Listening to the bagpipes and watching the aging veterans in uniform, I always experience a tugging at the heart on Remembrance Day. They’re a reminder that during the 20^th century our troops fought with valor and tenacity against the forces of Kaiser Wilhelm, then Hitler. They stood on guard against the aggressions of Stalin and his descendants, then served with distinction in Afghanistan. Given the successful track record against degenerate aggressors, it’s tempting to become complacent and believe our nation is secure.

Times have changed radically and the dangers we face today are not always physical. Although it may seem unrelated, the numerous malicious Facebook responses to Andrea DeMeer’s column a couple of weeks ago alerted me to an insidious enemy already deep inside our defense lines. It’s strategy for penetrating our borders is eerily similar to that of the Greeks when they built a wooden horse and left it as a “gift” at the doors to Troy. The citizens of Troy brought the horse inside the city’s impregnable walls. That night they slept soundly, believing the Greek siege had ended and their enemy had finally been thwarted. As is well known, while they slept, Greek warriors poured from inside the horse, opened the city gates for their army, and ransacked the city.

In her column Andrea wrote about being groped outside the Princeton court house. She could have named the groper but chose not to. Even so, a number of Facebook goons launched a vicious tirade of hateful comments against her. Their assault is troubling because it suggests there is a contingent of individuals committed to shredding the values and fabric of our society.

I realize that one local, seemingly isolated incident does not in itself portend disaster. If we consider events across our nation though, we might come to the uncomfortable conclusion that Canada is under attack from advocates of morally destructive thinking. The murder of an innocent teenage girl in Abbotsford last week is a recent example of evil stalking our nation.

History is replete with examples of complacent societies falling prey to destructive forces. J.D. Unwin, the eminent British anthropologist studied 80 civilizations spanning some 3,000 years. He wrote that “In 100 per cent of the cases, when these civilizations fell, it was because they abused the freedoms they had. They no longer honoured families, values deteriorated, people turned to immoral ways and crime abounded.”

Unlike an attack in a conventional war, we cannot dispatch an army against this aggressor. Who will defend us and how will it be done?

Some years ago historian and diplomat George F. Kennan expressed similar concerns for America. He wrote, “in the west, both in the traditions of Christianity and Judaism, we were brought up to feel individual responsibility. There is in the U.S. no one to hold people to that today. Churches have lost the power to do so, the state cannot attempt to do so, and our two political parties would not know how to begin to do so. They cater to what is basest in the American electorate.” The venomous rhetoric employed by both candidates in the 2016 U.S. election makes it clear there has been significant further deterioration since Kennan’s time. Anyone observing the Canadian scene might agree that we too are moving inexorably in a similar direction.

Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” We cannot expect that our government will push back against the forces seeking to destroy our social structures and the values that undergird our way of life. Their foremost objective is to be re-elected.

I do not meant to suggest that all is lost. It is encouraging that some readers have supported Andrea DeMeer with positive Facebook comments. I was also heartened at reading the supportive letter to the editor penned by Hedley resident Kim English.

People like this understand that when a man gropes a woman and other men applaud, we cannot just stand by and shake our heads in disapproval. On Remembrance Day we will honour those who fought heroically to defend our way of life. When we sing “O Canada, we stand on guard for thee,” we need to remind ourselves to support those who express views that attract the ire of the faceless denizens of the internet underworld.