Years ago, our family got to spend a couple months in Malaysia on sabbatical. My first impression still stands out to me. We got off the plane after 24 hours of travel and were greeted with heat and a building with a huge swastika. It took me a minute. Heat and exhaustion are not good for my brain.
There were actually swastikas everywhere. I’m not amazing at history, but I was pretty sure Malaysia was not known to be a haven for Nazis. There are so many things I do not know.
We researched swastikas and here is what I learned from the Hindu American Foundation:
The swastika (or svastika) has been used for more than 10,000 years in the Indus Saraswati Valley civilizations. Similar shaped symbols have also been used in other cultures such as ancient Troy, and by Native Americans in North America, for just as long. The word swastika in Sanskrit translates to “that which makes all well.” Su means “good” and asti means “to exist.” It appears in one of the most frequently used mantras of the Rg Veda, the oldest scripture known to man.
Adolf Hitler took this sacred symbol and distorted it to reflect his belief in Aryan supremacy. There’s way too much to unpack in that, but he took a sacred symbol, turned it some and used it to lend credence to hate.
The cross has also been used throughout history to distort what is sacred and justify hate. The Ku Klux Klan burning of crosses is the first to come to mind, but there are other examples throughout history. The cross is probably the ubiquitous symbol of Christianity hanging in and on all kinds of interesting places. I’m not always sure what people are trying to communicate with it. My faith tradition would see the cross as the place where Jesus joins us with love in our darkest suffering. I’ve seen a lot of crosses in my day and many do not feel like they are communicating any kind of love at all. They just feel big and creepy and intimidating.
The cross wasn’t the primary image for Christians until mid-fourth century. The earliest image of Jesus was as the shepherd carrying a sheep across his shoulders. I wish we could reclaim a bit more of the shepherd carrying and gathering sheep and a little less of the torture device.
I bring all of this up because of recent use of Christian symbols to validate what doesn’t feel loving. Saying Jesus over and over does not make something Christian, quoting the Bible out of context does not make something Christian, and putting crosses all over something does not make something Christian.
Art, ideas or politics aren’t Christian because they quote the Bible or use Christian symbols. Something is sacred when it points us beyond ourselves and into a reality that challenges and transforms us. If your symbols affirm everything you think and are, then that is propaganda not an encounter with the sacred.
Religious art and symbolism are not saccharine coatings to justify hate, greed or violence by covering them with sacred images. We know something is truly connected to the higher power or bigger picture or God (however you want to talk about what is eternal) when it pushes us into seeing and understanding in a way we didn’t before. We know it is Christian when it makes our hearts bigger to love more.
Symbols are shortcuts to help us know what to trust, but they are also easily manipulated. Take a minute and question the symbolism around you. Is it growing your heart or confirming your hate?
Pastor Tari Stage-Harvey ministers at Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church.
