Remember the 5th of November

Although I am familiar with Guy Fawkes Day celebrations in England, I didn't really know the story behind the holiday. Scott Horton provides historical background and a comparison to the environment existing in this country today at Harpers in Happy Counterterrorism Day:

On November 5, Britain remembers Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot. Fawkes, an ensign, had taken the lead in a 1605 plot to blow up the houses of Parliament at Westminster as part of a Catholic effort to bring down the Protestant monarchy in England. He was apprehended—allegedly in the act itself—taken to the Tower, and subjected to torture. For centuries, Guy Fawkes Day marked the event. Englishmen were taught of the need to be vigilant in the defense of the realm, and particularly to remember the threat from within, from the disloyal Catholics. But mostly they enjoyed the privilege of lighting bonfires and engaging in pranks on a chilly autumn evening.

But today Britons have a take on Guy Fawkes that is much at odds with the historical one. Once Fawkes was a symbol of the traitor within. The people were called to be on guard against his like. No longer. Today Guy Fawkes is increasingly viewed as the heroic figure prepared to stand against an unjust and oppressive state, as a martyr and a victim of torture.

We would do well to follow their lead. Continuing my rant against our slide into a torture state, see We've Come Undone, Horton notes the lessons of that incident, including the fact that torture never works and is always wrong. Despite being tortured in the Tower of London, no information was obtained from Fawkes as a result. Drawing further parallels to today, he also adds that we should be wary of the government that rules by fear and finally, that a government that rules by stereotypes is unjust. After the Guy Fawkes fallout, Britain retaliated and did to Catholics what is being done to Muslims today. Read the piece -- it's worth it.

And for Keith Olbermann's Special Comment on Torture, see George Bush’s Criminal Conspiracy of Torture at Crooks & Liars.

Tags: Civil Liberties, Commentary, Law, Torture, Guy Fawkes Day