To ask if anyone in rl has ever actually met anyone who is 'offended by a poppy?

[Whatsername17]

My Facebook feed is full of memes declaring that people are going to 'wear their poppy with pride and they don't care who they offend'. My nan is the latest culprit and I've called her out on it. Cue lots of her friends spouting racist bollocks about people not being able to sell them blah blah. My nan spouting shit about what a good heart I have because I can't see the bad in people. I'm 34. I'm not a fucking child. And breathe!

I don't wear one either, but quiet happy for others to; its called tolerance. I would support the Britsh Legion more if I saw them at the front of the next demonstration against the government going to war, or the church in their pulpits condemning governments for using war instead of peaceful means as a way of sorting out conflict. When people say 'lest we forget' what is it that we're not supposed to forget: the stupidness of (mainly men) fighting?

I live in the UAE and most people of Western background where a poppy in November. I've even seen a few Muslim's wear them. I've never heard of anyone being offended.

Oh my god. Could none of you really tell I was being enormously sarcastic??!! Maybe I need more coffee to make myself clear...! I was saying the exact opposite.

The idea that huge rafts of "other cultures" are offended by poppies is bollocks stirred up by the press IMO, and I see people from every background wearing them and donating to the charity tins at our office

I have always worn a poppy to remember those who have sacrificed their lives so I may enjoy freedom of thought today. My Grandfather landed on Sword Beach in 1944 and Grandmother survived the blitz with a new born baby. They would visit the centotaph each year and take a minute to solemnly remember his friends that didn't come back and the friends that died from German bombs. They would wear their poppy with pride. I feel that rememberence is something we do particularly well in this country. Poinient without being jingoistic. I'm not a fan of the white poppy, I think it detracts from this message, and I feel it's more about people making it all about them and dare I say it, their political persuasion.

However;

I also feel that forcing the poppy onto people, or hijacking it to antagonise racists is precisely the ethos that my Grandfather fought, and many gave their lives to fight against. Freedom means freedom, not just the freedom you like. If you don't support the poppy appeal and share a different view to me, that's fine, I respect that. But please also respect my right to passionately agree with the cause of remberence and helping veterans. Thankfully, in reference to the op, most do, other than the odd isolated incident and Facebook racists.

I wear a poppy and a bluet, never come accross anyone offended by either, although a few have asked what the bluet is.
To me it's about remembrance, not celebration or support of war.
The red one covers animals as well as people of all nationalities in my thoughts, although I know that isn't the official stance.

I don’t find it offensive and being from Ireland I’ve never actually encountered one.

But fuck me there’s a section of the British population who get massively offended by someone choosing not to wear one.
James McClean gets fucking dogs abuse.

there’s a section of the British population who get massively offended by someone choosing not to wear one.

Jon Snow is another one - the newsreader, not the GoT character. I now look forward to spotting the first story about him being a traitor. Open season starts tomorrow.

I always wear a poppy but my parents, who went through WWII - my father volunteered in 1939 and my mum was called up to work as a clippie on London Transport during very hairy times including the Blitz - never did. It wasn't a protest; it just wasn't important to them.

ps my dad wasn't being brave or patriotic. It was just that it was inevitable he and his brother were going to be called up and volunteering meant they were much more likely to be allowed to stick together. So about six months later they found themselves at Dunkirk. They were back for D-Day: The Revenge. Both survived the war.

Jon Snow gets abuse like James McClean, I mean

I wouldn't personally wear one (I'm not a muslim, just haven't got a "war history"), but really haven't got an opinion on people who do wear them. Far from offended.

I know someone who says it's offensive to wear one because it only recognises the oppressors, not the victims.

I know someone who says it's offensive to wear one because it only recognises the oppressors, not the victims.

Well, some people are a bit muddle-headed, aren't they?

After Maggie Won the Falklands in 1982 there was a memorial/thanksgiving service conducted by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie in St Paul's Cathedral.

He deeply offended Margaret Thatcher and The Sun for refusing to be triumphalist and instead striking a conciliatory note and saying that men had died on either side and we should mourn them both. He included the controversial statement that 'war is terrible thing.' Given the climate at the time it was probably treasonous to say that.

Runcie had a distinguished WWII record including winning the Miltary Cross. Margaret Thatcher and Kelvin McKenzie (then editor of The Sun) not so much.

I find there is a pressure to wear poppies and condemn those who don't. It's not irresistible, but it's always there at this time of year.

