The White Poppy
Streaker @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:11 am
$1:
White poppy honours dead without glamourizing war
Graham Lettner, Opinion Staff Wednesday, 7 November 2007
This November, I’m not wearing a red poppy. The poppy I’ll be wearing is a homemade white poppy, cut out of a blank cue card, pinned down by the pin and black centre of last year’s red poppy. I don’t take deviation from a societal custom as ingrained as wearing a red poppy for Remembrance Day lightly, but there are more than enough good reasons to wear white, not red.
The white poppy has a history of peace behind it. The Co-operative Women’s Guild in England created the white poppy in 1933 to symbolize the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflict than by killing strangers. This is always an appropriate statement to make—especially at a time of year when society reflects on past and current wars.
The white poppy also protests the obnoxiously repressive actions of the Royal Canadian Legion. White poppies used to be sold in Edmonton at Earth’s General Store on Whyte avenue—but not this year, after the Royal Canadian Legion threatened to sue the owner of the store over trademark infringement.
That the Legion would be so bold and forceful in stifling scrutiny and critical rethinking of our society’s customs is beyond distasteful. Individuals are free to challenge the status quo and to express new perspectives. Society’s capacity for freedom of thought is tremendously more valuable than its coerced adherence to tradition. That the Legion would seek to curb the freedom that its members ostensibly fought for is the pinnacle of irony.
The red poppy no longer speaks to me or my values. To today’s society, it symbolizes the glory of fallen soldiers, the valour and sacrifice of those who served in past wars. I believe in none of these ideals.
On the contrary, with these Remembrance Day distortions removed, war can be seen as it is: a horrifying mess of propaganda, deceit, and suffering. Millions of people never sacrificed their lives, but rather had their lives torn from them while they kicked and screamed in vain. The righteous sentiment of Remembrance Day doesn’t mix well with the realities of war.
Fortunately, the white poppy speaks to what society has been mute about: namely, that war is disgusting in all its forms, and that all of humanity is responsible for actively creating a better way of resolving differences between peoples.
Finally, I wear the white poppy as a tribute to my grandparents who all served in WWII, either in Europe or on the home front. My grandfathers, who have both now died, spoke hardly a word about their experiences at the front. I wish they never had to be participants in the war; their lives were lessened for it.
In a way the red poppy can’t, the white poppy reminds me of the need to put the experience of war out of reach of our society, to give everyone lives untainted by war—something my grandparents didn’t receive. I find the red poppy to be a symbol of our inability to move beyond the outmoded ways of thinking that led our world to war in the first place.
Graham Lettner, Opinion Staff Wednesday, 7 November 2007
This November, I’m not wearing a red poppy. The poppy I’ll be wearing is a homemade white poppy, cut out of a blank cue card, pinned down by the pin and black centre of last year’s red poppy. I don’t take deviation from a societal custom as ingrained as wearing a red poppy for Remembrance Day lightly, but there are more than enough good reasons to wear white, not red.
The white poppy has a history of peace behind it. The Co-operative Women’s Guild in England created the white poppy in 1933 to symbolize the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflict than by killing strangers. This is always an appropriate statement to make—especially at a time of year when society reflects on past and current wars.
The white poppy also protests the obnoxiously repressive actions of the Royal Canadian Legion. White poppies used to be sold in Edmonton at Earth’s General Store on Whyte avenue—but not this year, after the Royal Canadian Legion threatened to sue the owner of the store over trademark infringement.
That the Legion would be so bold and forceful in stifling scrutiny and critical rethinking of our society’s customs is beyond distasteful. Individuals are free to challenge the status quo and to express new perspectives. Society’s capacity for freedom of thought is tremendously more valuable than its coerced adherence to tradition. That the Legion would seek to curb the freedom that its members ostensibly fought for is the pinnacle of irony.
The red poppy no longer speaks to me or my values. To today’s society, it symbolizes the glory of fallen soldiers, the valour and sacrifice of those who served in past wars. I believe in none of these ideals.
On the contrary, with these Remembrance Day distortions removed, war can be seen as it is: a horrifying mess of propaganda, deceit, and suffering. Millions of people never sacrificed their lives, but rather had their lives torn from them while they kicked and screamed in vain. The righteous sentiment of Remembrance Day doesn’t mix well with the realities of war.
Fortunately, the white poppy speaks to what society has been mute about: namely, that war is disgusting in all its forms, and that all of humanity is responsible for actively creating a better way of resolving differences between peoples.
Finally, I wear the white poppy as a tribute to my grandparents who all served in WWII, either in Europe or on the home front. My grandfathers, who have both now died, spoke hardly a word about their experiences at the front. I wish they never had to be participants in the war; their lives were lessened for it.
In a way the red poppy can’t, the white poppy reminds me of the need to put the experience of war out of reach of our society, to give everyone lives untainted by war—something my grandparents didn’t receive. I find the red poppy to be a symbol of our inability to move beyond the outmoded ways of thinking that led our world to war in the first place.
