On the subject of British prejudice and ignorance towards change and people from other cultures

This morning (or if you would rather, afternoon) I came across this in my e-mail inbox. Whilst I usually delete most forwards I receive since they are usually complete and utter bollocks in the extreme, I felt I had to speak out against the sheer ignorance and stupidity that is displayed in this rather pathetic piece of writing.

(Note: All quotations are indented, the rest are my comments).

Story in a National Newspaper

Will we still be the Country of choice and still be Gt Britain if we continue to make the changes forced on us by the people from other countries that came to live in Britain because it is the Country of Choice??????
Think about it . .


All I have to say is, when will they do something about MY RIGHTS? I celebrate Christmas, but because it isn't celebrated by everyone, we can no longer say Merry Christmas. Now it has to be Season's Greetings.
It's not a Christmas holiday, it's a Winter Break. Isn't it amazing how this winter break ALWAYS occurs over the Christmas holiday? We've gone so far the other way, bent over backwards to not offend anyone, that I am now being offended.
But it seems that no one has a problem with that.
This says it all!

This is an editorial written by a British citizen, published in a National newspaper He did quite a job; didn't he? Read on, please!

IMMIGRANTS,
NOT BRITS MUST ADAPT.
I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on the 7th of the 7th we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Brits. However, the disgust about the attacks had barely settled when the "politically correct " crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.


I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Britain, Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants. (The Danes, Romans ect.)
However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of the Brits being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Britain's we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.


We speak ENGLISH, not Indian, Urdu, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become partof our society, learn the language!
"Land of Hope & Glory" is our motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented.
It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools.
If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.

If the 'Union Jack' flag offends you, the cross offends you, or you don't like our QUEEN, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from.
This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our Laws give every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so! But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our lifestyle our government, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great BRITISH freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.
It is Time for Gt. Britain to Speak up. If you agree -- pass this along; if you don't agree -- delete it!
anon..
AMEN

I think if we all keep passing this to our friends (and enemies) it will also, sooner or later get back to the complainers, lets all try, please.

Best regards,

Mick Wheeler

Ok, lets have a look at this shall we?

I celebrate Christmas, but because it isn't celebrated by everyone, we can no longer say Merry Christmas. Now it has to be Season's Greetings.
It's not a Christmas holiday, it's a Winter Break.

Yes, you do indeed celebrate Christmas, well spotted. In fact most people celebrate Christmas - even atheists do, despite it being a Christian holiday. People have been putting seasons greetings on cards for as long as I can remember, because as well as Christmas there is also that God awful affair of new-years, and it saves the card manufactures money to just print one slogan to cover every excuse that people may contrive to get drunk. In the same light, you get a Winter break because it takes place - funnily enough - in Winter, and usually for a period of time considerably longer than the Christmas period itself. If you want a Christmas break, then I'm sure your employer would be happy to oblige, but don't start complaining when you no longer get new-years of work to, since that doesn't come under the term of "Christmas holiday".

This is an editorial written by a British citizen...

WRONG! We are not citizens in this country, we are subjects since we ultimately fall under the rule of a monarch.

I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Britain, Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants. (The Danes, Romans ect.)

The article begins so admirably. From reading that I could almost believe that this person has some ounce of intelligence. He realises that there is no such thing as a "true" British person - something that a lot of people have trouble with.

This idea of the Brits being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Britain's we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle.

Oh dear, after such a promising start it begins to fall down immediately, what a shame. Britain does not have a national identity of it's own, and neither does it have it's own language, society or lifestyle. In reality it's a great big mish-mash of Celt, Pict, Norse, Germanic, French, Norman, Angle, Saxon... the list goes on and on. At one point in our history we had a king who was German and couldn't even speak English - to counteract this he appointed a "Prime Minister" to deal with parliament for him, and the position stuck and became precedent.

We speak ENGLISH, not Indian, Urdu, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!

Yes, we may certainly speak "English", but English is a language only in name. It's an amalgamation of many other languages that got absorbed as people from other countries settled here. If you really want to carry on British tradition, then the best way to do so would be to absorb the languages of anyone settling in Britain now, since this is the way things have always happened around here. I for one would quite like some new words in our language since the ones we already have to play with are beginning to bore me.

"Land of Hope & Glory" is our motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented.

Excuse me? Christian men and women founded this nation on Christian principles? Well that really is quite some feat considering the people that originally settled here were pagan. And since Christ hadn't actually been born at the time they were around, I think they had a pretty damn good reason for not being Christian too. And even when Christianity was introduced into this country, there was certainly nothing principled about it - when the Bible was translated into English, it was re-worded, re-phrased and had several omissions that were blamed on "translation". No, the reason they did this was because the church only wanted people to know what they told them, indeed for centuries (and to some extent even today) the church as an institution in this country existed and exists as a tool for the control of people. I've never known a more unchristian institution in all my life than the church.

If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.

That's a pretty big claim saying God is part of our culture. If God was part of our culture then we wouldn't be spending our time bombing the middle-east constantly now, would we?

If the 'Union Jack' flag offends you, the cross offends you, or you don't like our QUEEN, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from.

For starters the Union Jack is what is flown on British naval vessels. What you're thinking of is the Union Flag, which is the atrocity that flown everywhere on land. It IS offensive, at least to me it is, and presumably some others too. The Union Flag, being a montage of the flags of England, Scotland and Ireland, is a symbol of how the English marched into Wales, Scotland and Ireland, subjugated the people there, made them second class citizens and took away their rights and freedom. Tell me again that it isn't offensive.
I have nothing against the cross. It doesn't offend me and I wouldn't call myself a Christian. Out of the atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus etc. that I've spoken to, none of them ever once gave me anything to suggest that they were somehow offended by the cross. Perhaps if you conversed with people from other cultures and religions more often you might realise that they're just the same as you and I.
As for the Queen, well she seems like a nice enough lady, but what purpose does she - or any other monarch past or present - serve? The only things monarchs used to do in the past was tax the poor and then use that money to declare war on other countries. We have a Prime Minister to do this instead now, so the post of monarch is redundant.

Our Laws give every citizen the right to express his opinion and we will allow you every opportunity to do so!

Explain to me why a senior citizen (this is an ironic term if you remember that we all subjects anyway) was recently escorted (read: thrown out) out of a speech being given by a Labour MP, purely because he voiced his opinion by exclaiming "nonsense!". That's hardly freedom of expression if you ask me.

But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our lifestyle our government, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great BRITISH freedom, THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.

If you can't face upto change, then perhaps you should consider leaving this country yourself. Change is something that should be embraced rather than hiding from. This country has been consistantly changing ever since there have been people living here. If we had less people like you, I daresay we could make some changes - and maybe even improvements - to this country. If you decide to leave however (and here's to hoping that you will), then you better take advantage of this freedom pretty soon, since when the inevitable happens and the ID card scheme becomes reality, then you will need to have one of those to leave the country, which would mean it would be hardly fair to call it a "freedom" then.

It is Time for Gt. Britain to Speak up.

Consider me "spoken up" then.