General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGOP Candidate hosts Cross-burning Event
Shaun Winkler, White Supremacist Idaho Sheriff Candidate, Hosts Cross Burning Event
Shaun Winkler, a white supremacist in Idaho running as a Republican for Bonner County sheriff, is defending his recent cross burning ceremony, after having invited members of the media to attend the event last week.
"Mainstream society looks at cross lighting as a symbol of hate, but it predates the Klan by hundreds of years," Winkler told the Bonner County Daily Bee. "We look at it more as a religious symbol."
Winkler went on to claim the ritual has Scottish roots dating back hundreds of years, but his status as a Ku Klux Klan imperial wizard and his candid admissions of racial and religious prejudice suggest that the decision to burn the cross may take inspiration from a more recent and ugly practice.
More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/10/shaun-winkler-idaho-cross-burning_n_1506357.html
uponit7771
(90,364 posts)...time an election comes around
DearAbby
(12,461 posts)They sure mask a lot of hate with the title "Religious beliefs" or "Religious ceremony"
Ian David
(69,059 posts)gratuitous
(82,849 posts)But you don't go around sporting one unless you're ready to be lumped in with . . . Oh, nevermind Mr. Winkler.
It's up to you, Bonner County. Does this fascist represent you and your values? Because if you elect him, that will surely be the assumption.
Bake
(21,977 posts)If this Klown is elected, then the **only** conclusion possible is that a majority of voters in Bonner County are quite comfortable with a cross-burning Klansman as their elected official.
Bake
fishwax
(29,149 posts)Yes, mainstream society looks down on the stupid, racist shit you do. With good reason.
nykym
(3,063 posts)From Wikipedia;
In Scotland, the fiery cross, known as the Crann Tara, was used as a declaration of war. The sight of it commanded all clan members to rally to the defense of the area. On other occasions, a small burning cross would be carried from town to town. The most recent known use was in 1745, during the Jacobite Rising[2] and was subsequently described in the novels and poetry of Walter Scott.
Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross_burning
But as you can see it was a declaration of WAR! Some religious ritual!
daaron
(763 posts)Like other scary places.
But ... but ... shouldn't this be in the Religion group?