not participating in. We are not engaged in that war as before the Harper conservatives were in power, we had a cautious government that did not want to offend that region.

Canada has recently lost our position on the security council of the U.N. because of the politics of the current government. It is not acceptable to blame the political opposition for this. If there was no political opposition, we would not be a Democracy. Therefore, to blame the opposition for losing our position on the security council is equivalent to blaming democracy for that loss.

For our current government to be allied with the political agendas of the United States and the United Kingdom is to ally us with aggression.

The reason we have Remembrance Day in this country is to remember how terrible the war in Europe was, and to make it our personal and our public policy to act in such a way that is will not happen again. `Lest We Forget`is to be accompanied with `Never Again`. That is the point of our observation of November 11.

When I find images in my email that attempts to suggest that all soldiers have fallen for a good cause, that is offensive.

The war in Iraq is an illegal war. Always was, always will be. It was started by the Bush family to gain control in that region of the world for their friends in Saudi Arabia. It was not a result of 9/11. England is playing along for the same reasons.

Canadians choose wisely not to play along. We have more oil than we need.

And to quote your buddy Jesus,

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Psalm 37:11

When Jesus said love thine enemy as you love thine self, I am certain he did not mean bomb their countries."

That's what I sent to my mom, and I mean it. As Canadians, we can be proud that we do not start wars, and we can be proud that we are willing to help end them.

LEST WE FORGET