The fireworks seem louder and brighter than last year. Maybe it was just the new neighbours, but we certainly got the impression that the horizon looked and sounded more spectacular this year. My wife was chatting with a friend who said her family bought a huge box, with bigger fireworks than normal. They’ve started to take a “this could be the last time” attitude to Guy Fawkes, as the fun police get louder every year and you never know when they could ban the celebration.
My story is a little similar, as kids, we never used to do fireworks. “It’s a waste of money,” my parents always said,” you might as well burn dollar bills.” Yet a few years ago, they started hosting Guy Fawkes parties for friends. This year they hosted one for some of their grandkids. My two-year-old and six-month-old both loved it. I think we all wonder if this fun tradition could come to an end at any time, so we’re making the most of it while we can. It’s strange how you suddenly enjoy a freedom you never cared much about when it is on the verge of being taken away.
Some want to ban the private possession of fireworks because anything they consider too dangerous, too annoying, or too loud needs to be illegal. Many loudmouths want the fireworks to only be lit on Matariki, Diwali, Chinese New Year, or some other day. Guy Fawkes means more to me than these other events because while I’m not of English descent, my country is.
Besides, what’s not to celebrate about a failed Roman Catholic plot to blow up the Protestant Parliament of James I? It was an important time, as King James would authorise a Bible translation that has shaped the world like no other book, the KJV even receiving praise from atheists like Dawkins and Hitchens. New Zealand and the rest of the Commonwealth would likely look very different had Guy Fawkes and his friends succeeded in permanently turning England back to Roman Catholicism.
Guy Fawkes is even more relevant today than ever, as different suicide bombers are at our doorsteps to force a different ideology on us, let’s remember that we beat them once before.
Enjoy every Guy Fawkes like it is going to be the last because if the haters have their way, it will be.
This post first appeared as a guest post on Whaleoil.