I am a Quaker and will therefore wear a white and red poppy
North Devon expectant mothers are on their own as of today.
Where do folk stand on this?
I tend to avoid red poppies as the British Legion has in its time had some dubious bedfellows (arms companies for instance - Lockheed Martin for one). I can see no current evidence that arms producers are still involved in supporting the BL financially since the outcry about this in 2014. It is of concern however that they thought this might be appropriate up until then. And also my father (who served in the Far East) refused to wear one.
White poppies are produced by the Peace Pledge Union and represent, according to their website: remembrance for all victims of war, a commitment to peace and a challenge to attempts to glamorise or celebrate war.
Can't argue with any of that. But are white poppies seen as disrespectful in some way?
I would be interested in people's thoughts on this.
I am a Quaker and will therefore wear a white and red poppy
watch The House of Saud.
That is so multi-layered that it is impossible to comment about it in a thread about the wearing of poppies, but it is worth discussion on another thread.
I have seen white poppies worn here in our small town (not many, just one or two) and that is up to the individual - but, as I said upthread, why not wear them on World Peace Day?
trisher you have said previously on this thread, you seem relaxed about a Nazi invasion of the UK:
We would still be here lemon perhaps Nazis and perhaps not. TheSpanish after all had Franco, but now have democracy
You could be here (or perhaps not, as you say your grandfather was a communist therefore you may never have been born as he would have been an enemy of the regime), but so many would not.
I am assuming, therefore, if you had been born into a Nazi regime in the UK, you would have been quite happy about Jews, gypsies and other 'undesirables' being sent to concentration camps.
I find your attitude difficult to reconcile with your supposed pacifist beliefs.
Grandma70 no it's not alright, but unfortunately it is a fact of worldwide trade/finance. I for one do not want to live in a country that unilaterally disarms, and therefore immediately becomes vulnerable to any despot who intends to invade or attack!!
merlotgran watch The House of Saud. That may be the much promoted story about the conflict but it isn't exactly true and the Saudis involvement in financing and arming terrorist groups is truly horrifying.
The situation inYemen is appalling anyway and most people are too involved trying to find the basic necessities of life to do much more. The bombing has continually targeted civilian targets.
lemon, no I am not trying to stir up outrage, why ever would I want to. I do think to write about thousands and thousands of people " it's all they know " is pretty awful. really.
My Quaker friends wear white poppies. Some friends who aren't Quakers but (like any normal person) would like to see world peace and have strong feelings against war, will wear white poppies.
I will wear a red poppy in commemoration of my great uncle who died aged 18 within weeks of arriving in France in April 1918. Also in recognition of all who have died, including civilians. My grandfathers were in WW1, spoke movingly of what a waste it all was and wore their red poppies with pride. They spoke of friends and comrades who died as they somehow managed to survive. My father was in WW2 and the three of them agreed all war is dreadful, WW1 was unnecessary and should have been the war to end all wars. They also agreed that if the allies hadn't opposed Hitler, the world would have been a much worse place. Fairly straightforward I'd have thought but then, I'm a fairly simple soul I suppose.
I definitely will not feel that my red poppy is stained with the blood of Yemini children. I'm not defending the arms trade but I do not believe its right to dismiss the sacrifice of the Military in that way.
The arms trade keeps a lot of people in jobs? So that’s all right, then? Blimey.
It's not as simple as just saying the Saudis are bombing Yemen. They are part of a coalition fighting Houthi rebels. Innocent people are suffering because of this.
Take Saudi Arabia out of the equation and you will have the Houthis still at war with Yemen's internationally recognised government. People will still suffer.
It's far too complex a situation to think it can easily be solved by not selling arms to SA and it's ridiculous to say poppies are stained with Yemeni blood
Countries sell arms to each other trisher but you already know that.
So, you must ( like Corbyn) be of the mind that we shouldn’t sell arms,we should get rid of our nuclear capabilities and never ever go to war whatever the consequences and provocation.In short, pacifists.Who naively imagine that if we do that, other countries will follow.All it really means is that we are left a weakened country who the rest of the
world is contemptous of, and we would be taken advantage of and eventually easily taken over.
It’s a point of view, but happily a very minority one.
trisher I was against the war, I think Tony Blair was the absolute worse thing that ever happened to this country.
I am against the arms trade in principle, but the reality is that the selling of arms and the profits from these trades keeps a lot of people in jobs. Who in turn pay taxes which fund vital services in the UK.
As for funding Sadam against Iran, lesser of two evils.
Trying to stir up some outrage oldbatty?
Take a look at the ‘awful’ things that trisher has come out with today on this thread.
Ellan as simply as I can. BAE systems are selling armaments to Saudi Arabia which are used to bomb Yemen. BAE systems also supports and funds the British Legion. Therefore your poppy is stained with Yemeni blood.
We were in a conversation with a person of "personal experience/hierarchy in Middle East" and he was quite vocal that if the dictator was taken out of the country, the country would implode. Sadly this is evident in many middle eastern countries today.
GG13 No we do not live in Utopia but if we do not strive to be the best we can possibly be and ask that our country be run with ethics and principles what is the point of anything? And are you realy happy that our government and the US promoted Saddam Hussein, funded him and supplied him with armaments to use against Iran then sent in soldiers to sort out their mess?
OK Once again I am disgusted at the nonsense posted on here. Regarding the Middle East " its all they know" what an absolutely awful thing to say.
Why? Did you stop them and ask them oldbatty ?
Some people just do not take the time to buy one, and then they may buy one and forget to pin it on, or push it into their bag, or may choose not to wear one, but you can’t decide on the reason simply because they are not wearing one.Millions of red poppies are sold every year.
wear all three.......
It's all they know
That's a low blow
Ellen , your comments are massively offensive. Massively and actually historically wrong.
I don't see many white poppies but I do see many people who prefer not to wear one.
Blimey the Middle East have been war zones since the year dot. It's all they know, that and invading other countries throughout the years. Yemen haven't stopped since 1930 and are still at it. Why my red poppy should be stained with Yemeni blood I don't know seeing as their wars are of their own doing and have got nothing to do with me and my country.
I haven't yet seen anyone wearing a poppy of any colour, except on television. It is only November 1st.
I have never seen a white poppy worn here in SE Essex, London or Suffolk.
Don’t be daft oldbatty is a busy nearby town a ‘little enclave’ in your view?
How many white poppies do you see in your own little bit of the UK? Please don’t say ‘hundreds’
it may not be believed.
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