Iron cross, et. al.

[Robert Sheridan]

http://tinyurl.com/jv8ao

Above is the Wiki link to the history of the Iron Cross, said to reflect 
"the cross borne by the Teutonic Knights in the 14th century." 

And they are:

http://tinyurl.com/8fgen

"...a German <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germans> Roman Catholic 
religious order 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic_religious_order>. It was 
formed to aid Catholics <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholics> on 
their pilgrimages to the Holy Land and to establish hospitals to care 
for the sick and injured. Its members have commonly been known as the 
*Teutonic Knights*, since they also served as a crusading 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusade> military order 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_order> during the Middle Ages 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ages>. "

Hitler made use of it.

The swastika was a Hindu symbol, as well as Native American.  Hitler 
ruined that, too.

The American Red Cross helps people during emergencies.  We like that.

The KKK burned crosses, sometimes on your front lawn.  See RAV v. St. 
Paul.  We don't like that.

The point is that this symbol, and others, can be infuriating, to 
understate the matter.  So much for the power of symbols.

So, if you find yourself infuriated by this symbol or that, in one 
context or another, it doesn't seem to be too much of a stretch to 
imagine why, for instance, a Jewish person might object to seeing a 
cross erected on or over public land.  Isn't it comparable to the 
Protestant Orange Order insisting on its several hundred year old power 
to parade through Catholic neighborhoods in Belfast today?  Solidarity 
for its members, and thumbs-to-noses to Catholics?

Why, in this country, do we want to encourage thumbing the national nose 
to minority groups?  I don't get that at all.

rs