Originally Posted by
falcon900
I was drawn to read this thread by the title "desecration of the Cenotaph", and drawn in further when I read of wreaths being trampled over. My reactions were no different it seems to most others. It is interesting though that you have to read quite a bit further to realise that there was no damage to the Cenotaph, and no trampling of wreaths, and indeed that there seems to have been a degree of care taken to avoid any such damage.
Don't get me wrong, I still think the protest was wholly inappropriate, but the real issues seem to me to be a) How manipulatively the media reported the story , b) how we are supposed to accept this disrespect of a time and place of such national significance under the cloak of "freedom of expression" Would it have been the same if some similarly disrespectful actions had been aimed at a Mosque? or a Pride parade? or a BLM rally?
Exactly.
The protest isn't to my taste, but you could easily argue that ANY protest is done at a time that is inappropriate, because they usually are the result of something outrageous.
I fully understand why so many serving military personnel and veterans were triggered by this, at least initially, but I hope after the cool down and some critical thinking and analysis, they will come to the same conclusion. They're in the business to defend freedom, and sometimes freedom is outrageous.
As for your last question(s), that's a Whataboutism fallacy. The debate isn't about Mosques, Pride or BLM. It's about how a lack of intervention in a global climate crisis will make us less free, and how we can prevent conflict by tackling this challenge.