Are You Ready to Enlist?

[TheOfficialBren]

I am uncertain if I, a lowly Californian lad recently embarking on a journey to discover his roots, am qualified to reply to this thread but here I go.

The Great Rabble is generally, dispite our affectionate moniker, one of the most polite and gentlemanly (in the positive sense--NOT the snarky sense) groups that I have had the privilege of which to be a part.

Do we often butt heads? Absolutely! Sometimes we have some pretty heated debates...BUT...we always fined our footing and don't resort to mud-slinging.

With that said, do historical events from centuries still affect us today? ABSOLUTELY they do. I cite the common law and court system enacted by Henry II as a prime example of 'ancient' history that has carried down through the many, many years. However there are occasions where the politics of the past do not affect today's world (ask anyone in the MODERN-day (emphasis on modern) Middle East if the Hittite Empire affects their daily lives to this day. You will probably get a resounding, "no, it does not." on the other hand, Hammurabi's codex of law was a foundation for Western philosophical thought that carried through to the Greeks, the Romans, the Itallian Rennaissance, and the Modern World (sometimes subtly, sometimes with full-realisation).

It is not so black-and-white an issue and it is, furthermore, academically obtuse to examine many historical events through a 21st century lens.

We do live in an era where redefining history seems to be a common trend in today's academics. Is that bad? It depends. If we look at, for example, the Bayeaux Tapastry, we see an image that many of our forebears likely overlooked--the image of a mother and child escaping from their burning home during a raid. This image is so easily identifiable as modern-thinkers. Undoubtedly previous generations were more concerned with viewing that same piece of art with the focus on William and Harold Godwinsson.

As we re-examine the past we must do so with trepidation and objectivity.

The !edieval world was brutal, tough, and harsh---but it was a necessary stepping stone that laid the foundations of Modern civilisation. Were atrocities committed? Without a doubt, but none were truly blameless (some of my ancestors certainly weren't). This seems to be true of Highland Clan history as much as anywhere else in the world, in all civilisations from the dawn of time.

Today, however, we are blessed beyone belief that we, as Modern peoples, are putting away much of those devisive things and focussing on building a better world. We should be proud of that. Would some of our ancestors have issue with that? Maybe. Perhaps. Very possibly. But we do not dwell in the past. We study it, learn from it, and hope to heaven that we can be builders WITH mankind instead of destroyers OF mankind.

That is our legacy for the future and THAT is far nobler than any bloodshed of the past. We are taking babysteps but they are the growing pains of a truly New World...and that is beautiful, my friends.

Peace and prosperity to all of you.

Slàinte!