I agree to an extent, but patriotism, like religion, can cause blind-faith and makes people very easy to manipulate and whip up into a frenzy if unchecked. This topic is a good example.
This is also not right, there is no doubt people who are known as ‘gammons’ are objecting but to claim anyone who objects is one is wrong. You can be patriotic and not be rascist or bigoted and they will be lots that fall into that category that don’t deserve to be labeled as such.
Plus, the flag of st George is white with a red cross, if isn't white with a red cross, it isn't the flag of st George, it's just a cross!
Oh look, shitloads of other England kits with "wrong flags" which nobody cared about. I wonder why people care about this one? Is it because they're so sensitive about gay rights that they are now offended by the presence of the colour purple?
Ets Let’s be fair here. The “right” if we must assign sides haven’t really helped themselves in the bigotry stakes have they.
No. It's the usual identity politics garbage from both sets of weirdo extremists. Symptomatic of the tribal identity politics that Britain has succumbed to over the last 5 or so years. You're "left" or you're "right" and you simply adopt the accepted thinking of your chosen tribe and don't worry to stop to think about the actual issue at hand. I don't believe the majority on either "side" care about this. It's another opportunity for a scrap and reasserting your side.
I'm definitely not offended I couldn't care one bit. I was just pointing out you seem really unhappy that people are unhappy about the change of the England shirt. It doesn't bother me really I won't buy the thing anyway if I haven't bought a England shirt since 2000 and i was 13 then but I can see why people aren't happy about it.
Im not sure what side I’m on, other than there’s literally nothing to see here and some nutters have got offended by a flag/cross thingy on the back of a football shirt. If that makes me a lefty I’m ok with that. Just think there’s far more pressing shiz to worry about.
I’m in the ‘couldn’t care less’ camp. I do however, love to see anything that winds Anderson up. What a nasty, vile, hate filled human he is. It must be proper bleak, having that much hate just festering every day.
I wouldn't say I'm really unhappy, I just think people being upset about this are either: being really daft as it's not "the flag" that's being altered and England shirts have dicked about with the cross motif before; and/or Opposing it for homophobic reasons because they (wrongly) perceive that the colours used are some kind of pro-LGBT thing. The backlash is all a bit nonsensical and I think it's worth pointing out.
The whole issue with patriotism is that there can never be a fixed set of values around what nationhood or being a Brit is. It's meaning is under constant negotiation. Your celebration of openness isn't shared by people who will call themselves patriotic but who want every single asylum seeker shipped to Rwanda or the ban of practicing any religion other than the Judeo-Christian. That kind of attitude, which gets called patriotism, is crap. But other kinds which celebrate positive values, I'm sure yours included, are brill. A lot of what's being discussed here is why I find it easier to feel pride about being from Yorkshire over being English or British. Because there are narratives out there of exceptionalism and racial purity which you have to wade through when it comes to the latter, given that's what some want 'Englishness' or 'Britishness' to be. Yet none of that is attached with Yorkshire identity, as, effectively, we've never been asked to take up arms in combat or discourse to defend the interests of the powerful in the name of Yorkshire. Where's mi slippers?