@limitedperiodonly - a single person, with no official connection to the British Legion, striking a conciliatory note does not change the meaning of the poppy campaign. It is officially about remembering members of the British armed forces and those who fought alongside them. That does not include the victims of the British armed forces.

While many people choose to remember all who have died as a result of conflict, that is not what the poppy campaign is about.

Margaret Thatcher and Kelvin McKenzie (then editor of The Sun) not so much

Didn't Thatcher serve in a tank squad or something? I dimly remember her in a tank....

No, never

I HAVE met people who hate "poppy fascism" and refuse to wear one, on the basis that people shouldn't be forced by social pressure to buy and sport one, but this is not the same.

I work closely with Muslim colleagues - one of whom, incidentally, organises our Xmas party and the other buys and decorates the tree with have in the office.

Let's be honest, when morons say "[I] wear their poppy with pride and [...] don't care who [I] offend" - this means "I don't care if I offend Muslims" (who, for some bizarre reason) they imagine are offended.

I am not in the slightest offended by the poppy. I think remembering the horrors of war is really, really important.

I don't like the way that people are forced to wear them if they are in the public eye (I think it should be individual choice and fine if someone doesn't want to, and I hate the racist myths like "muslims hate the poppy"). I'm also disturbed by the way that the poppy ceremonies can sometimes get hijacked by "patriotic" right-wing elements who are actually quite gung-ho about starting new wars in the present. To me, that's not the spirit of remembering the many, many fallen, their sacrifice and their bravery.

Charlene White, the news reader is another one who gets a load of abuse for not wearing one. Being in the unique position of being a woman who's black and who doesn't wear a poppy on TV means she's like a red flag to the racist blathering morons. Fantastic woman though who quite rightly states that it's not fair for one charity to get prominence. She does wear one in her personal life, just not on TV.

It's the people like Barbara Windsor who get on my wick. A woman who quite happily hung around with murderers and gangsters says it's wrong people don't wear poppies. Lol, alright Barbara, I find the Krays more offensive, but whatever. www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/10/29/barbara-windsor-anyone-who-doesnt-poppy-can-sod-off_n_8418206.html

theymademejoin I know Robert Runcie might not have been a member of the British Legion but something tells me that a tank commander who won the MC in a war in which millions on both sides died, has the authority to talk about the nature of remembrance and reconciliation.

I don't agree with your narrow view of what the poppy campaign is about. When I buy a poppy I know my money will go to support those members of the British armed forces and their families directly affected by their service. But that doesn't stop me thinking about the wider issues involved in conflict

I'm not offended by poppies and neither is anyone I know, and I'm Muslim. In primary school we used to make them every year and I remember some men from the British Legion coming to talk to us. They had incredible stories and were very inspiring. I have lots of wtf moments thinking of things I had to do in primary school but joining in with that isn't one of them. It does seem like some people wear poppies now in general support of the armed forces which I don't think is what they are for, and that's why I don't wear one anymore myself. But even if I don't agree with the conflicts they are involved in it's still not offensive.

Didn't Thatcher serve in a tank squad or something? I dimly remember her in a tank....

It was all the rage in the 1980s makeourfuture. Thatcher, Heseltine, Portillo - you couldn't keep them out of tanks. I like Michael Portillo much more now he sticks to trains.

@limitedperiodonly - of course he had the right to speak of remembrance and reconciliation and I admire and respect the stance he took at the time. It was very brave.

You may not agree with my statement about what the poppy campaign is about. However, it is not my view. It is the stated position of those who organise the campaign i.e. the British Legion. They state that it is about commemorating members of the British forces and their allies. You may not like it, you may choose to remember differently, but the poppy campaign, which is run by the British Legion, is only about remembering members of the British forces and their allies. It is clearly stated on their website.

Yes, several of my FB friends (who are people I"m friendly with IRL) have put up posts about how wearing a red poppy displays your contempt for the people who died in war who are not commemorated by the red poppy (ie soldiers from other countries). They think that wearing a poppy glorifies war and soldiers, glorifies the arms trade, and has been co-opted as a political message.

I think it's more complicated than that and will continue to buy and wear a red poppy.

I'm sure it is. But the British Legion or anyone else can't stop people thinking of other things surrounding the poppy campaign. I understand why they'd want to do that, but it's impossible.

I've never worn a poppy and most people I know either don't wear them or wear white poppies. I disagree with war and I don't support any army.