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Derelict
Stranger Danger
Registered: 12/03/05
Posts: 50
Loc: Appalachain Mountains
Last seen: 15 years, 7 months
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Swastika tattoo
#5351827 - 03/01/06 12:04 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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We have a new guy at work. Like some of the other employees, he has several tattoos. Cool. I noticed one of them is a swastika... on the top of his right hand. Very visible area, especially when doing cash transactions.
In my neck of the woods, confederate flags tend to be par for the course, but their meaining can be open to more speculation ("heritage not hate," etc.) Its a redneck cultural thing; kind of like the mentally disabled kid with an erection, you just ignore it, ignorance (on both parties) being bliss.
However, this is a free country, and people are entitled to their own (albiet often misguided) opinions.
I work in the pizza delivery business. While the respectability and prestige factor isn't that high, there should be some standards. Really, I work for one of the majors, and they're all about company image (I can't even wear this ass kickin' white belt I've got).
I work for tips. I try and look decent and presentable, and this guy with his proclamation of bigotry and ignorance is making ME look bad(and in some roundabout way costing me money ie loss of tips/customer goodwill).
Suggestions, comments? Maybe a bandage is in order for the guy? A cover up job? Simple discretion?
OR Should I just chill the fuck out?
Thanks.
-------------------- We are here on earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different. -Kurt Vonnegut
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Penguarky Tunguin
f n o r d

Registered: 08/08/04
Posts: 17,192
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5351836 - 03/01/06 12:07 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Chill, as people should on most things.
"The swastika is a holy symbol in Hinduism, Jainism, Heathenry and Buddhism."
Ya never know. I'd bet it wasn't for those though. 
As long as he doesn't specifically offend you, leave it be...
-------------------- Every mistake, intentional or otherwise, in the above post, is the fault of the reader.
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pantsboy
I troll because I care.


Registered: 10/28/04
Posts: 13,002
Loc: 8====D ~o
Last seen: 1 year, 27 days
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Kick his ass and get him fired. There is no room for inappropriate conduct in the pizza business. I personally wouldn't buy food from a place where the cashier has swastikas tattoed on him.
-------------------- Acid doesn't hurt when you're on fire.
"Mushrooms are only similar to penises in their appearance." - LeBron James (2013) ToiletDuk said: "Bus squelching is not to be laughed at."
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buckwheat
Cynically Insane

Registered: 12/09/02
Posts: 11,179
Loc: Not Enough Characters to ...
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5351849 - 03/01/06 12:11 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Just become friends with the guy who knows you might learn from him.Then get him drunk and tattoo gary coleman on his forehead
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pantsboy
I troll because I care.


Registered: 10/28/04
Posts: 13,002
Loc: 8====D ~o
Last seen: 1 year, 27 days
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5351866 - 03/01/06 12:16 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Send him to a concentration camp.
-------------------- Acid doesn't hurt when you're on fire.
"Mushrooms are only similar to penises in their appearance." - LeBron James (2013) ToiletDuk said: "Bus squelching is not to be laughed at."
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fresh313
journeyman


Registered: 09/01/03
Posts: 2,537
Last seen: 12 years, 9 months
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: buckwheat]
#5351868 - 03/01/06 12:16 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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.
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Mcdoopy
Fungus Face


Registered: 10/24/05
Posts: 3,296
Loc: Varrok Center
Last seen: 7 years, 7 months
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Quote:
McKennaDMT said: Chill, as people should on most things.
As long as he doesn't specifically offend you, leave it be...
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pantsboy
I troll because I care.


Registered: 10/28/04
Posts: 13,002
Loc: 8====D ~o
Last seen: 1 year, 27 days
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Mcdoopy]
#5351882 - 03/01/06 12:23 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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It probably is offending the customers.
-------------------- Acid doesn't hurt when you're on fire.
"Mushrooms are only similar to penises in their appearance." - LeBron James (2013) ToiletDuk said: "Bus squelching is not to be laughed at."
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Mcdoopy
Fungus Face


Registered: 10/24/05
Posts: 3,296
Loc: Varrok Center
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: pantsboy]
#5351884 - 03/01/06 12:24 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Then let them say something.
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Silversoul
Rhizome


Registered: 01/01/05
Posts: 23,576
Loc: The Barricades
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5351887 - 03/01/06 12:26 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Have him deliver a pizza to some guy with a Jewish-sounding name.
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SkorpivoMusterion
Livin in theTwilight Zone...


