Memorial Day

Memorial Day came and went and with it the common refrain, “we need to remember the men who died so that we can live in freedom.” It’s a line I often hear from students and over time it has come to bother me. I don’t mean any disrespect to people who served, but I don’t believe any soldier died so that I can live in what people describe as freedom.

I’m guessing most of the people who repeat the line, at least in this country, would say they agree with the Declaration of Independence (even if most U.S. citizens haven’t read it). “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The way I read this, if you agree with the line, people are free regardless of what a government may say, or how many soldiers may have died.

More troubling is when I hear self-described Christians repeat the line. I’m no theologian, or philosopher for that matter, but from my limited understanding, if anyone died for my freedom, it was Jesus. I know there are discussions about a nonviolent atonement which I should probably read more about. I know there are all kinds of discussions about what it means to be free, but frankly, right now I feel free to not read them. I would say that most of us either consciously or unconsciously accept too many restrictions on our freedom whether its in the form of our government, our church, our advertisers and media who let us know what the current trends are.

I tell my students I think my grandpa’s brother who refused to put on a uniform during World War I and spent most of that war in Fort Leavenworth, that my grandpa who went to Poland after the war to do relief work, my uncles who served in PAX or Civilian Public Service rather than put on a uniform, or my dad who worked in a hospital in Evanston during the Korean war did more to keep people free in this country. I like to throw the civil rights workers in the mix as well because they put their bodies and beliefs on the line and called this country to try to live up to its stated ideals.

If people aren’t willing to take unpopular positions, does our so called freedom of speech mean anything? Do we really have a right to free expression if we muzzle ourselves so we fit in?

soccer season

The soccer season came to an end with our first district game against Cedar Rapids Xavier. The boys played well- I couldn't have asked for much more effort- but the game ended with a 3-0 score. The game was closer than the score indicates as two of their goals were the result of penalty kicks, including one in the first five minutes. Both penalties in my humble opinion were horrible calls. Xavier had one player whose main task seemed to be to fall over when ever he got near the ball inside the eighteen. Xavier played their second round on our field Saturday, and I saw him in action again. The kid should have got an "Oscar" on his one dive which resulted in another pk. The official in the second game seemed to catch on to his acting ability as he would holler "play on" followed by lots of whining.

So the season came to an end with a 13-2 record and one of the highest scoring offenses in IMS soccer history. With the exception of two games, we played our season in a three week time period. Because of all the rain early in the season we had numerous postponements. When the weather finally cooperated we were playing 4-6 games a week.

The seniors graduated this weekend and the rest of the students are done Thursday. Then perhaps there will be more time for this.