I’m guessing that the uber amount of military worship this ANZAC Day has actually surprised NZers.
We don’t glorify war here, the military are a function of the State that mostly focuses on humanitarian issues after natural disasters rather than actual war, so we aren’t used to seeing everyone fawning over them when they are killing in unpopular wars.
It’s not to say I don’t bow my head for those we have lost and the terrible pain of that loss, but I am highly sceptical and cynical of the reasons why we went to many wars and believe that in the commemoration of those dead we promise the next generation that we will never waste their lives so easily.
This military worship concerns me. I would hate for us to start following Australia in their feverish gun saluting on ANZAC Day, it should always be a solemn occasion, never a celebration of violence.
But I think that if we are going to remember the fighting spirit of our past, we need to remember a unique moment in NZ history where peace was the win and where nonviolence respected.
The peaceful resistance Parihaka represents in our own history is something we should embrace and celebrate. on November 5th 1881, the colonial forces arrested and abused 2000 peaceful Moari protestors because they refused to continue selling their land. That stain on our history should be a uniting event that we learn from. NZ has led on progressive issues in the past. Our desire for peace and egalitarianism is a cultural history we deserve to recognise and making 5th November a public holiday as Parihaka Peace Day would generate discussion for peacefully living together and sharing the fruits of our society.
If we want to grow as a culture, we need to officially recognise the values we want to promote. Nonviolence, peaceful resolution while living in harmony with our land are values we should want to celebrate for the future just as much as our remembering of the dead from the past.
In my experience this ANZAC there wasn’t a whole lot of this military worship to be seen. The whole event was about being reminded of the human cost of war, and remembering the sacrifices of the ANZAC soldiers and all since.
Yes you are right. The fact that there are those on the left of left who use those showing their respect on ANZAC day for attempted political point scoring makes me sick. (I am not talking about the author of the above article)
Dan,
Let’s assume that the current rhetoric about ANZACs “dying for our freedom” is true…
Doesn’t that freedom mean the right to dissent?
yes it probably does, but it doesnt feel right, to me anyway
Fair enough. Can’t argue with that.
Great idea, hopefully we can get it put to a referendum.
Actually Martyn I think that over the years Anzac day has developed so that there is nowadays a lot of pacificism expressed by the many who honour the dead and revile the big business that orchestrated the slaughter. When I was a kid the RSA was the National Party wearing medals it hadnt always earned at the front. The old diggers I knew largely avoided it. But I took part in an observance for the first time in my life on Saturday, and I’m 67, and I didnt hear ay glorification of militarism. Mind you it was at the Grey Lynn RSC, and RSCs were not RSA’s, they arose from the fact that RSAs would not have merchant seamen, the civilians with the highest attrition in WWI, apparently – unlimited submarine warfare. I had a great uncle who got torpedoed three times in six months. Killed him alright. Incidentally that notoriously staunch pacificist, Charles Prince of Wales, made a pretty good speech that day. But keep up the good work Martyn you are doing a good thing.
That may have been true a few years ago, but it seems to me that “Never again!” has drained out of our commemorations over recent years, in time with our gummint dragging us into more and more futile Middle Eastern conflicts.
kia ora Martyn, ka pai, Parihaka day, now there is a good idea. I have posted my support for it elsewhere but you get more noticed !!! The benefits of such a day about pacific non-violent resistance would demonstrate that there is another way and it would also give us timely reminders that many Maori were dispossessed of their lands by fair ?? (laws enabling Maori land to be sold), and foul, (brutal imprisonment and armed aggressive killing ). We could make Waitangi day a similar day of commemoration, but I guess it is inviolate to touch it.
What a relief it would be to have a Parihaka Day instead of Guy Fawkes Day!
Anyone living in Auckland should make a beeline for Te Uru Gallery in Titirangi and have a look at Barry Brickell’s “kuuaha” tribute to the non-violent resistance of the people of Parihaka and to their two rangatira: a kauri door surrounded by “two and a half” dimension ceramic panels with the words of the two leaders and images of the people, the plough, a ruru, and the mountain.
Rick is right: at Anzac commemorations there is talk of the folly and the waste of war, but I fear the central role played by the top brass of the current armed forces reinforces the idea of war as a necessary evil and, like the constant ads on Maori TV, will ultimately encourage young people to become yet another generation to be sent off to kill and die by their elders.
Parihaka Peace Day, yes, but not November 5. That’s the day they were invaded and sacked and it is NOT commemorated at Parihaka. Ask the tāngata whenua. Or how about Nagasaki Day, August 9?
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