Thread: Never again!

Ladies and Gentlemen of SRP:

Yesterday, a swastika (or hakenkreuz, if you prefer the German term) was painted on the exterior wall of Temple Beth Israel in the city of Jackson, Michigan. I apologize for not knowing how to provide a direct link to this story, but it can be found on MLive.com under the article entitled "Graffiti, Swastika Found On Temple Beth Israel in Jackson." If anyone knows how to provide the link, please feel free to do so with my gratitude.
I am not Jewish. Heck, I'm an atheist. My father landed on Juno Beach on 6 June 1944 to stop the spread of the pestilence known as National Socialism. Later, he saw the Survivors of Dachau, and befriended them. I met some of those Survivors as a boy and young man, and listened to their recollections. I telephoned my father after reading this article, and the first thing he said was the first thing I thought after reading the headline: NEVER AGAIN!
Maybe it was some stupid kid who painted this because s/he had nothing better to do last night. Regardless of who and why, I am sickened beyond belief at this act.
Right now I am ashamed to be a resident of Michigan.

This is unfortunate. But I think you are on the right track, this is most likely some youth-young adult and did this out of boredom or as a cry for attention.

It is my personal belief that actions like these only hold the power that society gives it. So if the local news paper prints out a huge story and gets it on every website they can, it becomes a bigger issue and affects more individuals.

If I am wrong and the rebirth of Third Reich is upon us, then we have more problems in the world than I thought. But I sincerely believe you are correct with your first thoughts; it's probably kids.

JackofDiamonds

Unrelated point, but nationalism and socialism are gaining some serious ground throughout Europe at the moment as a result of the economic crisis and the increase in xenophobic policies and propaganda - I can't imagine we will experience any sort of militarised uprising as a result, but the trends sure are troubling...

Originally Posted by EisenFaust

Unrelated point, but nationalism and socialism are gaining some serious ground throughout Europe at the moment as a result of the economic crisis and the increase in xenophobic policies and propaganda - I can't imagine we will experience any sort of militarised uprising as a result, but the trends sure are troubling...

Indeed, nationalism is rising a bit in Europe. Socialism... not so much. The current crisis is troubling and there are some overtones that remind us of the 1920's and the rise of fascism. The right wing movements wink at the uneducated idiots that prefer brawn over brain in order to gain a bit more power... the idiots feel happy and start waving fascist flags and all that. But Nazism is still fresh in our memories and the NEVER AGAIN cry is strong in everyone's throats. That will not happen again. Sadly, other nasty things will happen if you forget our past, but WW2 was a very successful vaccine against Nazism. At least in Europe and in a broader populational scale. Sure, there's the odd fascist-ish party... but they are minorities, really.
What really concerns me is not the rise in right wing demagoguery. What concerns me is the fact that bancs have taken hold of real politics and are manouvering policies towards their gains when politics should be about providing the best for the people. Robbery in such a scale is not good in any way. The result is simple: democracy is in peril, facing the advances of technocrats that say when and where to have an election because the financial markets might not like that...

Is no one else sickened by the intentional defacing of a house of worship with a universal symbol of hatred?!?

Originally Posted by mapleleafalumnus

Is no one else sickened by the intentional defacing of a house of worship with a universal symbol of hatred?!?

Of course, swastika was not always the symbol of hatred, and to many culture and religion, it still is not.

The word "swastika" comes from the Sanskrit svastika - "su" meaning "good," "asti" meaning "to be," and "ka" as a suffix. The swastika literally means "to be good".

Swastika - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How the symbol for being good was used unite nations in the most organized and heinous war crime of our history is quite frankly beyond me.

Here is the link:
Graffiti, swastika found on Temple Beth Israel in Jackson | MLive.com

At least some good came from this -- I just learned how to provide a link. Small consolation, though.

The divisions in our country are growing wider every day and the 'adults' that now hold political and governmental positions seem to do nothing but fan those fires. It may have been kids that did it, but the rhetoric of the 'adults' is doing nothing to stop the feeling of hatred in our country.
When a politician wins an election by one or two percentage points they act as if the other 49% that voted against them have been disenfranchised for their term in office . It's not right. "To the victor belongs the spoils" is politics that we no longer need.

Originally Posted by xuz

Of course, swastika was not always the symbol of hatred, and to many culture and religion, it still is not.

Swastika - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How the symbol for being good was used unite nations in the most organized and heinous war crime of our history is quite frankly beyond me.

Yeah, but when it gets painted on the side of a temple, it's pretty unlikely that the painter was intending it to be a symbol of good will.

The young radicals of today have zero understanding of what these symbols represent.
I see kids tattoed with this crap,people that do this stuff are ignorant neanderthals and should be taken out of the gene pool.
People caught doing this crap should be made to watch the films taken by the liberators of aushwitz and Dachow etc.
Young children in school today should learn about what the Nazis did,maybe it will instill some compassion and put a stop to this neo-nazi bullshit.