Who you gonna call?
Not the Nazi-busters.
Yep, Judge Wolfgang Kuellmer of Stuttgart ruled that the anti-neo-nazi symbol, the one of a swastika with a line through it ala the Ghostbusters symbol, ruled that using the symbol with a clearly negative depiction of it in the form of anti-nazi paraphanalia was illegal and fined the maker and distributor of the material. The reason why, Judge?
“In particular this mass market business risked undermining its taboo status,”
snip
Green party member of parliament, Claudia Roth, herself once investigated by the Stuttgart authorities for wearing an anti-Nazi lapel pin, said the ruling was unjustified.
“This ruling is scandalous,” she said. “It is a form of autism which completely ignores the real problems of right wing extremism, anti-Semitism and racism in this country.”
I personally don’t condone using autism as an insult at all. I would say silly or foolish there instead.
I suspect “autism” may be the wrong translation choice of some German word that can mean either “autism” as we know it in English or something more akin to “foolishness.” But I don’t know German.
Right. Though I would say that European legislators as a general rule seem to go more for direct insults than “character attacks”. Like, for example, an old favorite from “questions with the Prime Minister” from the House of Commons in the UK:
“Would my right honorable friend spend less time looking at furniture magazines, he might have noticed what was going on right in his own district” followed by a loud “yeeaaaaaaah” from the other people in the speaker’s party.
I’m a political nerd, used to watch that stuff in high school.
Shalom,
living in Germany, I can report that this country’s judges are in love with their laws, and if things could just be a bit off, even if it is for a good cause, it’s still against their laws. Fortunately, those brickheads won’t stop anti-fascist t-shirt and button shops in putting out their merchandise. Unfortunately, the same legal loopholes helping leftist antifascists work for the neonazis as well. I, for myself, I am gonna order a shirt right now!
Have an easy fast.
yeah, a friend of mine got in trouble recently for wearing the same patch in the city of Tuebingen, just outside Stuttgart. She told me that the city council had banned that anti-nazi symbol early this spring.. this makes no sense whatsoever.
“autism” is used here in the true sense of the word – selfness – i.e. the judges are unable to communicate with the outside world enough to understand the context of the pin.
It is like using the word “retarded” with regard to a runner who is running behind those he is competing against.
Most disability words are loanwords, and they do have real meanings, and aren’t insulting or degrading.
amit– very true. but, once the new meaning has become the primary meaning in people’s mind, I’d be careful using it in its old meaning.
This autism discussion, while far afield from the original post is quite interesting. Apparently, it’s a strong cultural divide. Here in Israel as well, calling someone austistic is an acceptable insult, which means an inability to understand or communicate with the world around them.
This autism discussion, while far afield from the original post is quite interesting. Apparently, it’s a strong cultural divide. Here in Israel as well, calling someone austistic is an acceptable insult, which means an inability to understand or communicate with the world around them.
josh– yep, israelis are less PC than Americans. shock 🙂
I’ve worked with autistic kids for 4 years now, and with the two girls I’ve worked with, I’ve noticed what a difference it makes if the kid feels unconditionally accepted. Using “autistic” as an insult is the opposite of cultivating that attitude of respect. So I can’t justify using the word as an insult.
Also, I have heard that autism is stigmatized more in Israel than America. probably connected.