Memorial Day – seems we’ve not learned, this holiday would better serve us as a distant memory instead of a memorial.
Memorial day; “Formerly known as Decoration Day, it commemorates U.S. soldiers who died while in the military service. First enacted to honor Union soldiers of the American Civil War. It was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars.”[1] Emphasis added.
“Begun as a ritual of remembrance and reconciliation after the Civil War, by the early 20th century, Memorial Day was an occasion for more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not. It also became a long weekend increasingly devoted to shopping, family get-togethers, fireworks, trips to the beach, and national media events such as the Indianapolis 500 auto race, held since 1911 on Memorial Day.”[1]
So, it was first enacted to honor(?) War veterans and now “more general expressions of memory, as ordinary people visited the graves of their deceased relatives, whether they had served in the military or not.” Yet has now turned into a play day – forgetting the main purpose of it’s intent- to ponder what has happened to those who have died fighting their fellow man. To “Honor” these veterans, wouldn’t it be wonderful to look back and say they were the last to have to die from War?
As US Flags will proudly be displayed all across this country, they will be a stark reminder that the blood spilt by this country never stops running- WAR… WAR has caused this Holiday(?) to be created – WHY??? To Remember our Dead? Do We??? Do we do anything to stop this from happening again in the present & future?
Do we take the time to remember those who lost their lives on the other side of our war hero’s weapons? Do we do anything we can to stop the bloodshed from continuing? By not doing so, we’ll continue to perpetuate WAR causing this holiday to never find rest.
WAR could be put to an end if we just gave true peace a chance- why not try the words of the peacemakers? Why not turn the other cheek and see that we would rather be in pain than to cause our brother, our neighbor the pain? Maybe you don’t feel that way – that’s ok too. If we could just give peace a chance, and this does not mean give capitalism a chance, it means give peace, in all it’s verbs, a chance, then the pains of War could be a memory and not a memorial.
Memorial Day could be the day we finally look back upon our history when we put an end to killing, to terrorism, an end to starvation, to ignorance through lack of basic education, an end to homelessness, sickness, and those without means to support even their most basic needs.
It’s one thing to sit in a daze and think of problems like these never going away, and you’re right! If we never wake up from this daze we’re living, we’ll not take the action to put an end to this kind of suffering. You want mean people to all be put away in Prisons? Wouldn’t it be better not to create mean people in the first place? You don’t want people to steal? Then give them no reason to steal. You don’t like seeing the starving children on television or advertising media? Then feed them- Feed them all and stop making excuses because we no longer have an excuse as to why we let this needless suffering continue!
How many people have suffered at the hands of WAR? Millions upon millions upon millions… Does it have to continue? If we didn’t actually have a Plan, an actual Battle Plan to end all types of wars; which could incorporate the many militaries of the world to abolish worldwide poverty and inequality in order to put an end to these things, we’d be stuck with our head in the dark daze and still have an excuse for our children as to why we let it continue; i.e. not being able to fix the problem- but the answer has been given- there is no more excuse; it’s the one thing we haven’t tried, give the WUF Plan a chance!
Militaries of all nations as a whole have a good heart, if they did not personally feel a bond they would stand opposed to it, they mean well, yet can cause such great harm- their common purpose is to protect those who would harm those who oppose them and those whom they believe they are standing up for. All we need to do is show them who the true enemy is- it is inequality – it is poverty in all its ugly forms.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this Memorial Day, May 30th, 2011 were the very last day any person anywhere on the planet were ever killed in a war- a day we could look back upon and finally celebrate was over!
