There is a video commemorating the Canadian liberation of Holland in 1945 that can be viewed on Facebook. In it, a girl reflects upon the freedom that Canadians brought to the Dutch held captive in their own country by the Nazis:
A Canadian soldier's voice rejoins:
"Before Amsterdam, I could not have explained why we were there, all those years away from home. But the Dutch showed us why it mattered."
This year(2020), I believe we finally forgot the reason why that freedom, which cost so dear, matters. In a little book titled, 'The Soldiers Handbook', which was my grandfather's, there is this little section on why the War - why freedom - mattered:
"You joined up not because you wanted a fight, but because you reasoned the war out this way: 'Germany, Italy, and Japan have sent their troops across the borders of other countries in order to make the people of those countries serve them in a world [built] on National Socialistic lines. In the world that they propose, there would be no freedom as I know it: freedom to go to church where I liked and when I liked; freedom to vote; freedom to marry and raise children in a house of my own; freedom to read any papers and books; freedom to have my own say in my country's affairs; freedom to speak my own language and thoughts; freedom to criticize a government if I didn't agree with its policy; freedom to join a society or union; freedom to earn my own living and to save some money for my old age. If I, and thousands of other Canadian young men, and young men in Britain, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and other Allied countries, who believe as we do, had not offered our services to fight these Germans, Italians, and Japs*, then all of these freedoms that we enjoy would disappear. These Axis countries would have sent their armies across our borders and made us serve them. Our lives would not be worth much. We could not vote, could not go to church, could not voice our opinions. We would have instead, secret police spying on us, imposing fines, and leading us off to camps. Our children would be taken away and taught that they are the property of the State, that they should grow up to obey a Dictator's will, that family and community life are signs of weakness.'
"That is how you reasoned out this war, and you felt very strongly about it. Of course you liked a little adventure, travelling to other countries, and seeing how other people live. But you knew that there would be hardships, there would be discipline, and there would possibly be death. You were willing to accept all of these because you felt that Canada's way of life - our way of life - in spite of some unemployment and some poor living conditions was basically better and happier than the way of life the Nazis and Italians and Japs would impose upon you.
"You were willing to leave your home and loved ones, march with other Canadians, British, and Americans to fight for the freedom of the common man."
75 years ago last week, Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 2020, World War II came to a close in the West. There was still the war in the East to deal with, but there was an end in sight. Freedom to live as one liked, within the bounds of moral law, was won. Or so it seemed. Gradually, and with such a slow advance as to be barely noticeable if not ignored, those freedoms paid for in blood, have been relinquished by some and stolen from others. It may not seem like much has been taken away, but it has. Let me briefly outline the facts below.
Today, if you question an opinion made by a person with letters after their name, you are told you must be uneducated.
Today, if you suggest another explanation for an social issue, you are branded insensitive.
Today, if you give an opposing view to a topic, you are labelled "far this" or "far that" quite uncharitably.
Today, if you insist that men ought to be men - woe betide your toxic masculinity, you bigot.
Today, if you state that women are women, what a sexist, patriarchal fool you must be.
Today, if you argue that all people are equal in value, you are decried as a racist.
Today you must be tolerant of everyone - and tolerant means complete agreement.
Today, if you make your own choice to not immunize, you obviously don't care about anybody.
Today, if you step out in the direction of what you believe is right, against the masses, you're wrong.
"You were willing to leave your home and loved ones, march with other Canadians, British, and Americans to fight for the freedom of the common man."
75 years ago last week, Victory in Europe Day, May 8, 2020, World War II came to a close in the West. There was still the war in the East to deal with, but there was an end in sight. Freedom to live as one liked, within the bounds of moral law, was won. Or so it seemed. Gradually, and with such a slow advance as to be barely noticeable if not ignored, those freedoms paid for in blood, have been relinquished by some and stolen from others. It may not seem like much has been taken away, but it has. Let me briefly outline the facts below.
Today, if you question an opinion made by a person with letters after their name, you are told you must be uneducated.
Today, if you suggest another explanation for an social issue, you are branded insensitive.
Today, if you give an opposing view to a topic, you are labelled "far this" or "far that" quite uncharitably.
Today, if you insist that men ought to be men - woe betide your toxic masculinity, you bigot.
Today, if you state that women are women, what a sexist, patriarchal fool you must be.
Today, if you argue that all people are equal in value, you are decried as a racist.
Today you must be tolerant of everyone - and tolerant means complete agreement.
Today, if you make your own choice to not immunize, you obviously don't care about anybody.
Today, if you step out in the direction of what you believe is right, against the masses, you're wrong.
(Except there's no right and wrong anymore, unless you're wrong, or you agree with the majority, because that's right.)
