I'd rather see Marines p!ssing on dead enemies

[Keunert]

the swiss military has a similiar problem, i just don't get it why they never changed that stuff.
if you're sick during service they will put you into a romm or facility marked as KZ... Krankenzimmer

SS and SA are also used but i think to remember in a lot less prominent way. to have facilities marked with those to huge letters is just wrong. also because in everyday swiss german you won't say the full word for concentration camps, you just call it KZ...

[Martok]

I'm hoping that this whole thing was done out of ignorance, as at least it's slightly less disturbing than the possibility that they did so deliberately...but only slightly.  To borrow Monty's words, it shows a real disconnect with history, and that scares me a lot. 

[LongBlade]

I'm hoping that this whole thing was done out of ignorance, as at least it's slightly less disturbing than the possibility that they did so deliberately...but only slightly.  To borrow Monty's words, it shows a real disconnect with history, and that scares me a lot.

There's another thing in here that should be considered: the Nazis hijacked a number of symbols.

At what point is it legitimate to demand them back?

As Smuck points out, the s-runes used by KISS were appropriated by Marine snipers 30 years ago. I don't think there's anything wrong with demanding that the Nazis cannot have a lock on things that never originated from them.

However, that raises another problem: faded memories. It's all well and good to give the swastika back to the Buddhists, but will the symbol actually mean the same thing or will the public at large still interpret it has a symbol of horror and atrocity? And if they see it return to its original roots, what happens when some idiot tries to emulate it as a neo-nazi and will we recognize it as such?

I don't have any answers here, just questions.

[son_of_montfort]

IIRC, the Sig runes had no modern meaning before the SS.

The swastika is another matter. It meant many things, mostly beneficial. This is why the building for the Heath program at Indiana University, built before the war, has swastikas in all of its staircases (along with many other symbols).

As to KISS, I do think at least one was of Jewish descent, maybe even Simmons. But it would be difficult to argue that their aesthetic wasn't, in part, influenced by the military uniforms of the early 20th century, mixed with medieval armor. A lot of punk and "hard" rock in the 80s had decidedly pseudo-fascist, sado-masochistic, militant, undertones.

[Gusington]

Gene Simmons is jewish, that is correct.

[Centurion40]

So is Paul Stanley.

[Arctic Blast]

Good grief! That photo is certainly disturbing, to say the least.  :-\

[Centurion40]

Good grief! That photo is certainly disturbing, to say the least.  :-\

So you've seen Paul Stanley without his wig??

[Arctic Blast]

Good grief! That photo is certainly disturbing, to say the least.  :-\

So you've seen Paul Stanley without his wig??

Any photo of KISS out of the makeup is fairly terrifying, actually.

[Gusington]

Paul Stanley without his wig is terrifying, that is correct :)

[Jarhead0331]

I don't believe there is anything anti-semitic about the use of the SS symbol by the scout snipers.  That, however, does not make it right.  They need to be educated and hopefully then, they will be able to use better judgment.

[son_of_montfort]

I don't believe there is anything anti-semitic about the use of the SS symbol by the scout snipers.  That, however, does not make it right.  They need to be educated and hopefully then, they will be able to use better judgment.

You actually make a very good point here. People tend to see any symbol that is similar to one used by the Nazis or their military and say "Anti-Semitic," although that might not be the intent of the people using the symbol. Be it KISS or the Scout Snipers, the use of the sig runes doesn't have to equate to being against Jews (any more than playing the Axis powers in a wargame).

But yes, education is probably the best course of action.

[Gusington]

I don't want to throw gasoline on a dying fire. But IMHO it doesn't matter what the Scout Snipers were trying to say by using the symbols. The symbols themselves have been hijacked by anti semites. Whether they should know that or not isn't really my place to say.

[son_of_montfort]

I don't want to throw gasoline on a dying fire.

Says the guy with a flaming hoop in his avatar.

[Epee1]

I like the flaming hoops.  The commies, not so much.