Civl War is an oxymoron

Well, it turned into a beautiful day after all. The clouds broke, the sun came through, and it's like a steam bath out there. Not that I object - I'm tropical. After the sun came and drove away the gloom, I heard the squirrels chatter, the birds twitter, the canons thunder, the lea...

Wait. The what now? The canons thunder? Yep. This weekend is the 273rd annual Cascades Civil War Muster. (Do the math. Go on, I dare ya.) Every year at the end of August thousands of "reenactors" congregate at Sparks Foundation Memorial Park, just a block from my quiet home, wearing replica clothing, carrying replica weapons, and having replica battles. Or so they claim.

As a child, the CWM was a chance to spend a day with my big brother, to walk around amongst the canvas tents and look at old coins (he was a collector), leather goods, and assorted hand crafts, and to eat elephant ears and drink fresh lemonade. I liked it mostly for the food and for the chance to follow my hero and nearest genetic relative about for a few hours. It was never about the war, the history, or any of the other shit they claim reenactments teach kids. It was way more about the elephant ears. (For those of you who don't know, elephant ears are dinner plate-sized pieces of sweet dough, deep friend and covered with cinamon and sugar. In Pennsylvania they are called funnel cake. Elsewhere they're just called fried dough. Here, they are elephant ears, and they make me happy.)

As an adult, I'm bothered by the muster, not just because of the noise (which is doing my cat's head in) or the smell of gunpowder (which I rather like), but because of the history it's not teaching. Or more accuately, because of the non-history it is teaching. CWMs and reenactments don't teach people about the greusome horrors of the American Civil or any other war. They present a pretty, romantic, glossed over view of history that is dominated by dainty women in pretty clothes and fair food. (We just keep coming back to the food, don't we?)

This is not war. People who come from all over the state to watch the "battles" don't see blood, they don't watch soldiers starving or freezing to death, they don't hear the screams of men having their limbs amputated with rusty saws and no anesthesia. They are not witnessing a war. They are witnessing a performance, where men and boys in fun costumes pretend to shoot each other with cap guns and fall down, only to get up a few moments later, smiling, and waving at the appreciative audience members, who are clapping and eating cotton candy.

Not only do these musters fail to do any good with regard to historical education (which is nearly non-existant in this country), but I believe they actively damage what little education there is. This is not a benign event. By presenting a family-friendly performance and saying "See, Junior? This is what war is like," we are sheltering our children from the crucial knowledge they need to make informed decisions about real action, real wars. Like oh, I don't know, IRAQ! We are deliberately presenting them with a pretty, glossy view of humanity's darkest endeavors and crippling thier ability to think critically about genuine human atrocity.

Failing to provide our youth with accuate information regarding our nation's history is a crime, deliberately contaminating them with misinformation is unforgivable, and making a carnival of the carnage that is war is an affront to the memory of every soldier and victim who died as a result of armed combat.