Registered: 01/30/03
Posts: 9,954
Loc: You can't spell fungus wi...
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5351890 - 03/01/06 12:26 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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For all you know, it may be a "mistake-tattoo". There might've been a point in his life where he was rather..niave, or just plain stupid and got caught up in some group-gang mentality and ended up getting tattooed and screwed. But even if he couldn't afford to have it removed, you'd think he could at least do a cover-up if he actually regretted it.
I used to know a guy who had a massive swastika on his back, as well as several other swastikas around his body [none explicitly visible]. He was a tattoo artist, and looked intriguingly similar to Edward Norton in American History X. He ended up getting the swazi on his back partially covered up, so he could enlist in the military - only to decide that the military wasn't for him. Now he's a store manager, and has obviously wisened up a bit.
-------------------- Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love.
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TheCow
Stranger

Registered: 10/28/02
Posts: 4,790
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Just wait until a customer like me walks in and knocks him out. If it doesnt happen, than I dont think its an issue. See ive always felt that free speech is perfectly fine, but you have to be prepared for a guy to knock you out.
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Mcdoopy
Fungus Face


Registered: 10/24/05
Posts: 3,296
Loc: Varrok Center
Last seen: 7 years, 7 months
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Quote:
SkorpivoMusterion said: For all you know, it may be a "mistake-tattoo". There might've been a point in his life where he was rather..niave, or just plain stupid and got caught up in some group-gang mentality and ended up getting tattooed and screwed. But even if he couldn't afford to have it removed, you'd think he could at least do a cover-up if he actually regretted it.
I used to know a guy who had a massive swastika on his back, as well as several other swastikas around his body [none explicitly visible]. He was a tattoo artist, and looked intriguingly similar to Edward Norton in American History X. He ended up getting the swazi on his back partially covered up, so he could enlist in the military - only to decide that the military wasn't for him. Now he's a store manager, and has obviously wisened up a bit.
If he wasn't still with it he would have gotten that shit changed up to something else
Quote:
TheCow said: See ive always felt that free speech is perfectly fine, but you have to be prepared for a guy to knock you out.
True
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RandalFlagg
Stranger
Registered: 06/15/02
Posts: 15,608
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: pantsboy]
#5352219 - 03/01/06 04:15 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
Pants Boy said: There is no room for inappropriate conduct in the pizza business.
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rawtoxic
Stranger
Registered: 10/06/02
Posts: 2,097
Loc: smokey mountains
Last seen: 13 years, 5 months
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Everyplace like that I remember working for had a no visible tatoo policy usually.
When I worked at Domino's no earings, jewelry or anything allowed. They even thought they controlled under shirt color and sock color. Talk about Nazis 
Just wait until a 300LB nig asks him about that thing on his hand. That'll be the day.
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Prisoner#1
Even Dumber ThanAdvertized!


Registered: 01/22/03
Posts: 193,665
Loc: Pvt. Pubfag NutSuck
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Quote:
RandalFlagg said:
Quote:
Pants Boy said: There is no room for inappropriate conduct in the pizza business.
I've seen the movies, pizza delivery is all about inapropriate conduct
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Kamek


Registered: 01/08/05
Posts: 2,923
Last seen: 8 months, 6 days
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Quote:
McKennaDMT said: Chill, as people should on most things.
"The swastika is a holy symbol in Hinduism, Jainism, Heathenry and Buddhism."
Ya never know. I'd bet it wasn't for those though. 
As long as he doesn't specifically offend you, leave it be...
I'm not sure but i think their swastikas are usually inverted...
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Asante
Mage


Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 86,795
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5352895 - 03/01/06 09:44 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
"The swastika is a holy symbol in Hinduism, Jainism, Heathenry and Buddhism."
Ask him if he is a Buddhist, if he says no press his hand to the oven 
Umm on a serious note: you clearly take offense, and you don't have to be a minority to take offense at a swastika. I'd say complain to the manager that it's rude and makes the place look bad, because it is. Recommendations by friends are oimportant to small businesses and you can bet many good customers would DISrecommend such a place to their friends. It might attract bigot yahoos, the nightmare of most managers.
It brings the whole place down in the eyes of many people, and you work there to. Complain.
Quote:
I'm not sure but i think their swastikas are usually inverted...
The ancient cultures honor the symbol for thousands of years, so it's hjitler who inverted it, not them
-------------------- Omnicyclion.org higher knowledge starts here
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Adom
Totally Nude

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 10,877
Loc: Way Up North
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5352902 - 03/01/06 09:45 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Chill the fuck out.
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JonnyOnTheSpot
Sober Surfer


Registered: 01/27/02
Posts: 11,527
Loc: North Carolina
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5352973 - 03/01/06 10:09 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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just spray a bunch of white power graffiti all over the bathroom walls. that should get him fired.
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Irradiated_Feces
doomedgeneration


