Friday, November 5, 2010

Remember Remember the Fifth of November


Burning Matter: Things Remaining the Same
The Question: Where is our Guy Fawkes?

Happy Guy Fawkes Day! He's the 17th century terrorist who with a group of like-minded conspirators tried to blow up Parliament in London. The reason why: Religion. At the time, 1605, King James I was heading up a Protestant monarchy and the plot was to restore a Catholic one. And while the gunpowder conspiracy was discovered on the fourth, November 5 was the day to celebrate the failure of the King's assassination attempt. Hence the traditional building of bonfires. And while it wasn't until January 1606 that Guy Fawkes was hung, drawn and quartered for treason--remembering the fifth of November is, in fact, a warning to future terrorists.

By the way, this event was merely precursor to the Thirty Year's War (1618-1648) in Europe which started as a conflict between Catholics and Protestants. However, I found a description of the Thirty Year's War as a conflict by Barons wanting a better view of the Rhine.

As I think of Barons wanting a better view and using religion to go to war in order to obtain it, I am reminded of America's war on Iraq which could be thought of as Barons wanting better access to oil and using terror to go to war in order to obtain it.

The more things change, the more they remain the same. So can we all find a route out of these damaging old political patterns that are still the same centuries later? And where is our Guy Fawkes? I would love an explosive new idea that blows up old damaging patterns.

For a change, let's look over the pond and ponder another western country's governmental issues for today. Jo Johnson in today's Financial Times blog space shares grips on the situation in UK as Guy Fawkes Day is remembered: http://bit.ly/9j5gWZ

Notes: Illustration by Crispijn van de Passe, a 17th century Dutch engraver

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