LAS VEGAS – Sept. 28 – Confusion about the swastika, an ancient symbol of good will co-opted by history’s most infamous dictatorship, is at an all-time high according to Rael, founder and leader of the worldwide Raelian movement of more than 65,000 members.
“There is a great deal of misinformation and misunderstanding in the West about this beautiful symbol that was so brutally tarnished by the Nazi regime,” Rael said in a Sept. 28 statement. “Hitler stole the swastika and dragged it through history’s dung heap, but to tens of millions of people around the world, it was – and still is – a symbol of peace and good will. In Sanskrit, it means “well being” or “cycle of life”. In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, it is a symbol of well being that is often used for meditation. In fact, it’s used in temples worldwide and can even be found in ancient synagogues.”
Rael deplored two recent news items related to the swastika.
In the United Kingdom earlier this month, the clothing shop Zara yielded to complaints by removing a line of handbags whose design included a swastika. Days later, the U.S. Navy announced that a barracks complex at its Coronado Island base in Southern California will undergo more than half a million dollars in renovations because it resembles a swastika from the air. After aerial images on Google Earth revealed the pattern, Internet forums buzzed with conspiracy theories and heated discussions about the resemblance. An Anti-Defamation League representative asked the Navy to make changes to the complex, and the Navy agreed.
Rael called upon U.S. citizens to protest. “This is a senseless, politically correct decision,” he said. “Why not save taxpayer money by keeping the complex as it is and use the funds to promote the rehabilitation of this peaceful Buddhist and Hindu symbol?”
He added, “I ask that Americans oppose this utter waste of tax dollars the U.S. Navy is supposed to be spending for their defense. Changing those buildings is an insult to American Buddhist and Hindu taxpayers and to hundreds of millions of people practicing those faiths worldwide. And what of the U.S. Navy sailors who are Buddhist or Hindu? Were their views even considered? It’s time to restore the swastika’s real meaning!”
A swastika intertwined with the Star of David is the symbol of the Raelian Movement. According to Rael, it is also special to the Elohim, highly advanced scientists from an extraterrestrial civilization who came to Earth and created Man in their own image.
“We support the campaign to reclaim the swastika, which you can find online at www.reclaimtheswastika.com or www.proswastika.org,” Rael said. “Members of many faiths are saying it’s time to stop persecuting one of humanity’s oldest and most revered symbols just because the criminal Adolf Hitler used it for sinister purposes. Continuing to demonize it gives Hitler a role he doesn’t deserve. We who live in the 21st century should reject his legacy once and for all by restoring the swastika’s original meaning!”
