Swastika Rehabilitation Day Is July 20; Will It Cause Furor?

[The Straight Story]

Swastika Rehabilitation Day Is July 20; Will It Cause Furor?

A UFO group is convinced it can rehabilitate the image of the swastika no matter what furor it causes.

The group, known as the Raelian International Movement, has declared July 20 as "Swastika Rehabilitation Day," with the goal being taking back the controversial symbol from the Nazis and returning it to its former glory as a symbol of good luck.

Before Adolph Hitler adopted the swastika, the symbol was already thousands of years old, appearing on Hindu and Buddhist temples, in Native American artwork and even in Jewish synagogues in Israel, according to spokesman Thomas Kaenzig.

“It’s been used for thousands of years as a symbol of well being and good luck, so when Westerners interpret it as meaning something ugly just because the Nazis used it, our society denies millions of people the right to live their religion freely,” he told The Huffington Post.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/17/swastika-rehabilitation-d_n_3605754.html

[AllINeedIsCoffee]

1. Nope, just Führer. nt

[MADem]

2. Beat me to it.

My view--the Nazis wiped their asses on that thing. It can never be restored. When it crops up in other iterations, like ancient Indian decorations, it needs to be explained.

That's just the way it is.

[shenmue]

3. I think so too

Some things are just ruined and that's it.

[GlashFordan]

5. Ridiculous

12 years doesn't equal thousands.

It's a symbol with a beautiful history and is commonly used even today and mot by Nazis lol.

It's just about as absurd as if Islamic mathematicians refused to use the + sign in formulas because it resembles the cross of the crusaders. Except the crusaders used that symbol far longer than the Nazis used the swastika.

[cali]

12. Give it time. a lot more time

at least in western culture. In western culture the swastika is burned into the collective unconsciousness as a symbol of man's inhumanity to man. It's not a question of whether that's fair or that it has an illustrious history in other cultures. It's been well under a hundred years since the Nazi Regime. And, of course, in western culture, the swastika never held a position of any great esteem.

[derby378]

16. As an aside, there used to be a Texas town called Swastika

Some of the local Native American tribles apparently used it as a good luck symbol or something. This was back before the 1930s, however. The more the residents learned about the rise of Hitler and the Third Reich, the less they wanted to be associated with that lunacy. So the town quietly faded away - today, there might be nothing of Swastika left.

[MADem]

23. It's a symbol of the death of millions, and that can't be undone.

The plus sign is not the cross, which has very specific proportions--obviously you have trouble distinguishing the length of a line if you believe otherwise.

[JesterCS]

25. UGh i saw this OP title

and said to myself. " i know the perfect joke " and bam.. its been done already =*(

[OldEurope]

4. So they chose the day when

Staufenberg failed to kill Hitler? For swastika rehab?

[Poll_Blind]

11. If you reach any harder, you're going to sprain something! nt

PB

[OldEurope]

15. I'm afraid my English is not sufficient.

I don't understand what you are trying to say.

[COLGATE4]

6. Aren't the Raelians the same group that offed themselves

en masse a few years back - waiting to board the space ship hiding behing the Hale Bopp comet? Now there's a group we should be paying attention to.

[derby378]

17. Nah, that was the Heaven's Gate movement (n/t)

[COLGATE4]

18. Yep, you're right. But I know we heard about

the Raelians before. Now I remember - there was a Raelian representative - a woman in France that was going to give birth to the first cloned human baby, supposedly created by a rogue Italian doctor. The press got all excited but nothing ever came of it.

[derby378]

20. I still remember SNL's hilarious take on the cloned baby

You might be interested in this, too - the end of the video talks about the Raelians' plans for an Elohim Embassy to welcome back the creators of humankind in their flying saucers:

[COLGATE4]

21. YES!!!!!! Thanks for the clip!!!!!! nt

[Nye Bevan]

7. I suspect there is more than a little ugly anti-semitism behind this (nt)

[COLGATE4]

19. Yep, all decked out in a cheery 'let's rehabilitate the swastika"

meme. Bet there are lots of 'rehabilitators' in Bavaria...

[MADem]

24. I suspect you are correct...! nt

[Lee-Lee]

8. It is still all over many Asian cultures as a good luck symbol

I was at the Casino in Cherokee NC and mistakenly walked into the "Asian Gaming Room" and it took me a moment to realize why there were swastikas all over the wall.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. I see what you did there.

In answer to the group's question, probably not. Those little moustaches are never coming back, either.

[jessie04]

10. What the world is waiting for.

sheeeeeeeesh

[Poll_Blind]

13. It's a shame that a symbol which loosely resembles a galaxy would have been adopted by such...

...soulless fucks and essentially poisoned- along with the sensible and easy to maintain toothbrush mustache. It's just lame.

Interestingly, while one is likely to be shunned for sporting either of those two symbols (regardless of intent), the fascistic mindset they are associated with are as fashionable as ever.



PB

[Zorra]

14. Geez, someone needs to get a life. nt

[Gravitycollapse]

22. It would be nice if Hinduism and Buddhism could reclaim this once sacred symbol.

I realize it's still widely used in India. But it would be cool if the rest of the world could catch up.

[Cleita]

26. St brigid's cross in Ireland, a swastika shaped

artifact made of straw, goes back to pagan times and is still celebrated today. I would post a link but I can't copy and paste from this computer.

[Agnosticsherbet]

27. The Mandala, symbol of shakti, is ancient.

It will outlive its short term cultural tie to National Socialism

[kestrel91316]

28. My niece married into a Dot Indian family (as opposed to Feather Indian)

and the day after the wedding they had a puja ceremony at the in-laws' house. The altar for the ceremony had, among other things, a beautiful beaded, sequinned, embroidered "swastika" banner. They made a point of explaining to the white folks in attendance that it was an ancient Hindu religious symbol and NOT anything to do with Nazis.

I already knew that, but my BIL's family from Ohio probably needed that little lesson.