Red/ Green/ White Poppies- Does The Colour Matter?- Merged

[Devlin]

The white poppy says, 'Hey, let's think of other ways to resolve the conflict,' " said the self-described non-violence activist. "It's forward-thinking, whereas a red poppy is looking back."

I saw one of these the other day, I didn't know what it meant but didn't get a chance to ask the guy wearing it...good thing....for him.

This really sickens me, honestly can they (the peaceniks) not give us one day out of the year is that too much to ask. Thankless absolutely thankless, the thing that never fails to surprise me is that a lot of these folks after speaking with them have never treaded foot outside the comforts of Canada. My point is they have no perspective other than their own view of things, I have been fortunate to travel overseas and speak with people (most specifically in the UK) that have a greater sense of history than these people.

Perhaps if they would show us some respect we would be more inclined to show respect back to them...I won't have any for them until....those white poppies come off and attitudes and mindsets start changing.

 

[Jacqueline]

Can you say cheese?
The red poppy grew in Flanders field.
The white poppy has nothing to do with the history.

 

[Spr.Earl]

Are dead soldiers an appropriate prop for a political statement?  Remembrance Day is to remember our dead; people who died doing what their country asked of them.

MCG,also those who have survived.

 

[cplcaldwell]

"The white poppy says, 'Hey, let's think of other ways to resolve the conflict,' " said the self-described non-violence activist. "It's forward-thinking, whereas a red poppy is looking back."

'Looking back' might be appropriate, given our current enemy is firmly rooted in the twelfth century. Perhaps Michael Kalmanovitch, owner of Earth's General Store on Whyte Avenue, could escort Taliban Jack to the summit with Mullah Omar in Quetta or Peshawar and then a consensus could be reached on the appropriate colour ....

Or perhaps some people's talk is cheap...

 

[a_majoor]

People, they do not wish to be confrontational, and neither should we.

Politiely pin a Red Poppy on their lapel and tell them that is to remind them WHY they can wear a white poppy if they choose.

 

[APOLLOVet]

While this is a major disappointment that people actually thought that this was a good idea, I don't think that there is much that we can do about it. It has been my experience that the people who characterize themselves as "peacemakers/peacelovers/peaceniks (insert your own suffix) are unwilling or congenitally unable to see that there might be other perspectives. For the most part, they truly believe that they are "above" violence, and that all of us who live in the real world are either too stupid/evil/blinkered etc to see that " violence never solved anything" (go ask a Carthaginian if that's true).

While those of us who respect the fact that Thomas Jefferson had it right ("The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants") are rightfully enraged by this shoddy treatment of those who have actually sacrificed for something that is larger than themselves, we must also be aware of the fact that we will never convince the white poppy people of what we believe in. All they can see is the application of violence; they cannot see that the violence that we apply is to a good end.

So, we can all condemn the actions of these people, we will never convince them of the horrendous disrespect that they are showing. Remember, these are the same type of people who have actually succeeded in creating memorials to Vietnam era deserters. If deserting your country in its time of need is heroic (rather than accepting the fact that your country can demand from you, and accepting the consequences of refusing those demands), then I guess it is time for all of us to give up. We will have completely lost the moral fiber necessary to defend our way of life, and we might as well wait for the next conqueror to tell us what to think next.

 

[Kat Stevens]

Unfortunately, the sheep continue to graze, blissfully unaware that the only reason the wolves in the tall grass don't eat them, is because generations of sheepdogs have laid their lives down to prevent it.

 

[211RadOp]

I haven't seen any in Kingston yet, and probably won't, but I will take a_majoor's advice and keep a few extra in the car in case I see one of these freaks.

 

[Brat56]

Some things are just meant to be: The Poppy is meant to be RED! We have already had to change far to much to suit others. This can't be changed also.

 

[Teddy Ruxpin]

The story's gone international:

From Reuters - http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1652372006 Fair dealings, etc...

Red vs white: battle of poppies erupts in Canada

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canada's war veterans are girding for a new battle, this time against peace activists they say have hijacked their long-standing floral symbol.

A store in Edmonton, Alberta, is distributing white poppy replicas that the Royal Canadian Legion said is a "disturbing" and "illegal" infringement of the red poppies worn on lapels since just after World War One to commemorate those killed in battle.

A Legion official said that Remembrance Day on November 11 is the only time of year they ask citizens to wear the poppies to pay tribute to the 117,000 military personnel who have died in conflict.

"It's something symbolic, which encroaches on a registered trademark, for one thing," Legion spokesman Rod Stewart said of the "white poppies for peace."

"But it puts a political slant on the meaning of Remembrance Day and that's unacceptable in our eyes."

White poppy distributor Michael Kalmanovitch, owner of Earth's General Store, said the version he's distributing was first produced in Britain in the 1930s to symbolize hope that humanity would move beyond armed conflict to solve disputes.

