*dons flame proof suit*
Following on from Harry's recent miss-step, some German politicans have called for a Europe-wide ban on Nazi symbols, including the swastika. As we all know, a similar ban has been in effect in Germany since the postwar constituion and I won't dare comment on how successful that has been, as I have not the required information to make a sound judgement - this is an opinion on the latest news only (and why do I even need that disclaimer?).
Ignoring the argument that the swastika is an ancient symbol only adopted by the Nazi Party*, not created by it, I can't help but feel that this smacks of a He who must not be named type mentality (see what I did there?).
While I expect that the ban wouldn't be as much of a whitewash as may be suggested, and that such images could still be used for scholarly reasons, why is it necessary to force people to stop being stupid by banning an image that might cause offence? Their very act of stupidity opens up the debate again, and gives the public at large a chance to learn why it was offensive in the first place... and even whether or not it still is.
* Or rather its predecessors, the NSDAP and DAP parties, and a fair bit before in other quarters as well but that's neither here not there.
2 comments:
I quite agree - I just don't think that banning an image associated with Nazism is a cure - education is.
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