Anything can be used in the culture wars, can’t it? For example, this lovely effort to commemorate World War II, The Fallen, which remembers, in a brief sort of way, the 9000 people lost on Normandy’s beaches during D-Day.
Yes, those are representations of dead bodies.
Source: The FallenAndy Moss and myself from Sand In Your Eye developed the idea of the Fallen Project together to mark Peace Day. The objective was to make a visual representation of 9000 people drawn in the sand which equates the number of Civilians, Germans Forces and Allies that died during the D-day landings, 6th June during WWII as an example of what happens in the absence of peace.
The email mostly just uses the pictures on the website sans text and then adds its own subtly nasty comment:
What is surprising is that nothing about this
was seen here in the US.
Someone from overseas had a friend that sent it
with a note of gratitude for what the US started there.
Please share with others who understand
“freedom is not free–nor has it ever been”
Well, no. Both Fox News and the Huffington Post (both ends of the political spectrum) covered it. And the mail is introduced with this line, which clarifies the hidden agenda nicely:
A large percentage of our country doesn’t know of or care about Normandy.
This serves to define an appreciative audience which is better informed, even superior, to the general run of American citizenry. In combination with the end note, the group marks itself as a patriotic group, firmly rooted in history and all that’s good.
The problem? It’s divisive. It doesn’t appeal to our reason, but to our emotions, to the xenophobic emotions which drive our current cultural divides. And by creating a xenophobic group, those who choose to belong to it become vulnerable to the next emotional hook, that perhaps some political figure is also part of the group and should be voted for, without further consideration, at the next opportunity.
We saw an example of this during the recent American Presidential campaign when Mr. Trump was asked to name his favorite book from the Bible. His fumble was apparently not fatal.
But this is sadly un-American. We like to consider ourselves the best and brightest, but we’re not when we’re letting our emotions run our lives. Best comes from reason, not conspiracy theories and finger-pointing and all that rot.
