The time has come for the annual mediation on Remembrance Day and I must admit that as I write this year's edition, I find myself deeply conflicted. For while Nov. 11 is a day that ought to be honoured in its own right as the conclusion of the First World War, I have deep reservations about the motivation behind its continued observance. In short, I am not convinced that we have learned the proper lesson that ought to come from this day of mourning.
Like many, I was first inculturated towards Remembrance Day through public education. My family was not very invested in it due to our complicated relationship with the Second World War: on one side, my prairie Mennonite grandfather was forced to enlist when no one would back up his conscientious objection and on the German side, my great uncle was drafted, then captured at Stalingrad with the Sixth Army and finally imprisoned in a gulag for 10 long years.
Yet as an adult, I made a conscious decision to adopt this public solemnity as a personal sign of loyalty to my country and its traditions. I faithfully attended Nov. 11 ceremonies when I could and when I couldn't, I made the effort to acknowledge the day alone or with others, even going so far as to listen to the proper bugle calls and read poetry or scripture related to the day. This year, I will be attending a ceremony in the Last Lion's namesake, Churchill, Manitoba.
However, I predict that the emotional toll of the day will be even greater than normal, as I have developed a deep sense of despair over the issues facing us at home and abroad, as well as the unshakable feeling that this is the result of not learning the lessons of the armistice. I do not mean to castigate my elders or peers, especially those who have served, are serving, or will never come home, God rest them. But what is two minutes of reflection without hard questions?
A century after Vimy, are we the same country that acquitted itself with such valour on that ridge so long ago? Do we conduct ourselves in the light of that sacrifice? Could this country bear such a burden again as the price of freedom? Do we have that strength within us still?
A century and a half after the founding of our country, the same questions come to mind - are we worthy of our relative peace and liberty? Do we use our advantages for the good of neighbour and our world? Or have we allowed our isolation to create in us a sanctimonious attitude?
Since the opening of the Vimy Memorial 81 years ago, are we paying attention to the world around us? It opened in 1936, the same year Hitler hosted the Olympics and reoccupied the Rhineland. Are we countering evil before it's too late or appeasing tyrants, hoping for peace?
Three years after the memorial opened, the world erupted into an even more violent war than before - is there anybody left still defending bad treaties and ineffective leadership? Do we understand that the political deadlock of Weimar lead directly to the election of Hitler?
This year also marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, which would give the world Communist governments that collectively killed more people than two world wars. Why are people allowed to promote this ideology or its philosophical father, Karl Marx, without wearing this fact, especially when Canadians died in Korea fighting this totalitarian menace?
In the present day, are we taking care of the needs of our veterans, especially those warriors that have come home wounded in mind and body? Are we ensuring that the proper resources are available or are we creating new casualties through cutbacks and closures?
Finally, 99 years after the end of the Great War, do we take to heart the words "never again?" Do we understand that no one was prepared to pay the toll it took on us? That from the individual citizen to nation states, peace is best achieved with honesty and restraint, not threats?
