I can almost hear the calls for me to not forget those who fought for our freedoms, and I am halfway around the world and days way from Remembrance Day.  My grandfathers both took a stand during WWII.  They refused to fight.  They believed that all people had inherent value and that to kill another person is to steal that value.

For every life a person takes, they are making a claim not over land, ideas, resources or power.  They are making the claim that some lives are more valuable than others.  They are making the claim that their own personal value is greater than those who will die for it.My grandfathers believed that every person should be guaranteed their own freedom and, with that freedom comes the guarantee of life.  They would rather be enslaved or killed than to oppress and kill.  Their value cannot and would not ever exceed that of another person.

Anyone remembering the heroics of WWII and honouring those who killed and destroyed in order to protect our freedom and the freedom of others forget half of the story.  The second half is that everyone has value.

Many of those fighting for the Nazis were not believers in the ideology.  Many were following orders out of fear.  Many were following the orders of the Catholic Church.  Many felt they had no choice.  All of them felt that their lives were more valuable than those they killed.

Of those fighting for the Allies, 100% believed that their lives were more important than that of anyone else.

It may be true that many people who fought did so with the thought of protecting their family, friends, and country, as well as their way of life.  But this still places a higher value on those they knew rather than giving everyone equal footage.

To engage the Nazis in battle because of the Nazi prejudice and racism, was to engage in prejudice as well.

War always is a zero sum game.

My grandfathers understood the value of others.  My grandfathers understood that there are people they have not, nor ever would meet, who would willingly kill them and my grandfathers would not have fought back because of this belief.

My family history is fraught with the threat and reality of death and murder.  My ancestors were tortured, killed, massacred and chased from country to country.  They did not retaliate, resist or seek revenge.  They retreated.  Eventually they arrived in Canada, around 100 years ago.

What brought to my family to this country was the love of peace and a desire for personal freedom.  To celebrate those who fought in a war is to make a mockery of what brought my family to Canada.

Nobody has more value than anybody else.

Nobody has the right to devalue anybody else.

Everybody who kills another does so as a prejudiced bigot.