Link
hwacker @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:17 am
President of the University of Alberta's Students Union.
Figures. seemoredoless type.
neopundit @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:17 am
$1:
the white poppy in 1933 to symbolize the belief that there are better ways to resolve conflict than by killing strangers.
Amen to that.
Interesting read, good find. Get ready for some anti-soldier vitriol.
hwacker @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:23 am
$1:
My grandfathers, who have both now died, spoke hardly a word about their experiences at the front. I wish they never had to be participants in the war; their lives were lessened for it.
And this asshole dosen't speak German. The nerve.
hwacker @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 10:34 am
http://crux-of-the-matter.com/?p=443
Maybe Sir Graham should read that.
Hyack @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:00 am
We had this same discussion last year, as I said then:
In 1981 the United Nations General Assembly passed resolution 36/67 declaring an International Day of Peace.
In 2001, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a new resolution 55/282 declaring 21 September of each year as the international Day of Peace.
If they want to sell white poppies for Sept 21 I can see no problem with that.
Nov. 11 is Remembrance day for which the red poppy is symbolic.
This is just another case of people trying to push their own agenda and say the hell with tradition.
Streaker @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:06 am
The ones who have effectively pushed their agenda are the Legion, considering that they got the sale of white poppies banned, among other things. Some freedom they were fighting for. 
Time for some pushback, and the piece by Graham Lettner makes a good starting point.
hwacker @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:13 am
Streaker Streaker:
The ones who have effectively pushed their agenda are the Legion, considering that they got the sale of white poppies banned, among other things. Some freedom they were fighting for.
Time for some pushback, and the piece by Graham Lettner makes a good starting point.
Time for some pushback, and the piece by Graham Lettner makes a good starting point.
If you want a culture of peace move to fuckin france. You cowards simply amaze me.
hwacker @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:15 am
WDHIII WDHIII:
$1:
My grandfathers, who have both now died, spoke hardly a word about their experiences at the front. I wish they never had to be participants in the war; their lives were lessened for it.
One wonders if this is HIS opinion or theirs
he's a selfish brat, "their lives were lessened for it" but his life is ok because of it.
Brenda @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:24 am
hwacker hwacker:
WDHIII WDHIII:
$1:
My grandfathers, who have both now died, spoke hardly a word about their experiences at the front. I wish they never had to be participants in the war; their lives were lessened for it.
One wonders if this is HIS opinion or theirs
he's a selfish brat, "their lives were lessened for it" but his life is ok because of it.
Wow
Streaker @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:35 am
Of course their lives were lessened for it!
You guys are in denial.
neopundit @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:58 am
hwacker hwacker:
If you want a culture of peace move to fuckin france. You cowards simply amaze me.
I'm doing as much fighting as you are.
neopundit @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 12:01 pm
hwacker hwacker:
WDHIII WDHIII:
$1:
My grandfathers, who have both now died, spoke hardly a word about their experiences at the front. I wish they never had to be participants in the war; their lives were lessened for it.
One wonders if this is HIS opinion or theirs
he's a selfish brat, "their lives were lessened for it" but his life is ok because of it.
You're just too dense to see the point he's making. His grandfathers didn't run around saying "I shot me 50 Germans! YEHAW!". They didn't speak about it. It was a period of their lives that was necessary but could have been filled doing much better things.
w@r is k00l, eh?
neopundit @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 12:05 pm
WDHIII WDHIII:
$1:
My grandfathers, who have both now died, spoke hardly a word about their experiences at the front. I wish they never had to be participants in the war; their lives were lessened for it.
One wonders if this is HIS opinion or theirs
Of course it's his opinion. It's an opinion piece.
Brenda @ Sat Nov 10, 2007 12:14 pm
neopundit neopundit:
hwacker hwacker:
WDHIII WDHIII:
$1:
My grandfathers, who have both now died, spoke hardly a word about their experiences at the front. I wish they never had to be participants in the war; their lives were lessened for it.
One wonders if this is HIS opinion or theirs
he's a selfish brat, "their lives were lessened for it" but his life is ok because of it.
You're just too dense to see the point he's making. His grandfathers didn't run around saying "I shot me 50 Germans! YEHAW!". They didn't speak about it. It was a period of their lives that was necessary but could have been filled doing much better things.
w@r is k00l, eh?
Neither did the people who hid the jews in WWII... Where their lives lessened?
The grandfathers did a great job by being there, they are honoured for that. We will never know what their lifes would have been like if they hadn't gone there. It WAS their life.
What better things? What things should you be doing now, other then you are doing? You are doing the best you can, I assume. So did they.
It was not lessened.
No, war is not cool. War sucks. But thanks to grandfathers like his, he had a better life, and so do I. Don't forget that.