Pro-swastika group flies offensive symbol over New York in bid to change its meaning

[Behind the Aegis]

A pro-swastika group stunned New York beachgoers when it flew a banner bearing the symbol associated with Nazism and anti-Semitism over Coney Island.

The International Raelian Movement hired a plane and flew a banner brandishing the swastika next to a peace sign and a heart, followed by the website proswastika.org.

The group’s intention was to rehabilitate the swastika and promote its pre-Nazi meaning of peace and love as used by Hindus.

The flying of the banner over Coney Island and Brighton Beach in southern Brooklyn punctuated the end of a week-long series of events with the same intention.

“For thousands of years this symbol had only positive connotations,” Thomas Kaenzig, a spokesperson for the group, told the Wall Street Journal.

more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/weird-news/proswastika-group-flies-offensive-symbol-over-new-york-in-bid-to-change-its-meaning-9607247.html

[steve2470]

1. color me unconvinced nt

[RandySF]

2. The Swastika predates Nazism.

Nowadays it is commonly seen in Indian artwork and current and ancient Hindu architecture, and in the ruins of the ancient city of Troy. It has also been used in Buddhism and Jainism, plus other Asian, European and Native American cultures.
The British author Rudyard Kipling, who was strongly influenced by Indian culture, had a swastika on the dust jackets of all his books until the rise of Nazism made this inappropriate. It was also a symbol used by the scouts in Britain, although it was taken off Robert Baden-Powell's 1922 Medal of Merit after complaints in the 1930s.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4183467.stm

[Behind the Aegis]

3. Yes, we know.

It doesn't change the fact that it means something else now. Hijacked? Sure. But it is still associated with the Nazis and superimposing it on a Jewish star is just foul.

[Warren DeMontague]

4. These are like "Friendly Space Brothers" UFO Cultists, aren't they?

Something tells me trying to logically reason with them on something like this would be a waste of time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra%C3%ABlism

[intaglio]

5. The Raelians are reality constrained

but they believe their garbage. Essentially they want to go back in time to before the 1930s when the swastika was a symbol of good fortune found in many cultures and could be dated back to the neolithic period.