I've seen several things today around the web about how it seems odd and perhaps wrong that we celebrate the torture and execution of a seventeenth century terrorist. As someone who goes to the church where said terrorist was baptised, I can see their point. But perhaps there's more to the story than we remember.
To start with, the celebration was about how the plot to blow up the king in parliament had been stopped. Now, I can't say that celebrating that a great deal of death has been averted is a bad thing, can you? If the gunpowder plotters (remember, Guy Fawkes was in fact one of the lesser members of the gang) had succeeded, not only the king, queen and heir to the throne but also the whole of Parliament, Lords and Commons alike, would have been killed. The country, losing so many of its' leaders at a stroke, would have experienced civil unrest and probably rebellion, although whether it would have been in the plotters' favour is uncertain.
Longer term, it's interesting to speculate what the effects of a successful plot would have been. Even assuming a Stuart monarchy restored, would the events of the next century (Charles I's personal rule, the civil war with Parliament, the execution of the king and rule by parliament, army and Cromwell and eventual Stuart restoration, followed by more unrest and the Glorious Revolution of 1688) have been in any way the same? If not, it could well have made a vast difference to the way our country is governed today. Many things we take for granted today, our very parliamentary system, date back to the turbulent seventeenth century, if not further back.
Much as we currently despise and decry our politicians, we actually are very fortunate, as people from Zimbabwe or North Korea or Myanmar will tell you. My historical opinion may not be worth much, but I think it has a lot to do with the troubles we got through in the seventeenth century. Several of the members who faced up to Charles I in 1639 were already sitting in 1605. Would that have happened- would Parliament have had the strength to stand up to the monarch- if all the experienced members had been wiped out a few years before? Would there even have been a Parliament?
I don't know, of course, no one does. But perhaps in the light of that we could look a bit more closely at what we're celebrating. In this age of both terrorism and of MP's expenses scandals, it perhaps wouldn't be a bad thing to think about celebrating democracy and to remind those in power of just why it is important that they don't abuse their position.
So set off the fireworks and rejoice that we live in a country where there is free speech and we don't have to pay taxes at the whim of just one man, where we have a say, however small, in how we are governed. Be glad that so far, no terrorists fighting have managed to destroy that, and maybe, as you're standing round the bonfire, consider how we can work to stop that happening in the future. Preferable without explosions or executions.
I assume my status set this one off? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI don't actually have a problem with Guy Fawkes Day. What I do have a problem with is people who don't seem to realize what it stands for (so as usual, my problem with people is their ignorance.) Bluntly, it was the day that a plot to blow up Parliament was discovered and foiled, and of course we should celebrate that. But the reason Parliament was going to be blown up was because the Catholics felt so oppressed under the current system of government that they wanted to wipe all traces of it from the earth. And in consequence of it being foiled, a group of men were horribly put to death by being tortured, hanged, drawn and quartered. By all means we should celebrate the foiling of terrorist activity, but we also mustn't forget what led to it, or what the consequences of it were. That's more my point if anything.
I see the story of Guy Fawkes more as an oppressive government abusing its power, and being triumphant, which is honestly why it is celebrated. The government wanted people to remember what happened to terrorists and traitors. That's also why their amputated limbs were displayed on Tower Bridge. The whole holiday is actually horrible, when you think about it. But I don't think people do, which is more my point.
It's especially important to relate those events to today's climate of fear. And I suppose I can't understand why we traditionally venerate the destruction and foiling of this terrorist, but don't celebrate the day Saddam Hussein was hanged or anything. Tradition has more to do with that, obviously, but I don't think people should celebrate traditions without thinking why they do so. Basically I want people to celebrate, but also to think. But as usual, this is easier said than done. Or maybe I just think too much about everything. And to be honest, I don't need an excuse to burn an effigy ;-)