The list could go on and on and on and on and on . . . . . . . . . and on. And hardly surprising, it seems. Across the internet, through the halls of post modern education and politics, in the news articles and on social media, in everyday life, in ones wishes to go out and do this or that, and in the choices that each family makes - the freedoms that were fought for 75 years ago have vanished. Our children are taken away and indoctrinated for multiple hours everyday by the state and consumer media. The internet and mainstream media corporations censor and dispose of anything that is contrary to the popular agenda, and people are beaten and hurt for speaking their thoughts in the public square. We cannot logically criticize anyone or say what we think either online or in public. Our handheld devices drag us into the access of every form of nastiness, obscenity, and filth. And they also listen to us, know where we go, who we visit, what we do, and how we think.
The list could go on and on and on and on and on . . . . . . . . . and on. And hardly surprising, it seems. Across the internet, through the halls of post modern education and politics, in the news articles and on social media, in everyday life, in ones wishes to go out and do this or that, and in the choices that each family makes - the freedoms that were fought for 75 years ago have vanished. Our children are taken away and indoctrinated for multiple hours everyday by the state and consumer media. The internet and mainstream media corporations censor and dispose of anything that is contrary to the popular agenda, and people are beaten and hurt for speaking their thoughts in the public square. We cannot logically criticize anyone or say what we think either online or in public. Our handheld devices drag us into the access of every form of nastiness, obscenity, and filth. And they also listen to us, know where we go, who we visit, what we do, and how we think.
Quite recently, we could not - and in many places still cannot - go to church where we like and when we like: that may be only temporary, but how easily it happened! Now we have also stood in eerie lines for bread at stores - which thankfully are still reasonably stocked. People cannot travel when and where they wish within their own country, let alone the world. Laws and orders have been made without the opportunity for votes or debate. Laws that make some people more equal than others. Laws that make some people less equal than others. Some people in the West - not to mention the East - have even been threatened to hand over lists and names and addresses: everyone seems to forget that totalitarian regimes make a habit of doing that. Right now it seems that everything mentioned in the little book above - mentioned as a bad thing - has come or is coming to pass.
"And then the Canadians came!" Now, it's like they never came. Now we sit back, entertained to boredom, working non-stop to pay off infinite debt. We kill our children before they are born. We kill our parents before they are dead. We kill our marriages before they happen. We kill our economy for - what? To live a few more years on this broken world? To save people's lives today when we stabbed them in the womb four months ago and patted ourselves on the back for so doing? We are a comfortable bunch of hypocrites, acting as if everything is fine. The world is broken and is falling apart before our faces, and all we do is close our eyes. We hate even thinking about hardships, discipline, and death. We live for the latest fad, for the release from having to choose between right and wrong, for the here and now, not caring about anyone except ourselves. No armies had to march across borders to bring this devolution of society and culture. They didn't have to, for hardly anyone put up a fight. As Tolkien wrote, considering the power meant for good, but turned to evil, entrusted to men in Lord of the Rings: "They were all of them deceived."
So, 75 years on, after the freedom for which your fathers and mine fought has been practically lost, what are we going to do about it? Can the world be fixed? How do we repent? The freedom of the common man has become slavery. Perhaps we actually missed the right sort of freedom altogether. Hopefully, we still can fight for what is right. For, God being our guide, we must.
"And then the Canadians came!" Now, it's like they never came. Now we sit back, entertained to boredom, working non-stop to pay off infinite debt. We kill our children before they are born. We kill our parents before they are dead. We kill our marriages before they happen. We kill our economy for - what? To live a few more years on this broken world? To save people's lives today when we stabbed them in the womb four months ago and patted ourselves on the back for so doing? We are a comfortable bunch of hypocrites, acting as if everything is fine. The world is broken and is falling apart before our faces, and all we do is close our eyes. We hate even thinking about hardships, discipline, and death. We live for the latest fad, for the release from having to choose between right and wrong, for the here and now, not caring about anyone except ourselves. No armies had to march across borders to bring this devolution of society and culture. They didn't have to, for hardly anyone put up a fight. As Tolkien wrote, considering the power meant for good, but turned to evil, entrusted to men in Lord of the Rings: "They were all of them deceived."
So, 75 years on, after the freedom for which your fathers and mine fought has been practically lost, what are we going to do about it? Can the world be fixed? How do we repent? The freedom of the common man has become slavery. Perhaps we actually missed the right sort of freedom altogether. Hopefully, we still can fight for what is right. For, God being our guide, we must.
_______________________________
* 'Japs' was slang 75 years ago, just as 'Frogs' was likewise for the French. It is now not a culturally acceptable term for the modern nation and people of Japan.