Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Smeenus
OK then let me clarify. The contention that there is no meaning beyond the pre-WWII meaning of good fortune is not correct. In the vast majority of Europe and the Americas, the swastika = Nazi Germany. I recognize that in Asia the symbol is still used. It is simply not true that the symbol has the same meaning as before WWII.
Symbolism = language.
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And it's "correct" meaning is that which is intended by the "speaker". If a Buddhist monk walks around Israel, somehow, someway ignorant of how others might interpret it, and others interpret it as a Nazi symbol they have just misinterpreted it. Because they are both basically speaking a different language. Hence, a symbol has only the power that you give it. If I see some punk-looking dude with a studded leather jacket and a mohawk wearing a Nazi armband, then yeah, I'm going to assume he's being a twat, but that doesn't mean that another use of the swastika is any less valid. The problem being many people's ignorance of any other use of the swastika other than as a Nazi symbol, which unnecessarily taints other representations that could otherwise be positive.