Lest We Forget

A year ago, I wrote a scathing letter to the editor at Imprint, titled “The Hypocrisy of Remembrance Day”. As a pacifist, my main beef with Remembrance Day is that it seems to glorify a violent, intolerant chapter of our history.

On Remembrance Day, we should reflect on the atrocity that is warfare, and the damage it causes, rather than putting our military forces on a pedestal. I am saddened that a complex socio-political and humanitarian crisis has been dumbed down to three ambiguous words: “Lest We Forget”.

I went on to explain that “Lest We Forget” originated in a poem by Rudyard Kipling, which was intended as a call to renounce pride and to acknowledge that military might alone does not make a nation great.

Today, Conrad Grebel’s Centre for the Study of Religion and Peace is holding an event that aims to do just this. The colloquium, held tonight at 7PM in the CIGI atrium, is billed as a “forum for respectful dialogue” about the complex linkages between religion, violent conflict, society, and politics. (Not to mention, E will be there, and if you haven’t heard him debate before, you’re missing out!)

This is the kind of Remembrance Day we should be having.