Other thread on Nazi prompted me to write this. Many people don't know what this symbol means. They only know it after the Nazis hijacked it. For a detailed explanation, look at this WIKIPEDIA link.
In short, this is an auspicious symbol used in many religions. This has nothing to do with race or cultural supremacy. This symbol has been used in Hindu religion for a few thousand years. Even today, many houses in Indian villages have this symbol painted on their door frames. And almost all Hindu temples have this symbol. It is equivalent of the yin-yang symbol used in buddhist traditions. I really hate the fact that many people think that this is an offensive symbol. This symbol has been there much much before hitler. So if you see someone from an eastern culture displaying this symbol on their house or something, he is probably a religious person. It has no more meaning to it. Eventhough I don't support Nazi ideas, or really a religious person, I wouldn't mind displaying this symbol

But, in choosing to consciously display it, fully aware of what the Nazis brought to the symbol, and what that symbol, in the Nazi context, meant, to the Third Reich's millions of victims, isn't it a knowingly crass thing to do?

To use a poor metaphor at will, you could argue that Osama Bin Laden was born innocent, as all babies are at the moment of birth. So, in essence, he was the Swastika in its "auspicious" form. But, when his mind became warped and corrupted, and was put to other means and causes, which brought death to many people, he became the Swastika in the way the Nazis used it, if you like.

Get what I mean?

Mick

Fair do's. Most people wouldn't dispute it's original meaning. It's the Nazi connotation that offends people. In western cultures the majority using the swastika are using it for promoting Nazi values.

Mick, I understand your point. I will make a counter example. I don't mean any offense, but if some terrorist organization chooses to use the holy cross as its symbol, will you stop using it? As a Hindu, why should I lose my cultural identity, just because some hateful people associated one of the traditional symbols with their stupid ideas?
My main intention for this thread was not to address the above dilemmas, but to make an educational post. Even if you think Swastika is offensive, I would be happy if you also knew its benign origins

I get your drift SV, but unfortunately as the Wikipedia points out in the Western world the swastika has become primarily associated with Nazism and the Neos. Just by saying that it had it's orgins in Eastern religions doesn't override the meaning that the symbol has assumed since the Third Reich adopted it.

Your example of "if some terrorist organization chooses to use the holy cross as its symbol, will you stop using it?" would only be valid if that group became a world power with the influence and destruction similar to the Third Reich.

Still an interesting fact about the origins and it's use in Eastern religions.

Yeah, SVSG, I actually knew of its benign origins before you posted about it. It seems childish and an obvious thing to say, but many people (myself included, recently, during a phase of arbitrary provocation) will choose to draw the Swastika and flaunt it openly, ready to snap back in reply to anybody frowning at it that it's actually a peace-meaning symbol.

While that is correct, anybody who is ready to strive out of their way to show or draw an image originally meaning peace could just as easily be led astray into jumping on the Nazi bandwagon. That may seem a bold thing to say, but it's true, I think.

I can understand somebody wanting to hold onto their cultural roots in the first place, but I suppose I resent any kind of iconography in the first place, used as a cult symbol. And that includes signs for peace as well as "evil" (coming from a subjective viewpoint, since Nazis wouldn't class the Swastika, or their cause, as evil).

Thanks,
Mick

The Nazi party called it a "Hakenkreuz." A literal translation is "crooked cross" in English.

Also, the swastika used in Hindu is different. The Nazi version is usually tilted and "spins" the other way.

The difference is really obvious between the two versions. I have to laugh at people who proudly display the Hindu version and say they're Nazis :rolleyes:

The reality is its just a dumb old national symbol :rolleyes:

People flock to identify images with groups. A cross for Christians, a Crescent Moon for Muslims and a swastika for Nazis.

So who cares? If you know what it means, good for you.

Don Vercetti, this version is exactly what is used in India. Thanks for posting it.

Mick, I agree with you that iconography doesn't serve much good.

The home my family lived in until I was about 1 year old was featured in a book about the neighborhood I grew up in. Each house featured in the book had it's own 'logo', a crest or a symbol or drawing of an animal or person. My family's house's logo was a swastika.

method, since that symbol was used along with other common symbols in your case, I am curious which part of the world are you from?

This was a neighborhood in the outskirts of Cincinnati, Ohio named Indian Hill.