I was listening to a popular morning radio show this morning and the discussion focused on several themes. One was how to support Canada's military in the wake of the terrorist attacks this week. This is a particularly important topic given that Canada's soldiers were instructed not to wear their uniforms in public.
This of course, is the absolutely wrong way of dealing with terrorism. The terrorists targeted our soldiers and killed our soldiers.
Traditionally, in human history, when hostile forces plot and murder your soldiers-that is called war.
The answer to a declaration of war is not taking off your uniform.
It's wearing it prouder. It's more uniforms, more soldiers, more direct engagement, and being more resolute and more public about your national pride and security.
Clearly, there are many Canadians troubled by the idea of soldiers being asked, essentially, to hide themselves in public "for security" reasons. It is unacceptable that hiding your warrior identity is the new "security" in Canada, or anywhere else in the civilized world for that matter.
So the callers to the radio show and the host talked about having camouflage style armbands, or caps-proceeds of which could go to the family of the murdered solider (another bad idea in my view, what could possibly go wrong with money being raised for a good cause...). Perhaps pins? Perhaps an early distribution of Remembrance Day poppy pins?
The problem is that these are all big picture, band-aid and feel good solutions for individuals who have good intentions about showing strength, solidarity or resolution. These are fleeting and momentary, narcotic-like fixes, and little self-contained "battles" when we are already losing the war.
Losing the war? How so?
In allegedly free societies, we have already surrendered so much of our personal liberty that we have essentially lost a big part of the war against the evil barbarians.
We live in a society now where our hard-won fight to speak freely, and think freely have all but disintegrated in front of our passive eyes. When you live in an allegedly "free" society that polices jokes, regulates speech and criminalizes speech or thoughts, you have already lost.
When people are too afraid to discuss their legitimate concerns about immigration, about integration and about the religious nature of terrorist attacks, you have already lost. And make no mistake about it, these loses of personal freedom are big victories for the terrorists.
While they Tweet freely, mock our losses of life, make Facebook pages and death cult snuff videos, behead people in free countries on public roads in broad daylight, kill babies in carriages and lure teenage girls to serve as sex slaves in Syria, the same people who might somberly wear a poppy, lay a wreath and even donate money to good causes, are afraid to freely speak their mind in public about contentious issues.
The general result of having a 'controversial' opinion about the various "science-is-settled" topics of our day ensures a kind of supine and craven, punitive professional, political and social suicide for those who dare question contemporary narratives i.e have a different opinion-their own opinion about any number of subjects.
Is this what our forefathers fought for?
If you wear a poppy, but can't tell a joke, how free are you?
If you donate to the child of the murdered soldier, but are afraid to talk about religion, or politics in public, how free are you?
If your soldiers are murdered, in cold blood while in uniform, and you tell them to take off their uniform, how safe are you personally or nationally? The instruction-the capitulation- to take off the uniform is, in many ways just as damning to a society in the long run than the "lone wolf" or even the "non-lone wolf" attacking our civilians and soldiers.
If everyone would start taking the war on freedom and our way of life seriously, and make no mistake about it-it is a real war, there would not only be fewer attacks, but there would also be fewer Pyrrhic victories in small battles.
The forces of evil are emboldened not just by their own sense of invincibility, but by our pathetic acquiescence to codes of silence and behaviour and accommodation that we have imposed upon ourselves.
Culturcide is not just a terribly painful thing to watch. It is actually a profoundly evil thing for free people to participate in.