Swastika is a symbol of peace, elite school tells sixth-graders

[grossproffit]

[quote]Sixth-graders at an elite Bronx private school have been caught drawing swastikas in art class, so administrators met with the kids — talking mainly about how the symbols represent peace in some cultures.

One parent who wishes not to be named said Jewish students have felt unsafe since the images began popping up three weeks ago at Ethical Culture Fieldston School, where tuition costs $45,100 a year.

In addition to the swastikas, a notebook was found at the middle school campus with the words “Hitler Rocks!” scrawled on the front, the parent said.

Administrators decided to address the apparent anti-Semitism by holding a grade-wide meeting.

Parents say teachers spent nearly 12 of the 15 minutes on a PowerPoint presentation on how the swastika was still considered a sacred symbol — while only briefly mentioning how the Nazis had adopted it in the 1920s.

Despite parents’ allegations that at least eight of the Nazi symbols had been seen on campus, school spokeswoman Meredith Halpern would confirm only that one had been drawn in art class.

But she refused to call it a swastika — and instead said that the student “drew a symbol that represents peace.”[/quote]

[url]http://nypost.com/2015/11/26/swastika-is-a-symbol-of-peace-elite-school-tells-sixth-graders[/url]

[Perogie]

1. In some cultures it's also a symbol of luck

Others a symbol of god. It's been used for centuries.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

3. And the phrase 'Hitler Rocks!'?

I'm pretty sure the person writing that isn't thinking about Eastern luck symbols. Sounds like they've got a nest of budding young anti-Semites.

[Perogie]

10. It was obvious no one said he was thinking about luck symbols.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

14. Was it?

In an article in which young people were obviously NOT using it as a 'symbol of luck', and school personnel glossed over the use that was actually being employed, you had to pop up with a comment about it being used as a luck symbol, with no mention or reference to the way the kids were actually using it.

[Perogie]

15. My comment wasn't about the kids.

My comment only stated that it is a symbol of peace and luck to millions of people. You read more into my comment than what I wrote.

[grossproffit]

4. Nazi's and the Holocaust changed all that. It's associated with Nazi's, period.

[Perogie]

11. You have the choice to think that.

It's an important symbol to Hindus. They believe it represents God and energy.
In Armenia it is the ancient symbol of eternity and eternal light.

Millions of people and cultures though thousands of years felt differently.
I wouldn't think of calling them wrong in their beliefs.

[DetlefK]

2. Reminds me of a scene from "Iron Sky".

The female main-character, an indoctrinated Nazi-teacher, sees some skinheads with swastikas: "Don't worry. They are good guys. They wear the symbol of love!"



Btw, the teacher should be punished or fired for his misinforming presentation.

[azurnoir]

5. The swastika is both a religious symbol for Hindu's, Jains and Buddhists and a Nazi symbol

The Swastika (also known as the gammadion cross, cross cramponnée, or wanzi) (as a character: 卐 or 卍 is a symbol that generally takes the form of an equilateral cross, with its four legs bent at 90 degrees.[1][2] It is considered to be a sacred and auspicious symbol in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.[3]

It has been used as a decorative element in various cultures since at least the Neolithic. It is known most widely as an important symbol long used in Indian religions, denoting "auspiciousness." It was adopted as such in pre-World War I-Europe and later, and most notably, by the Nazi Party and Nazi Germany prior to World War II. In many Western countries, the swastika has been highly stigmatized because of its use in and association with Nazism.[4] It continues to be commonly used as a religious symbol in Hinduism and Buddhism.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

[Mosby]

6. But in Western Society it only means one thing.

[azurnoir]

7. Obviously not with the passage of time people do recognize the duality at work here

now the common 20th century meaning is Nazism, however the Nazi's for whatever strange reason commandeered a Sanskrit symbol maybe because they 'thought' the originators were White blued blonde Aryans but as we all should know by now Aryans were an Indo-Iranian group, not some noble European group that idea was a 19th century misappropriation

[Mosby]

9. It's nice that we can have intellectual discussions about the history of the swastika

Meanwhile in Guadalajara:

[azurnoir]

12. yes with some people but apparently not others

there are some that wish the swastika be taught as only a Nazi symbol, while that should be the primary defination, that it is also a and originally a Sanskrit symbol should also be taught

[Igel]

8. Depends on what you've been taught.

For most people in the West, it means only one thing.

For others, it means a couple of things.

For some, its primary meaning isn't the Nazi Party but an older tradition.

That's just how symbols work. They have an arbitrary relationship to their meaning. In a diverse Western society, that arbitrary relationship means there might be diversity in interpretation. We "get it" in some contexts, but in others we assume that because we only see one relationship that's the only relationship that's seen by the rest of "our" society.

Yes, it tinges all those stark black/white lines with a bit of gray in some cases.

Not in this particular case. Still, it doesn't hurt to try to reclaim a symbol from the Nazis.

[Little Tich]

13. I remember that I almost choked on my morning coffee when I saw these swastikas a while back:

Source: http://englishrussia.com/2010/06/01/nazi-food/

Apparently, this is how Lithuanian produce was marked in Russia back in 2010. For me the context is very clear, and it has nothing to do with the swastika being an old Lithuanian symbol. It's really not possible to scrub the swastika clean in a Western context. It will always be a symbol for the ultimate evil.

[Perogie]

16. Why let the haters own the symbol?

The Swaztika for centuries has been and still is a symbol of peace, God, love.

If we take it back and and teach it's original meaning of peace, then the haters lose their hold over it. Why let them keep using it for hate? Why give them that power?

They use the Swaztika because they know it hurts us. Remove that power from them and make it meaningless. Then they will stop using it. I say we keep taking away their symbols of hate until they are only left with this....

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