In this country of ours, we have a story and a history that is very sad. It is very traumatic for many people. I think today of those who have lost family, friends or comrades to the violent times here. In doing so, I am not judging one death or suffering family as any less or more deserving than another. To remember something, it must, by definition, be in the past. If it is not in the past, we need …
The issue of remembering those who died as a result of war or conflict is a very complex one. John Hewitt, one of our local poets even cautions using the word “remember.” “For the people of my province and the rest of Ireland Bear in mind these dead: I can find no plainer words. I dare not risk using that loaded word, Remember, for your memory is a cruel web threaded from thorn to thorn across a hedge of dead …
Sometimes it’s easy to think that Northern Ireland is the only place trying to deal with a painful past. But Japan also wrestles with similar issues. If any of you have been to Japan or studied the history, it is a very proud and strong-willed nation. In 2015, the country’s politicians still wrestle with how to deal with Japan’s role in the Second World War, but today the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe reflected on the anniversary the country’s surrender …
