Winds of the World, give answer! They are whimpering to and fro --
And what should they know of England who only England know? -- The English Flag
When you think about it almost everything is offensive to someone. I am very offended at the moment about Anne Owers, Chief inspector of Her Majesty's Prisons, saying that the wearing of tiepins showing St.George's Crosses could be considered racist and the remarks which followed from Chris Doyle, director of the Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding.
CNN.com - Race fears spark St. George ban - Oct 4, 2005
Contact: Ms Anne Owers, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, First Floor, Ashley House, 2 Monck Street, London SW1P 2BQ
Chris Doyle:
doylec@caabu.org====================================
Dear Ms Ann Owers,
I read of your opinion that the wearing of a tiepin depicting The Cross Of St. George was ‘racist’.
May I respectfully say that in my humble opinion, this attitude is Political Correctness 'gone mad’.
Where on earth do we draw the line?
Are we going to disappear into anonymity, because we do not wish to ‘offend’ ‘outsiders’? If they may wear their ethnic costumes, we may surely, IN OUR OWN COUNTRY, wear our own treasured and respected emblems, if we wish to.
When will we have the courage to display the emblems of our dear , ancient country without feeling embarrassed? !
Given the strident promotion of other nationalities and 'religions’ (inverted commas in cynicism, for those that condone vicious acts of terrorism) symbols, let us be proud of our own great heritage.
We at least are civilised, and our symbols reflect that.
To wear the Cross of St.George is a statement of civilised standards, evolved through centuries.
Yours Sincerely,
Rosemarie Mann.(Ms.)
===================================================================
Dear Mr Doyle
I am writing in response to your suggestion that England should change her flag to accommodate those that may be offended by it.
We are one of the most tolerant nations in the world and people from every faith, religion or creed are welcomed, helped and accommodated if they are in genuine need of sanctuary or indeed needed such as nurses, doctors and so on. Plenty try to join us on the pretence that they are persecuted, and have legal aid lawyers queuing up to take on their case.
Suggestions such as yours that the cross of St George might offend Muslim or Arab prisoners are with respect ridiculous. These people have committed a crime and are damn lucky they are serving their sentence in an English prison, where they will be treated fairly, as opposed to one in a Muslim country where the punishment would be far more severe. Can you imagine an English person in one of their prisons saying that something worn was offending them? My God they would be lucky if they lived to see the next day!
People with ideas like yours should question their own motives before coming to such solutions. How many Muslims have told you they are offended by the cross of St George? Have you ever taken into account that there might be parts of their lifestyle that English people might find offensive? If so how are you going to address these issues? If I had contacted you saying that some style of Muslim attire offends me, how would you have reacted? You would have probably called me a racist and being disrespectful to others needs?
Well, Mr Doyle, respect is a two way street. Telling us that we should change our flag to appease others is not the way go and you should hang your head in shame for even thinking it. I am proud of my country and if anything you have made me even more determined to stamp on any little jumped up twerp who's ready to change her flag.
If you find this so unacceptable perhaps you would
be better off living with those you find more palatable?
Sincerely
Christopher Henry
=============================================================
Dear
Mr Doyle,
Your insane proposal to change our flag because it is offensive to muslims
puzzles me deeply.
I don't believe for one minute that the majority of muslim immigrants in this
country are insulted by our flag. It is just a small minority , backed up by
the looney , politically correct left ( including you ) that make them believe
that they can dictate the way the majority live their lives. If you changed
the flag , to what would you change it ? No doubt something similar to the
muslim flag. Would that not be insulting and offensive to the English ?
Immigrants come to this country and are offered every comfort and courtesy ,
yet some , aided and abetted by you and your ilk , spit in our faces.
It is a small minority of people like you that are destroying race relations
in this country , by suggesting we are racist for flying or displaying our
flag. You can never win , the more you complain , the more people will go out
and buy flags and hoist them up in their back gardens or hang them out of
windows. My local Indian restaurant owner ( a muslim) has the Union Jack and
two St George's flags flying outside his premises - is he a racist or just
offending himself ?
Why not take a trip to Texas and complain to the rednecks ( sorry ,
dermatologically intolerant to sunlight) that you find the Confederate Battle
Flag offensive and see what happens to you.
Why don't you get a life and find something useful to do instead of constantly
interfering in other people's way of life.
Deborah Parker
=================================================================
Sent:
Monday, October 10, 2005 6:16 PM
Subject: George Flag
Re your misguided idea to reject St George and his flag.
