I'll be wearing a white poppy tomorrow, in remembrance of the bravery of war-resisters and conscientious objectors as well as civilians, children and soldiers killed in the name of war. Such a small word to stand for so much murder.A prize for the first person shown on TV wearing one, and although I'll be keeping the two minutes silence I'll be doing it without uniforms, flags, marching or royalty. Glorifying militarism seems an inappropriate thing to do on such a day.
6 comments:
Good for you! I have relatives that were conscientious objectors who were treated like cowards. If more were, we would not have wars.Better to be a live chicken than a dead duck.
I also have a family history of conscientious objection, and my great granny used to hide "conscies" in her loft, which I'm very proud of.
I don't think of them as "live chickens" at all - the sheep are those who dutifully accept what they are told is a patriotic obligation. A conscientious objector, despite extreme social pressure, instead fulfils their duty as a human being to the rest of humanity, and is certainly no less brave.
Don't forget that objectors often sacrifice their lives too. There are stories of Nazi soldiers during WW2 stepping out of line and joining the execution queues instead, for instance.
In 2006 the Royal Canadian Legion threatened to sue white poppy sellers. They managed to intimidate and I haven't seen any for sale this year in Alberta. A great pity. No reason why people should not wear both red and white together. I always wore a red poppy in the UK but I've decided not to wear any in Canada.
Hi Jane
You can buy white poppies here, although you might have to get in touch with them to arrange a foreign currency transaction.
www.ppu.org.uk/poppy/
Otherwise you could always make your own white poppy, and maybe send a donation to a peace-related charity.
I noticed on Sky news that Brit politicians and TV announcers were wearing poppies a good 10 days before -- ios that precession of the equinoxes?
My great uncle was a conscientious objector in WWI, and was jailed for it.
My grandfather was also a conscientious objector and spent many years in prison. He had been brought up religiously and refused to put aside his beliefs to kill people.
I'm divided on the subject. On the one hand I understand his beliefs and am proud of him for standing up for what he believed in. On the other hand, without men willing to put aside their belief of 'Thou shall not kill' the war would have had a very different outcome.
Post a Comment