Registered: 07/11/03
Posts: 4,278
Loc: Great White North
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5352984 - 03/01/06 10:12 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Derelict
Stranger Danger
Registered: 12/03/05
Posts: 50
Loc: Appalachain Mountains
Last seen: 15 years, 7 months
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Thanks for all the posts... funny stuff here.
First, chill is my middle name. So, that is no problem. No need to get violent with the guy, that seems rather pointless. I know he can afford to cover the tattoo (we pizza boys average 100/night), and if he really regretted it he would have done so by now.
I may have a friendly chat with him and appeal to his greed... ie customers will give you better tips if they don't think you're an ignorant, inbred bigot, so maybe, Chief, you should cover that little [mistake] with a bandage or magic marker.
If he is disinclined to do so, I'll just get him fired.
-------------------- We are here on earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different. -Kurt Vonnegut
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Hypercube
80 SRM



Registered: 12/18/05
Posts: 814
Last seen: 11 years, 22 days
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5355772 - 03/01/06 11:29 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Sounds like a safe way to play it.
On a side note, "bigot yahoo" is such a great description. I love it.
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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika


Registered: 12/03/02
Posts: 10,675
Loc: beautiful BC
Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5355788 - 03/01/06 11:34 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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swastika's traditionally are signs of fertility and good healthy (i believe) - your probably misinterperting it... but probably rightfully so.
-------------------- GO OUTSIDE.
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RandalFlagg
Stranger
Registered: 06/15/02
Posts: 15,608
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: PDU]
#5355806 - 03/01/06 11:38 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
PDU said: swastika's traditionally are signs of fertility and good healthy
Hm...Hitler had no kids and was in horrible physical shape toward the end of the war. It is even rumored that he might have had syphilis.
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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika


Registered: 12/03/02
Posts: 10,675
Loc: beautiful BC
Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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The swastika is a holy symbol in Hinduism, Jainism, Heathenry and Buddhism. In the West, it is more widely known as a symbol of Nazism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika
-------------------- GO OUTSIDE.
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RandalFlagg
Stranger
Registered: 06/15/02
Posts: 15,608
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: PDU]
#5355828 - 03/01/06 11:42 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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I knew that smartypants.
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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika


Registered: 12/03/02
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I still get offended when i see people with swastika tattoo's, while trying to keep an open mind...
sometimes its hard.
-------------------- GO OUTSIDE.
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daimyo
Monticello

Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 7,751
Last seen: 12 years, 20 hours
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5356151 - 03/02/06 01:38 AM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
Derelict said: First, chill is my middle name.
Quote:
Derelict said: I'll just get him fired.

Your hate is no better than his.
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"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
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Irradiated_Feces
doomedgeneration


Registered: 07/11/03
Posts: 4,278
Loc: Great White North
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: PDU]
#5357228 - 03/02/06 12:15 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
PDU said: I still get offended when i see people with swastika tattoo's, while trying to keep an open mind...
sometimes its hard.
That's the point of swastikas... shock and offend.
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Twister
Lucrative


Registered: 06/12/03
Posts: 6,672
Loc: Midwest
Last seen: 14 years, 20 days
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: daimyo]
#5357273 - 03/02/06 12:29 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
daimyo said:
Quote:
Derelict said: First, chill is my middle name.
Quote:
Derelict said: I'll just get him fired.

Your hate is no better than his.
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Redstorm
Prince of Bugs



Registered: 10/08/02
Posts: 44,175
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Derelict]
#5357313 - 03/02/06 12:39 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Who gives a fuck? As long as his behavior is under control and he's not a menace, leave him alone. He's allowed to believe whatever he wants.
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daimyo
Monticello

Registered: 05/13/04
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Redstorm]
#5357326 - 03/02/06 12:42 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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It never ceases to amaze me how radicals hate freedom so much. You'd think the druggie/hippie faction would fully support freedom, but nope. Not if it goes against their beliefs.
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"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
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Adom
Totally Nude

Registered: 09/30/01
Posts: 10,877
Loc: Way Up North
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: daimyo]
#5357328 - 03/02/06 12:43 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Great isn't it?
And they don't get it no matter how many times it's pointed out to them.
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Redstorm
Prince of Bugs



Registered: 10/08/02
Posts: 44,175
Last seen: 3 months, 11 days
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: daimyo]
#5357331 - 03/02/06 12:44 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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No kidding. I'm obviously no fan of Nazi's, but if they want a tattoo of their symbol on them, more power to them.
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Irradiated_Feces
doomedgeneration


Registered: 07/11/03
Posts: 4,278
Loc: Great White North
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Redstorm]
#5357406 - 03/02/06 01:00 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Can't we all just forgive and forget?
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daimyo
Monticello

Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 7,751
Last seen: 12 years, 20 hours
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Wow, just wow.
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"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
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Irradiated_Feces
doomedgeneration


Registered: 07/11/03
Posts: 4,278
Loc: Great White North
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: daimyo]
#5357424 - 03/02/06 01:04 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Silversoul
Rhizome


Registered: 01/01/05
Posts: 23,576
Loc: The Barricades
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Adom]
#5357425 - 03/02/06 01:05 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
Adom said: Great isn't it?
And they don't get it no matter how many times it's pointed out to them.
Indeed. Imagine if someone tried to get someone else fired for having a pot leaf tattoo.
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Asante
Mage


Registered: 02/06/02
Posts: 86,795
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Silversoul]
#5357631 - 03/02/06 01:59 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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If it would make you feel better: a pot leaf tattoo would not be OK too.
Now personally I like it that nazi scum voluntarily wears a sign by which you can recognise them, but an employee is an extension of the business, and the swastika is a political symbol intimately associated with genocide.
From september 1, 1939 onwards the war lasted about 6 years, and for every single year a million Jews died in death camps based on that ideology. A pretty powerful statement for a pizza place.
A hemp leaf tattoo would signify: "dude, by the time you'll get your pizza it'll be cold and you have to repeat twice what you want on it." Big difference!
-------------------- Omnicyclion.org higher knowledge starts here
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barfightlard
tales of theinexpressible



Registered: 01/29/03 
Posts: 8,670
Loc: Canoodia
Last seen: 14 years, 1 month
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Quote:
McKennaDMT said: Chill, as people should on most things.
"The swastika is a holy symbol in Hinduism, Jainism, Heathenry and Buddhism."
Ya never know. I'd bet it wasn't for those though. 
As long as he doesn't specifically offend you, leave it be...
Thats what I was going to say. It's also a symbol of power and the sun if im not mistakin. Why not ask him about it instead of sitting back and worrying.
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"What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy, see, say, think, who I fuck, what I take into my body - as long as I do not harm another human being on this planet?" - Bill Hicks
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Redstorm
Prince of Bugs



Registered: 10/08/02
Posts: 44,175
Last seen: 3 months, 11 days
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Asante]
#5357727 - 03/02/06 02:22 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Well, if there's a problem, the owner or manager should confront him about breaking work policies. If there is no policy regarding tattoos, I don't see what the problem is.
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daimyo
Monticello

Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 7,751
Last seen: 12 years, 20 hours
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Asante]
#5357881 - 03/02/06 02:59 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
Wiccan_Seeker said: If it would make you feel better: a pot leaf tattoo would not be OK too.
Now personally I like it that nazi scum voluntarily wears a sign by which you can recognise them, but an employee is an extension of the business, and the swastika is a political symbol intimately associated with genocide.
From september 1, 1939 onwards the war lasted about 6 years, and for every single year a million Jews died in death camps based on that ideology. A pretty powerful statement for a pizza place.
A hemp leaf tattoo would signify: "dude, by the time you'll get your pizza it'll be cold and you have to repeat twice what you want on it." Big difference!
You consider it better to have a drugged out, incompetent employee(who will probably be putting lives at risk by delivering pizzas under the influence) than to have someone with a controversial tattoo?
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"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
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it stars saddam
Satan

Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,571
Loc: Spahn Ranch
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Quote:
Irradiated_Feces said:
Quote:
PDU said: I still get offended when i see people with swastika tattoo's, while trying to keep an open mind...
sometimes its hard.
That's the point of swastikas... shock and offend.
Fuckin' A.
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it stars saddam
Satan

Registered: 05/19/05
Posts: 15,571
Loc: Spahn Ranch
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Re: Swastika tattoo [Re: Asante]
#5357973 - 03/02/06 03:24 PM (17 years, 10 months ago) |
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Quote:
Wiccan_Seeker said: A hemp leaf tattoo would signify: "dude, by the time you'll get your pizza it'll be cold and you have to repeat twice what you want on it."
To you maybe.
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Penguarky Tunguin
f n o r d

Registered: 08/08/04
Posts: 17,192
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Exactly. If a guy shows up to my door stoned off his ass delivering me the wrong pizza, i'm gonna be more pissed about that then someone who delivers me the correct pizza and I just happen to notice a swastika tattoo.
I have many books on Nazism and Germany during WW2, thus many of the books have swastikas on the cover and some on the spine as well, and people that come over to my place and see that are taken aback at first and they ask me about it and I have to tell them that I have an interest in WW2 and especially the Nazis. Mainly the psychological factor behind it all. I understand that having books about Nazism and having a swastika tattoo are completley different and that having said tattoo probably doesn't mean he has an interest in the period. 
I bet the OP wouldn't be offended if the guy had an American flag tattoo in the same place. If he's not causing problems, leave it be.
-------------------- Every mistake, intentional or otherwise, in the above post, is the fault of the reader.
Edited by McKennaDMT (03/02/06 03:34 PM)
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HELLA_TIGHT
Madge the Smoking Vag


