tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5244275961793143825.post6413489353091202697..comments2023-11-25T18:02:19.234+00:00Comments on Seeker: Lights Out and Post-Christian RitualsNancy Wallacehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08414597433860002332noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5244275961793143825.post-2735920604901510902014-08-05T15:23:39.344+01:002014-08-05T15:23:39.344+01:00I agree that those who suffered and died in WWI sh...I agree that those who suffered and died in WWI shouldn't be forgotten. I have a problem with the word 'sacrifice' in this context. Many who went to war did not 'give' their lives but had them taken away. Those who were conscripted. had no choice. Even some of the ''volunteers' were more or less forced into signing up e.g. examples of employers putting men on short hours so they could not earn a living wage. And then there was the emotional pressure (even bullying) of being taunted as a coward if not following the herd. They should not be forgotten - but - 'sacrifice'? Having said that I don't want to denigrate the contribution of many who gave sacrificial service in wartime.Nancy Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08414597433860002332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5244275961793143825.post-63649035342060084082014-08-05T11:21:09.972+01:002014-08-05T11:21:09.972+01:00A thought-provoking reflection, Nancy. For me the ...A thought-provoking reflection, Nancy. For me the conflicting thought and emotions were summed, as so often, by the incomparable Archdruid Eileen: http://cyber-coenobites.blogspot.com/2014/08/andrew-brown-writes-of-first-world-war.html?showComment=1407174614416#c115252793424166965<br /><br />So here in France I extinguished all but one light and thought of the young great-uncle I never knew, who was killed while tending a wounded comrade. If nothing else, their sacrifice deserves not to be forgotten.Perpetuahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01214396019726161983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5244275961793143825.post-22517865472753134702014-08-05T10:21:38.067+01:002014-08-05T10:21:38.067+01:00Ray, I wander what helps us learn from experiences...Ray, I wander what helps us learn from experiences?Nancy Wallacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08414597433860002332noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5244275961793143825.post-5802426104322241482014-08-04T22:51:33.515+01:002014-08-04T22:51:33.515+01:00I too have some difficulty commemorating something...I too have some difficulty commemorating something as dreadful as the carnage of 1914-18 war, not least because it was supposed to make a better world for us all and as Simon Weston so poignantly said this evening, "They enlisted because they thought they would change the world, and they didn't"<br />The second world war was "the war to end all wars", but it didn't.<br />Rather than the gratitude we are supposed to feel for the 'peaceful' world we were all to inherit, and the dreadful loss of life world-wide which was to achieve that, I can only feel sadness, and pity for the terrible waste of so many lives.<br />Certainly we will never forget, but equally certainly we will not learn from our experiences.<br />I am glad so many people are able to pray but like you, can;t help wondering what we should be praying for.Ray Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09209429097744326143noreply@blogger.com