this post was submitted on 07 Aug 2026
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Chapotraphouse
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Why should buddhists and hindus have to comform to western norms because some white guy decided to steal our symbol 80 years ago
Like obviously theres room for abuse like some neonazi claiming that hes a buddhist or whatever
But in this context its obvious that the symbol is not being used in a hateful manner
Just a remark to your first semtence: Anyone living anywhere should at least somewhat conform to local norms and should be aware of them. I should not order pork chops in an Iranian restaurant, smoke weed in Singapore or use symbols which are locally considered inadequate.
Racists love hiding behind norms, why should we turn off our brains because of a norm?
Not saying anyone should turn off their brains, but being aware of local norms helps. A swastika in Germany simply does have another meaning as in SEA. As does smoking weed or eating porkchops.
Every culture loves "hiding" behind norms. That does not necessarily make them better or worse. Norms are not a racist attribute. Being subservient to the rule of law and thus "rightful" is more significant and the source of "right" in contrast to left. Both have little to do with actual directions.
just a remark to your post: who cares what germans "locally consider inadequate"
also smoking weed in singapore probably rocks. imagine having a chao kwaytiao in a sweaty hawker center... ON WEED :jon-stewart-blazed:
because a white guy stole the symbol and neo nazis love to hide their shit everywhere
Yes but hows that my problem and its not like nazis dont have other symbols that they can freely use other than the swastika
and that's why i said it's a hot take. i dont trust anyone in the west with a swastika, what can i say?
"Any westerner" instead of the "anyone in the west" i guess
sure. i'm just not going to do a case-by-case analysis of a person who has a swastika if they wish for good fortune or if they're a neonazi. i will just steer clear as a self-preservation.
Growing up one of my best friend's parents had some wall hangings that included "swastikas" that were very obviously not Nazi. I think it's pretty damn easy to discern which is which:
The later was obviously derived from the former but is a wholly different thing.
Furthermore, in the original english translation of mein kampf, the tanslator (a catholic priest) deliberately translated "Hakenkreuz" as "Swastika". There have been forms of such angular spiral icons going back thousands of years.
Here is a rug from a Roman villa in what is now spain from the 1st-4th century:
This is actually closer to the Nazi symbol in orientation than the actual Buddhist or Hindu versions.
this is the former symbol of the finnish air force, as you can see it's not the same that german nazis used, but it was still used by fascists.
as i said, it's just not worth the effort for me, personally.
I get you but I also get the other argument. The obvious difference with the fins here is that the arms are oriented like the Nazis, and that specific version served as inspiration for the Nazi symbol. The basic shape though is not just in buddhist or hindu or nazi symbols but dozens of examples from cultures across history and the fact the statue in the OP was clearly the bhuddist variety as it was ON A STATUE OF THE BHUDDA makes it pretty clear this was just some overzealous lib at best that vandalized it.
from @Foofighter@discuss.tchncs.de and i tend to agree.