Registered: 08/19/03
Posts: 84,387
Loc: Afghanistan
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I have the American flag tattooed on my face.
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Stonerguy
I smoke penis


Registered: 05/29/04
Posts: 5,538
Loc: Lost
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The Oldest Known Symbol
The swastika is an ancient symbol that has been used for over 3,000 years. (That even predates the ancient Egyptian symbol, the Ankh!) Artifacts such as pottery and coins from ancient Troy show that the swastika was a commonly used symbol as far back as 1000 BCE.
During the following thousand years, the image of the swastika was used by many cultures around the world, including in China, Japan, India, and southern Europe. By the Middle Ages, the swastika was a well known, if not commonly used, symbol but was called by many different names:
* China - wan * England - fylfot * Germany - Hakenkreuz * Greece - tetraskelion and gammadion * India - swastika
Though it is not known for exactly how long, Native Americans also have long used the symbol of the swastika.
The Original Meaning
The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix.
Until the Nazis used this symbol, the swastika was used by many cultures throughout the past 3,000 years to represent life, sun, power, strength, and good luck. Sponsored Links
Even in the early twentieth century, the swastika was still a symbol with positive connotations. For instance, the swastika was a common decoration that often adorned cigarette cases, postcards, coins, and buildings. During World War I, the swastika could even be found on the shoulder patches of the American 45th Division and on the Finnish air force until after World War II.
A Change in Meaning
In the 1800s, countries around Germany were growing much larger, forming empires; yet Germany was not a unified country until 1871. To counter the feeling of vulnerability and the stigma of youth, German nationalists in the mid-nineteenth century began to use the swastika, because it had ancient Aryan/Indian origins, to represent a long Germanic/Aryan history.
By the end of the nineteenth century, the swastika could be found on nationalist German volkisch periodicals and was the official emblem of the German Gymnasts' League.
In the beginning of the twentieth century, the swastika was a common symbol of German nationalism and could be found in a multitude of places such as the emblem for the Wandervogel, a German youth movement; on Joerg Lanz von Liebenfels' antisemitic periodical Ostara; on various Freikorps units; and as an emblem of the Thule Society.
Hitler and the Nazis
In 1920, Adolf Hitler decided that the Nazi Party needed its own insignia and flag. For Hitler, the new flag had to be "a symbol of our own struggle" as well as "highly effective as a poster." (Mein Kampf, pg. 495)
On August 7, 1920, at the Salzburg Congress, this flag became the official emblem of the Nazi Party.
In Mein Kampf, Hitler described the Nazis' new flag: "In red we see the social idea of the movement, in white the nationalistic idea, in the swastika the mission of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan man, and, by the same token, the victory of the idea of creative work, which as such always has been and always will be anti-Semitic." (pg. 496-497)
Because of the Nazis' flag, the swastika soon became a symbol of hate, antisemitism, violence, death, and murder.
What Does the Swastika Mean Now?
There is a great debate as to what the swastika means now. For 3,000 years, the swastika meant life and good luck. But because of the Nazis, it has also taken on a meaning of death and hate.
These conflicting meanings are causing problems in today's society. For Buddhists and Hindus, the swastika is a very religious symbol that is commonly used. Chirag Badlani shares a story about one time when he went to make some photocopies of some Hindu Gods for his temple. While standing in line to pay for the photocopies, some people behind him in line noticed that one of the pictures had a swastika. They called him a Nazi.
Unfortunately, the Nazis were so effective at their use of the swastika emblem, that many do not even know any other meaning for the swastika. Can there be two completely opposite meanings for one symbol?
In ancient times, the direction of the swastika was interchangeable as can be seen on an ancient Chinese silk drawing.
Some cultures in the past had differentiated between the clockwise swastika and the counter-clockwise sauvastika. In these cultures the swastika symbolized health and life while the sauvastika took on a mystical meaning of bad-luck or misfortune.
But since the Nazis use of the swastika, some people are trying to differentiate the two meanings of the swastika by varying its direction - trying to make the clockwise, Nazi version of the swastika mean hate and death while the counter-clockwise version would hold the ancient meaning of the symbol, life and good-luck.
-------------------- yawn... SG
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