A vicar who claims wearing a poppy “advocates war”
A Methodist minister named the Reverend Patricia Jackson from Telford, Shropshire is refusing to wear a poppy to a Remembrance Day service because she believes they “advocate war”. For that reason, she simply had to be our Wally of the Week.
Separately, David Cameron was criticised in recent days by The Guardian’s Michael White for wearing a poppy whilst on a trade mission to China and Channel 4’s Jon Snow denounced “poppy fascism” after stating he’d wear the Remembrance Day symbol “when and where he deems it suitable”. This hyperbole is ridiculous and frankly is not worthy of discussion even.
The revenue raised from poppy sales helps ageing and disabled service people and those that they left behind. It does not glorify conflict and it does not celebrate killing. As Barbara Ellen pointed out in The Observer yesterday, those who don’t want to participate “could consider getting into the remembrance spirit of doing so with quiet dignity”.
Nobody is forcing people to support The Royal British Legion’s fundraising campaign but we commend those that do wholeheartedly. In this context, Zhou Enlai’s 1972 statement rings very true: “Past experience, if not forgotten, is a guide to the future”. Wear your poppy with pride.
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