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serynI really dislike the Fourth of July as it's celebrated in current times.
I saw a post today, knitting blog I've almost stopped reading because it went from thrice weekly humor content to every 3 months one post with "all baby all the time" [you'd think watching a single gay man's blog would be proof against that, but apparently even gay men turn into fools over some random woman having a completely non-related baby.], where he recommended we all actually read the Declaration of Independence out loud.
I was skeeved because I grew up in a home with (out loud) Bible readings and honestly, that kind of thing feels like indoctrination into something any rational person wouldn't believe without repetition. But thinking about it, there's definitely a lot about the idea behind why the people back then wanted to be an independent country and what ideals they wanted to promote.
However, I certainly believe that if people want to make noise, something about how we know our country was founded on common ideals that were worth fighting for would be a LOT more acceptable than the rampant gunfire (fireworks are illegal... but shooting your guns off like Yosemite Sam before the cartoons were bowdlerized is not something the police will be able to enforce.) I guess I'm just tired of people commemorating the war without remembering why we fought it.
Fireworks are meant to resemble, without the danger, actual bombs that were flung over the military encampments. The reason they sound like explosives going off is that's what they are, that's what they're trying to remind us of. 230 some years ago, people were being shot at and had real bombs detonated over their heads and raining debris falling upon them. People who were there to fight for this to be a distinct country. Fake bombs that make war look pretty seem in poor taste while we have actual men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't know why we're fighting in those places, our rationale seems really counter to why we fought for our own independence, but certainly while we're at war we shouldn't inure ourselves to the sounds of gunfire and explosives at home.
I saw a post today, knitting blog I've almost stopped reading because it went from thrice weekly humor content to every 3 months one post with "all baby all the time" [you'd think watching a single gay man's blog would be proof against that, but apparently even gay men turn into fools over some random woman having a completely non-related baby.], where he recommended we all actually read the Declaration of Independence out loud.
I was skeeved because I grew up in a home with (out loud) Bible readings and honestly, that kind of thing feels like indoctrination into something any rational person wouldn't believe without repetition. But thinking about it, there's definitely a lot about the idea behind why the people back then wanted to be an independent country and what ideals they wanted to promote.
However, I certainly believe that if people want to make noise, something about how we know our country was founded on common ideals that were worth fighting for would be a LOT more acceptable than the rampant gunfire (fireworks are illegal... but shooting your guns off like Yosemite Sam before the cartoons were bowdlerized is not something the police will be able to enforce.) I guess I'm just tired of people commemorating the war without remembering why we fought it.
Fireworks are meant to resemble, without the danger, actual bombs that were flung over the military encampments. The reason they sound like explosives going off is that's what they are, that's what they're trying to remind us of. 230 some years ago, people were being shot at and had real bombs detonated over their heads and raining debris falling upon them. People who were there to fight for this to be a distinct country. Fake bombs that make war look pretty seem in poor taste while we have actual men and women fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. I don't know why we're fighting in those places, our rationale seems really counter to why we fought for our own independence, but certainly while we're at war we shouldn't inure ourselves to the sounds of gunfire and explosives at home.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-05 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-07-05 06:14 pm (UTC)But I could do with less shooting.
Maybe we could encourage people to teach their children, and thereby themselves, about why we are celebrating something? My being 39 when I discovered that Memorial Day isn't to honor generic dead people, but just dead veterans certainly makes the need personal.
no subject
Date: 2010-07-06 03:22 pm (UTC)Agreed re: utility of knowing why something is celebrated.