Author: Ramesh N. Rao
Publication: ReligionAndSpirituality.com
Date: January 19, 2007
URL: http://religionandspirituality.com/hinduism/view.php?StoryID=20070119-073935-9464r
Hitler and Nazism not only did major physical
damage to the 20th century world but wrought unimaginable horror on Jews,
and serious injury to the psyche of the Germans. Their legacy continues to
contribute to the unease of and disease in the world. Nazism still attracts
many young whites in Europe, in the United States and in the newly independent
East European countries, including Russia. Fueled by poor economic conditions,
freedom to express openly, a new nationalism, and anti-Semitism that had been
driven underground during the totalitarian Communist era but now out in the
open, East Europe and Russia have now become havens for many bigoted youngsters.
Prince Harry was found sporting a jacket with Nazi symbols at a party.
The most infamous and frightening Nazi symbol was the swastika, and the use
of the symbol by neo-Nazis gets modern Germans all hot under the collar and
gives the world Jewish community serious concerns about resurgent anti-Semitism.
Since World War II, Germans and much of Western Europe have come down heavily
on those using the hateful Nazi symbols. The swastika is specifically banned
in Germany. Now that Germany has assumed the presidency of the European Union,
it wants to make Holocaust denial and the display of Nazi symbols a crime
across the European Union. The most infamous of the Nazi symbols, the swastika,
if this ban comes into force, cannot be displayed anywhere in public in European
Union member countries.
I am reminded of a comment by a United Nations delegate from one of the African
countries about racial and ethnic hatred in Africa, and if the kind of Nazi
atrocities perpetrated in the 1930s and 1940s in Europe would be repeated
in Africa and devastate the African continent. Hearing this fear expressed,
he is supposed to have remarked that the Holocaust would not happen in Africa,
because Africans were not as proficient in organizing as the Germans were!
Germans now want to organize the world for the better, to countermand the
past and compensate for the single-mindedness that drove many Germans to participate
in organized hatred in the Nazi era. This single-mindedness, even for good
purposes, is a sign of an authoritarian mentality, which we know can lead
to problems, if not crises. The problem, in this instance, is that the swastika
is a symbol hijacked by the Nazis, and that the Germans don't own it, and
so cannot make others disown it - especially the Hindus, Buddhists and Jains,
for whom it continues to be one of the most sacred symbols, and whose antiquity
is at least 5,000 years.
We do know that the Germans, and many Europeans, are unhappy that the United
States allows people to manufacture, sell and trade in Nazi memorabilia. The
neo-Nazis have made their homes and dug their bunkers in Montana, Wyoming
and elsewhere in the sparse Northwest and Midwest, as they prepare to make
the world "white" and "Aryan" and rid it especially of
blacks and Jews. They trade their hatred and their wares on the Internet,
and they stand outside school playgrounds passing out anti-Semitic literature.
However, the First Amendment protects these hate-mongers from being hauled
into courts or locked up in prisons. It is only when we can establish that
their hatred has led to specific harm that organizations like the Southern
Poverty Law Center or the Anti-Defamation League can spring into action and
clean out the bank accounts of the bigots.
First Amendment rights provide Americans a lot of freedom, and rightly so.
However, because of the easy access of hate material on the Internet and mass
emailing of such material, a lot of young and susceptible people can be brainwashed
into thinking that a particular religious, ethnic or linguistic group is the
cause of humankind's distress, or that they belong to a group that is superior,
if not supreme. Anti-Semitism is on the increase again, and the conflict in
the Middle East is simply another reason for targeting Jews.
But banning the swastika is merely a symbolic gesture, and is illogical. Hindus
in Europe are arguing that banning the swastika was equivalent to banning
the cross simply because the Ku Klux Klan had used burning crosses to spread
terror among black communities. It is therefore important for us to educate
the world about the swastika symbol, and equally importantly to get the Germans
to stop organizing the world according to their fears.
The word "swastika" is derived from the Sanskrit "svastika."
In Sanskrit, "svasti" means "well-being" and "svastika"
usually is translated as "the symbol associated with well-being."
It is also a sign of the Sun-God Surya and his generosity. The swastika is
a pure geometrical mark and has no syllabic tone associated with it, unlike
the symbol for "Om." The swastika is one of the 108 symbols of Lord
Vishnu and represents the sun's rays, without which there would be no life.
The symbol, an equilateral cross with arms bent at right angles, and with
dots in each quadrant (as per the tradition of Hindus), is one of the most
popular and auspicious signs for Hindus. The swastika is used in religious
and civil ceremonies in India - both public and private. It is the single
most evident decorative and spiritual motif found in most Indian temples,
and at the entrance of Hindu homes. Swastikas adorn wedding and religious
apparel, and are emblazoned on flags flown by devotees at festivals and religious
celebrations. Buddhists and Jains also consider the symbol auspicious. Archaeological
evidence shows that the sign can be traced back to the Neolithic Age, about
10,000 years ago.
There are a variety of theories as to the origin of the symbol, which has
been used in jewelry and art, architecture and religion.
For Hindus, the swastika, along with the symbol for "Om/Aum," is
one of the most powerful and ubiquitous spiritual symbols. There is the right-facing
swastika and the left-facing swastika, and the left-facing swastika is common
to both Hindus and Buddhists. Together, the two symbols represent the two
forms of Brahma, the Creator. The right-facing swastika represents the evolution
of the universe, and the left-facing swastika represents the involution of
the universe. It also can be seen as pointing in all four directions, and
thus signifies stability and groundedness. Lord Ganesha often is shown as
sitting on a lotus flower on a bed of swastikas.
Hindus in Europe are protesting the German initiative, and it is important
to educate the Germans and the world about the symbolism of the swastika as
well as the importance of freedom of speech. I just now finished listening
to the inspiring and gifted Daryl Davis, who visited Longwood University as
part of our Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebrations. Not only is he a
gifted pianist, but he has done great work listening to the Klansmen and converting
many of them out of their hatred and bigotry. In his book "Klan-destine
Relationships" he recounts his nearly two-decade-long interaction with
Klansmen, and how he has been able to influence many of them, including their
national leaders, to change. "If you ban them or their talk, it will
merely go underground and cause more harm," he said. "Instead, go
talk to them, give them an opportunity to express their views, and argue with
them. Maybe you will change some of them."
Banning the swastika will not solve the problem. Educating people about the
nature and significance of the symbol, and how it was misused by the Nazis,
may help reduce the interest in and the attraction of supremacist organizations.
Ramesh N. Rao is professor and chair of the
Department of Communication Studies and Theatre at Longwood University, Farmville,
Va. The views expressed here are his personal views and not those of the institution
to which he belongs. His email address is raorn@longwood.edu. © copyright
2007 by Ramesh N. Rao
