Posted by Imbrogno on August 8, 2000 at 11:36:52:
In Reply to: Comfy armbands with offensive symbols... posted by Ancient Thief on August 8, 2000 at 11:31:18:
> > It's the spirit of the person that becomes a Maran not some outside clothes he wears (of course knowing that it's tainted and still wear is not good rp). I mean clothes come and go, but the spirit dwells which within that never changes is more important. > > There's an example below about baseball caps or some such. That's pretty inane, if you ask me. To get a better sense of why this is a problem, if you want to use contemporary metaphor... imagine something that's conveys a serious and unmistakable "evil" message. Would you walk around wearing a swastika armband? If you were an Allied soldier in WWII, would you wear a swastika armband? Even as a trophy from some Kraut you'd killed with your bare hands or something? Not bloody likely. (Yes, I know the swastika wasn't originally a symbol of evil or hatred. I'm talking cultural context here.) > > "But, I'm not an Aryan supremacist! Really! It's just a comfortable armband! Come on, I'm an open-minded man, with a generous and warm heart towards my fellow man! It's just a piece of clothing! Hey, why are you hitting me?!!? ..." > While that's certainly a better example than the baseball cap, I think what both examples miss is the possibility of any real, practical value of wearing an object. The reason being, of course, that swastika armbands--or any other clothing--do not offer anything more than basic utility, comfort, and looks. > By contrast, if there were some redeeming value to said armband that extended beyond comfort of the wearer, I could see a possible justification on the grounds of the ends justifying the means. Or, one could argue, they are willing to endure the hatred and anger they will incur in others, because they are willing to suffer for their goals (and believe the suffering they cause by others seeing the clothing is less than the good they can do by using it). > I can't think of a real-world example...the best I can think of (realizing that I am opening myself up for mockery) is the scene in the recent movie "The Patriot" where Mel Gibson takes out that hatchet that represents all sorts of bad stuff in his past, and goes and saves his son with it. The lightwalker of CF, of course, would have to make sure that he doesn't do what Mel Gibson did (i.e. become what the hatchet represents). To anyone who hasn't seen the film that reference won't make much sense, but you're compensated for that by the fact that you didn't have to pay any money or waste two hours of your life seeing an absolutely horrid film. > My two cents and one hatchet.