What
else do we have to give up from our heritage. I see no good reason we
cannot be proud of our St George flag and our patron saint. Indeed I
have been pleased to see that in the last few years we have again started
celebrating St. George's day. People like you must see racism in
anything they look at. Why we have to bend over backwards to
please others I do not know. I respect the beliefs of others and expect
them to respect mine especially if they have chosen to live in England.
No other nation would be asked to reject their patron saint. I am appalled.
Ann
Hawkes
===============================================================
Dear
Mr Doyle,
I
have recently been reading some emails sent to you regarding the possible
banning of the English flag.
I
have to agree with the contents of all of them and i find you ideas
dictatorial, intolerable and offensive in the extreem. Muslims represent
only about 8% of this populace and their opinions are not to be regarded
with the high esteem you seem to afford them. They made the choice to come
here and if something as trivial as a national flag offends them then they
should leave fairly quickly, even if they were born here. St George is our
Patron Saint although he may have been an Egyptian no one really knows, he
was a man of courage, his deeds were born of mythology.
Does
it really matter?.
By
your yard stick maybe you should take a closer look at Greek, Norse or Roman
mythology and i am sure you could find something that may pray on feeble
minds such as yours or those you claim to represent, over sensitive muslims.
Here's
a challenge for Mr Doyle pop off to Sardinia and attempt the removal of
their flag (it depicts a cross of St George with a moors head in each of the
four sections, see below) in case you don't know..........i don't think your
courage would allow you Mr Doyle.
You are akin to the animal rights people who would not dare to go to Spain and publicly decry the despicable bull fight, if there is a softer target here at home.
Paul
Edmond
Herts
Flag
of Sardinia
=================================================================
Mr
Doyle,
I
note in the press that you have taken upon yourself to be the apologist for
the past actions of the British over the centuries.
I put it to you, that the actions of the British people over the years has
been a more stabilising influence throughout the world, than any other nation
and nothing to be ashamed of.
I know you are employed by a pro Arab group but that does not give you
Carte Blanche to denigrate British values.
If foreigners coming to this country don't like what we, the British stand
for then, they have a choice, don't come here!
If they are already here living off the largesse of the British taxpayer,
as a large proportion of them do and they are offended by our flags and
motifs, then as a free country they are free to leave. The sooner the
better, if they don't like it here, in my opinion.
Why should a Christian country bow to the religions of alien cultures?
Also, why are apologists putting forward stupid proposals about our badges
and traditions, encouraging alien cultures in their desire to disrupt the
harmony of what was once our stable society.
This is tantamount to sedition and in a less tolerant country would command
a long term in a traitors prison.
It seems to me that blinded by the blinkers of political correctness you
have tended to undermine the benefits of the immigrant's life in Britain!
Naturally we welcome people to come here, if suffering oppression, but to have
organisations such as the one you represent issuing ludicrous statements about
the Cross of St George is totally uncalled for.
A lot of British people don't like to see mosques being built and the
crescent flags flying over our country but it happens and yet we are not
allowed to voice our concerns, whilst organisation like your own are free to
spout your sedition unhindered.
I trust your future pronouncements will take into account some of the
concerns expressed in this letter in addition to those, I am sure you will
have received, from many other patriotic flag wearing Britons.
(name and address supplied)
Proud to be British:
Proud to wear the flag
of St George.
==============================================================
Dear
Mr Doyle
I read the report about Prison Officers and the St. George tiepins on CNN and
was astounded by your quotes. No doubt you have had a lot of emails/letters
about this.
I am by no means a raving right wing nutter and I'm sure you will say you were
misquoted, or that St. George had nothing to do with England, etc.
I would like to point you to the fact he has been our Patron Saint for a few
hundred years now, he is part of our history, it might be good or bad history,
but it is still OUR history. Who do you think you are, that is so important he
should be listened to and re write our history? Why should it bother you, or
anyone, if someone who is living in OUR country would be offended by OUR flag?
They have a choice Mr. Doyle, if they are offended they could always move to
another country.
You will also no doubt come up with the tired excuse, that right-wing groups
have hijacked the flag as a symbol. I fail to see how a small minority of
ENGLISH people could take OUR flag, when the might of the German forces
couldn't do it. The 'right-wing' argument is laughable.
I apologise for answering you before you have stated your side of the case,
but I don't like to waste time, so I get rid of the lame excuses that people
come up with as answers first.
To sum up, this is part of our history, I will NOT apologise to anyone for it,
nor should anyone. Stop trying to make a name for yourself and be proud to be
ENGLISH.
Yours (MOST) sincerely
name
and address supplied