Good news. At last there is to be a Remembrance event for the non religious: God dismissed as atheists honour fallen | The Sunday Times Now it become possible to honour the war dead and remember those who gave their lives for our freedom, without being dragged into all the religious mumbo-jumbo.
Whilst not a religious man, there is something very special about attending the remembrance service at the Cathedral. It seems a fitting place for quiet reflection.
i think a beautiful building or setting is befitting for the solemnity of a remembrance service. We dont need pointless religious connotations and identikit services to show respect for our fallen countrymen, but it IS important for us to mark their deaths. i think services for important events like these mark a very human need.
btw..my opinion of Dan Snow escalated when i read that he was a 'passionate atheist'...could for you Dan.
What do you make of this University of London Union 'Bans' Student Officials From Attending Poppy Remembrance Day Service I think they need a slap and should show some respect for those who gave there lives for the freedom they now have.
I think one of the freedoms we enjoy thanks in great part to those who gave their lives is the freedom to be a dickhead and to hold unpopular views. Do I agree with the student Union? No. Do I support their right to express their somewhat juvenile attitudes and opinions? Yes absolutely.
Totally agree with you. Those who gave their lives defended our freedom of speech, thought, movement. Although I don't think the attitude of the student union is a fitting tribute, the fact that they are free to hold their views most certainly is.
"they shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old... at the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them"
I was standing at the 1982 war memorial in Prt Stanley this afternoon, looking at the names of those who gave their lives in the name of freedom. Especially one person who had a very positive impact on my early naval career : LPTI Gary "Ginge" Nelson, HMS ARDENT, died 1982 - RIP mate...
Come on, we're talking about 18-19-20 year olds here. They are learning stuff, trying out ideas and attitudes, finding out how the world works, and trying to make their mark. So sometimes they do extravagant, ill-advised, intemperate things, which they will learn from. Hands up anybody who didn't do anything half-baked when you were that age.
The service at the Cenotaph in Whitehall is a unique expression of remembrance. Long may it continue and those of us who get great comfort from this annual event will try to ignore the haters and those who scoff at us. We do no harm to anyone.
lets not forget that many of those who gave their lives were believers in some form or God or entity and that in itself needs respect. If by having a belief that fallen love ones, whether 100 years ago or 100 days, are residing in some afterlife where they will once again be reunited, who are we or anyone else to try and take that from them?! one of the best traditions which shows how to move with the times, inclusive of all in their paying respect to the dead regardless of colour, creed, religious allegiances or other
"Come on, we're talking about 18-19-20 year olds here..." - So, actually, about the average age of the combat soldier in 1982. The same age as the average fighter pilot in the Battle of Britain. Or, for that matter, about the same age as a lot of the guys on the ground in Afghan right now. In other words, old enough to have learnt some respect...
remember these are students, intellectual wannabees who think that knowing when to use who or whom in a sentence is an essential skill which, without one could not survive...
years ago I sat out side church in the fire engine on radio watch while the crews took part in the remembrance service,the day before there had been a gruesome terrorist atrocity where several security force members and one civilian ( I knew most of them ) were brutally murdered.as I sat a police officer spoke to me and when I said how terrible yesterday had been he said the worst thing was that they were going to hell, when I asked who he said the victims because they wernt born again Christians???????I told him to go feck himself and wound the window up.this is why I wont have anything to do with these narrow minded people..
