A Think Tank has suggested that we wear white poppies as they are more "Christian". Discuss?

Question

This sounds like political correctness in reverse!
Do you agree with wearing white poppies or should the do-gooders just butt out?

Answer 1

The poppy is not a religious symbol
it represents the blood spilt on the fields of battle
and was chosen because the Poppy was the only flower to grow in the war torn earth.

I wish the Godbotherers would stick to their own myths and legends
and leave those of us able to think for ourselves to do as we please.
this is just another example of the PC brigade interfering

Answer 2

I don't think white poppies are more "Christian". Most of the soldiers - both sides - who died in WWI (where the poppy tradition comes from) were churchgoing Christians, and they bled real red blood, and real red poppies grew on the fields where they were slain.

I understand those who try to add a message to Remembrance Sunday - "remember the old wars and don't start new ones" - but it's about the past, not the future, and therefore should be represented as it was - not as we'd like it to be.

We should have a separate day when those who disagree with our government's bellicosity can wear white poppies - how about March 20th, the anniversary of the invasion of Iraq?

Answer 3

People argue over the silliest things, don't they? As if there wasn't enough to argue and disagree over, they must now argue over two different pigmentations that essentially mean the same thing. Both colors of poppies are used to honor fallen soldiers. The red ones honor them as fallen heroes who died for a noble cause. The white ones do the same, but also express the hope that no more soldiers will have to die as the result of peace. I really don't think any fallen soldier, in his final moments, was thinking, "At last! I get to die! Woo-hoo! I'm a hero now!" Unless he was a Viking, of course, but that's not the case here. Most people who have died left behind lives and people that they loved dearly. I'm sure that if peace had been a reality, they would have gladly embraced it, rather than gone off to fight the enemy. For me, it's either, or. White and red are only colors. They mean different things, but they still give the same amount of respect to the fallen heroes. It's not worth starting a fight.

Answer 4

We wear poppies as a symbol of the first world war because there were large numbers of them growing in the fields around northern france, where the allies lost thousands of men. They are not a Christian symbol, they have never been a Christian symbol and I think to make it white so as to be more Christian would be wrong. At the moment, surely, it is one of the only symbols we have that unites nearly every class and race in rememberance of atrocities of the past.

In short, no, the poppy shouldn't be made white to be more christian. It should be left as it is, available to everyone who wants to remember.

Answer 5

Just what we need - some idiot showing us how to advertise that we (those who are) are Christians and maybe making us a target for non Christians to ridicule.. British Airways would immediately ban all white poppies on the grounds that they are not in the BA dress code and should be worn under the uniform. I wear a red poppy with pride and a hell of a lot of men and women died in order to give me the right to wear what I like, say what I like and do what I like in this country. We shall no doubt see Blair and his henchmen on Sunday parading up and down with their various wreaths and hardly any of them served in any of the services or went near a war of any sort, but they are very good at getting someone else to go to war for them. PC gone mad. Wear the biggest Red poppy you can and make it a badge for "bringing our service people home from the Blair/Bush War alliance.

Answer 6

I'm not at a high enough level to vote on answers, but 'richard00cranium' should get the best vote.

I am a serviceman and I have both atheist and religeous friends of numerous faiths. Poppies are red to symbolise the blood spilled by all sides, and faiths, and not because only Christians died. This Think Tank thing is one of the most offensive PC moves I have ever heard of.

Answer 7

Poppies are absolutely nothing to do with religion, they are to represent the colour of blood and the fields of poppies were those brave soldiers lay after been slain during the war and Christians have obviously forgotten the reason and the motto 'Least We Forget'.

Answer 8

People of all faiths and nationalities have been involved in all wars - it is an affront to millions of men and women and the Church of England should apologise.

The poppy is red because it represents those that grew on Flanders fields on the solidiers graves - 1915 . The poppy was adopted as a symbol in remeberance of those who have fought for us and those who fight for us today.

'In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row...'

Answer 9

It's stupid,everyone knows what the red poppy stands for,as for white being more 'Christian' it's a sign of mourning in Japan,which is not what 1 would call a Christian country.Btw,i'm Atheist.

Answer 10

Bo**locks to christianity. What's Christian about war and the suffering it leaves behind? The do gooders should stick to reading their bibles and let the people wear what they want - poppies that are poppy coloured!