ALBERTON – How is Guy Fawkes still a thing? Guy Fawkes became famous for being a member of the failed gunpowder plot of 1605 in England, where he and his co-conspirators sought to assassinate King James the First. Why is this important to South Africa? Why do we still celebrate the capture and death of a terrorist?
Guy Fawkes is celebrated by the lighting of bonfires and the obligatory fireworks display. Haven’t we evolved to the point where we are more aware of the effect that fireworks have on our animals? The fear that it strikes into their hearts and the damage it causes when they try to escape the noise and end up hurting themselves in the process?
We have campaigns year on year, but yet every year there are those that simply let off fire works. It is if they are incapable of understanding that their “fun” is causing pain and suffering? But then again, what do they care, for surely humans are the masters of all animals and they should just do as we please and accept our behaviour.
It’s not just the animals that have an issue with Guy Fawkes, what about those who suffer from asthma? The sulphur from the fireworks puts countless asthma sufferers in hospital every year, but we still do it.
The obsession with multi-coloured bang-bangs is just too great. And it’s not just Guy Fawkes, but there is Diwali; the festival spiritually signifies the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, good over evil, and hope over despair and then uses fireworks to chase away evil spirits. But by definition it is a festival celebrating knowledge over ignorance; surely this would include not ignoring the effect the fireworks has. New Year’s is no better, when we bring in the new year with a bang and fear and trepidation.
Fireworks can be beautiful when contained and arranged in a safe environment, where all who choose to partake are aware of the risks and assume responsibility for these. What gets me is that in a country that is hell-bent on changing our past and celebrating our shared heritage, that we can still celebrate a failed terrorist’s death in a tradition brought to us by the colonists whom we love to blame for all the ills of today on.