Kalmanovitch said he ordered 200 white poppies from the activist Peace Pledge Union in London. It his his third year of distributing them.

Legion officials have told him that poppies of any colour are their registered trademark and the alternative ones are illegal.

But Kalmanovitch said he has no intention to stop distributing the white symbols. He said he wears both versions, and does not consider the white ones to be discourteous to the Legion.

"We're not saying 'or', we're saying 'and'," Kalmanovitch said. "I do respect those people who went off and got hurt or killed in those wars ... but I hope we live in a society where everything can withstand criticism or examination."

The tradition of wearing commemorative red poppies in Canada, Britain and other counties comes from the World War One poem "In Flanders Fields", a tribute to the fallen written by Canadian Lt-Col John McCrae, which begins: "In Flanders fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses row on row..."

 

[Teflon]

Damn Fashion Confused People!,...  ???

Don't they know it's just wrong to wear white after Labour day!!!! :threat:

 

[Prophet]

Unfortunately, the sheep continue to graze, blissfully unaware that the only reason the wolves in the tall grass don't eat them, is because generations of sheepdogs have laid their lives down to prevent it.

+1  That sums it up

 

[Dissident]

People who are not prepared to resist and are eager to submit, hate others who do not want to submit and are prepared to fight.
They hate them because they are afraid that the latter will endanger their lives as well. In their view everyone must submit.

Paul Belien

 

[North Star]

Ah white..the colour of surrender. Glad to see values are now held so high they're above the practicality of struggle to implement them.

Remember, war didn't solve anything. Except the holocaust. Oh, and the genocide in Kosowo. Oh, and slavery (in the US and the threat of war in the Ottoman Empire). Wait, it it deprived A-Q of a base from which to launch murderous attacks on civilians (who are technically protected by Gevena Convention IV, which they don't recognize). Imperialism (for lefties, colonial wars of liberation are legit), and some other stuff.

And "pacificism"? What did that solve? The Sudan/Darfur talks are going just ducky, and boy didn't Hitler scale down his expectations after Munich? Ghandi did succeed without violence, but only because the British were half-hearted anyway. Hmm. Can't really think of much else.

 

[niner domestic]

I wonder if these people realize that in nature, there is no such thing as a pure white flower - the poppy no matter what colour will always have red in it.  (even if it's just a thin red line - it's still there) 

 

[poko]

Bunch of dope smoking hippie
I just want to go there buy them all and trow them in the garbage.
It remembrance day and not peace day. People would do anything to have publicity

 

[HItorMiss]

The best tactic I have found has been telling the truth, "NO person on earth wants peace more then a soldier, because it's the soldiers who fight the wars not those whose oppose them"

Others will always find a a way to mock or corrupt traditions they can't fathom. Forget the white poppies let them mock us because in the end our blood has bought them that right and others will know that and feel shamed for those who think traditions of honor can be changed to meet their agenda.

Je me souviens mais amis, and I needn't trouble myself with those who don't bother to think past themselves.

 

[HItorMiss]

It remembrance day and not peace day.

Wrong it is very much a day of peace, A day when those who fight think how much better the world would have been had our friends not died in the service and persuit of peace.

 

[poko]

the internation peace day is September 21 and not november 11
http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/

 

[probum non poenitet]

I throw this out as food for thought -

It's not just hippies who feel this way. I know there are some veterans and others who avoid Remembrance Day because they see it as pro-military, or pro-war. Unpopular, but there it is.

I personally don't feel that way, but Farley Mowat does, and he's definitely earned his right to say his piece:

http://www.dominion.ca/Downloads/sor_FarleyMowat.pdf

From the article:

Today Mowat's views on remembrance are uncompromising and controversial: he eschews what
he calls the glorification of war in many Remembrance Day events and military anniversaries. He
says the media have elevated war into an act of heroism and prestige.
He also says he won't feel neglected if nobody remembers his own personal wartime service. "I
escaped alive with my skin, and that's reward enough."
What matters is to remember war, he says, "as the abomination that it is."

For those who don't know, Mowat was an infantry officer who fought up the boot of Italy.

It's a free country. People have a right to wear what they want - we have a right to disagree with what they say.

But if, as some posters have suggested, wearing a red poppy means you are willing to join and fight, and feel pacifism is ineffective, then it is understandable that 'hippies' may draw the same conclusion about Remembrance Day and its symbols -- that it has become a type of pro-military political statement.

For me, Remembrance day is beyond politics - it is for those who have died, or as Remarque said in All Quiet on the Western Front, for "a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war..."
But I will admit, every November 11, I am reminded strongly of the duties and expectations of military service. It is not surprising that others are as well - and if they don't like the military ... well ... out come the white poppies ...

I disagree with their opinions, they irritate me,  I acknowledge their right to dissent ... and believe that the military provided them with that right ... oddly enough ...