🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Oct15.130756.29222@spectrum.xerox.com> Sprague.Wbst311@Xerox.Com writes:
>	A model is just that.  I am building a minature version of an
>actaul thing that existed!  It is NOT political statement of any kind,
>and it is NOT meant to offend anyone.

I consider myself a pacifist, and I have no illusions that the planes I build
models of caused a lot of misery and suffering. People don't seem to understand
that if I build a model of a particular plane, I am not trying to glorify war,
or the Nazis, or whatever; I like planes, I like building models, I like flying
them, and I like looking at them. I used to try to explain this to people, but
now I've decided that if anyone wants to take offence, that's their problem;
the people whose opinion matters to me already know my views, and I don't have
to justify them to the rest.

(Although I have to admit that during Desert Storm, there seemed to be a lot of
jingoistic fervour around - it was so intense that I had to stop going to the
hobby store, and I removed my models of current Allied planes from my displays.
Nevertheless, make no mistake: I did that for my conscience; I don't want
someone else telling me what I am allowed to display, or how I should feel.)

>	Chuckle, for that matter, the swastika symbol is a lot older
>than the Nazis.  Off the top of my head, I don't remember where it
>origionally came from, but I think it was some sort of religious
>symbol at one time.

Yes, it's long been a holy symbol in Hinduism (you will still find swastikas
inscibed on Hindu temples in India), and actually dates back to before it was
an organised religion - about 2000 AD if I remember correctly.  The swastika
(along with a few others like the ankh) is one of the few really ancient
symbols we have. It's a pity Hitler co-opted it for his regime.

-s
--
  Shamim Mohamed / {uunet,noao,cmcl2..}!arizona!shamim / shamim@cs.arizona.edu
  "Take this cross and garlic; here's a Mezuzah if he's Jewish; a page of the
    Koran if he's a Muslim; and if he's a Zen Buddhist, you're on your own."
 Member of the League for Programming Freedom - write to league@prep.ai.mit.edu