The Attack on Saint George

Behold the ancient cross of Saint George, patron saint of the English, among others. Alas, there is a move afoot among the English clergy to replace Saint George and his cross with that of Saint Alban for fear of offending Muslims.

His dragon-slaying heroics have kept his legend alive through the centuries.

But the Church of England is considering rejecting England's patron saint St George on the grounds that his image is too warlike and may offend Muslims.

Clergy have started a campaign to replace George with St Alban, a Christian martyr in Roman Britain.

The scheme, to be considered by the Church's parliament, the General Synod, has met a cautious but sympathetic response from senior bishops.

But it clashes with the increasing popularity of the saint and his flag in England. The World Cup brought out millions of St George crosses as the symbol became increasingly mainstream and less frequently dismissed as a badge favoured only by far-Right political activists.

If St Alban replaced St George, the red cross on a white background would have to be replaced as England's flag by Alban's symbol, a diagonal yellow cross on a blue background that bears a strong similarity to St Andrew's cross, the flag of Scotland.

Go to the link to read the rest. As a Celt of Irish/Scottish descent my default tendency is to take the micky out of the Sassenach, but even my rather fevered imagination, twisted though it may be, is insufficent to conjure up such insanities, and that is saying something. Total madness is not, it would appear, the sole perogative of this poor writer.

Hat tip to Kathy Shaidle and Rachel Lucas.