St George? Who the what?

St George's Day. The day needs revamping. At the moment, it is sorry excuse for a national celebration. It usually passes with a quiet whimper and a bit of flag waving, failing to be embraced by the vast majority of the English nation. Here is why. We have a Roman soldier, allegedly born in what would be modern Turkey, who was possibly persecuted and executed for his religious beliefs nearly 1800 years ago. He also slayed a dragon that didn't exist ( most likely a graphical representation of victory in battle ) and magically re-appeared to lead troops in to battle, approximately 1000 years after his death. This religious icon was thrust upon us through war and tyranny. His myth is celebrated throughout many countries including Egypt, Ethiopia, Russia, Syria and Romania. As a figurehead of 'Englishness' he has very little going for him. He never even set foot in our green and pleasant land. A small group of people 'celebrate' his holy-englishness by draping themselves in red and white flags, drinking ales and singing religious/football songs in pubs before being thrown out for fighting. It is fairly lame
when you actually think about it. It is not relevant. Religious, war-based myth that has no modern relevance.

So, here is my suggestion. Let's re-brand the day and call it 'England Day'. We make it a national holiday and celebrate all the things that have some relevance to our modern society and it's roots. It would be a celebration of the English Spring, the new growing season - the Greek name Georgios means 'Farmer' - and we could eat and drink great national produce whilst being polite and lovely to each other. We would have to embrace some of our more pagan traditions, like Morris Dancing and spring fairs which have real roots to the nations past. We could talk about the qualities of fairness, tolerance, rationalism and sustainability which will hopefully define us for the future. We could be proud of who we are because we would have a nice, balanced, ethical society, happy to celebrate its achievements without the racialist edge that it seems to drag behind it at the moment. We could introduce new 'traditions' like doing a 'Random act of Kindness' or donating to a local charity that carries out good work in our communities. We shouldn't be ashamed of celebrating our country, but we should at least have something happy and relevant to get  the party started.  Proud of something real.