I do appreciate that your comment is constructive. The Facebook thread from this article is horrible, very similar to those comments under Killa's letter - mostly hostile, careless and destructive. It makes me think that folks would prefer to participate in a fight than to work at understanding each other. I like the idea that we are here, in the lower comment threads of the local media, to express opinions and share perspectives, rather than call each other names. I suppose you need both for a genuine freedom of speech, but it would be nice if more people, on both sides of a sensitive debate, put a bit more thought into their rebuttals.
The opinion letter above was originally 2500 words, whittled down to a fifth of that, but I don't suppose it would have made much difference had it been posted in its entirety. Some of what is missing has to do with perspectives from other countries. Doesn't matter what country you're from, there's a whole lot of bad out there. Everywhere, everyone, and all over history... and as you say, our government (and most others) will continue to do shitty things. Acknowledging past transgressions and being respectful of those who have survived tragic circumstances is important, but for us to move on I think we need to be happy for what we do have in the present, rather than what we feel we should have had. This debate is frustrating for many of us who are not indigenous because the last thing we would ever want to do is make things worse, or god forbid, hurt anybody.
I agree that blind patriotism is not good. That's why I am glad to be a Canadian, instead of say, a US citizen, where they have to be excruciatingly more and more careful with 'unpatriotic remarks'. Most of the time, in this country, we can say what we like (about that prick Harper!) and not worry about it.
Thanks for sharing the article. And I catch the common thread, how can we celebrate our patriotic holidays when the past (and present) is so filled with horror? I guess I like summer, fireworks, and I can't stand Christmas, so what's a body to do?
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The opinion letter above was originally 2500 words, whittled down to a fifth of that, but I don't suppose it would have made much difference had it been posted in its entirety. Some of what is missing has to do with perspectives from other countries. Doesn't matter what country you're from, there's a whole lot of bad out there. Everywhere, everyone, and all over history... and as you say, our government (and most others) will continue to do shitty things. Acknowledging past transgressions and being respectful of those who have survived tragic circumstances is important, but for us to move on I think we need to be happy for what we do have in the present, rather than what we feel we should have had. This debate is frustrating for many of us who are not indigenous because the last thing we would ever want to do is make things worse, or god forbid, hurt anybody.
I agree that blind patriotism is not good. That's why I am glad to be a Canadian, instead of say, a US citizen, where they have to be excruciatingly more and more careful with 'unpatriotic remarks'. Most of the time, in this country, we can say what we like (about that prick Harper!) and not worry about it.
Thanks for sharing the article. And I catch the common thread, how can we celebrate our patriotic holidays when the past (and present) is so filled with horror? I guess I like summer, fireworks, and I can't stand Christmas, so what's a body to do?