• danc4498@lemmy.world
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    3 hours ago

    Might be an unpopular comment, but I googled the Jerusalem cross and it appears to be more of a religious symbol than anything.

    Saying he has tattoos linked with white nationalists is just sensationalism. And it has gotten the exact response in this thread that it wanted.

    • Glitterbomb@lemmy.world
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      1 hour ago

      Might be an unpopular comment, but I googled the Swastika and it appears to be more of a religious symbol than anything.

      • danc4498@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        😂 Clearly you googled neither… literally every link for “swastika” mentions nazis. Google “Jerusalem cross” and the only posts you see related to white nationalism are Reddit posts with people asking if the symbol is related to white nationalism/nazis and nearly every comment saying it is not.

    • 52fighters@lemmy.sdf.org
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      2 hours ago

      I am looking at other photos. I can also see “Ne Desit Virtus” (Let Valor Not Fail) with a sword. That’s a symbol from the 187th Infantry Regiment. I also see the Chi Rho symbol, a Greek symbol for the name of Christ. Another tattoo is “MDCCLXXV” for 1775. Above that tattoo is an American Flag with a gun superimposed on it. I am not sure if these mean a recalling of the US War for Independence. The gun looks modern but could also serve as a bridge to the modern military of the US. On his other arm is “Deus Vult.”

      Broadly speaking, these tattoos suggest both military service and Christian identity.

      Not found are any symbols I’ve seen identified with White Nationalism. No Valknot, swastika, black sun, 88 symbol, Confederate symbolism, etc.

      Edit: The photo I was looking at is here: [https://i.imgur.com/kkroDES.png].

      • danc4498@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        Dude is definitely a nut, but when we start throwing around terms like “white nationalists” for things that are absolutely not white nationalism, it dilutes the impact of claims about people who legitimately are white nationalists.

        • I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world
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          52 seconds ago

          Political echo chambers have been in “Two Minutes of Hate” mode for years now. Throw every insult imaginable at your opponents. Even if it doesn’t fit, even if it doesn’t make sense. Just hold someone up and go “This is the bad man! Boo the bad man! Boooooo!” Anyone who cares ask “Why are we booing? And what makes this man bad?” Is immediately silenced by others because it’s just so obvious he’s a bad man. Look at all the other people booing him!

          Meanwhile his face is digitally changed to a bleating goat, and the people cheer.

          This happens on both right and left wing echo chambers.

      • Adm_Drummer@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        Deus Vult has indeed been co-opted by white supremacists along with a lot of crusader/christian symbolism.

        • whoisearth@lemmy.ca
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          1 hour ago

          Almost like its coded so as to not blatantly say “I’m a white supremist” while also clearly signaling to people he is.

          Are people just learning about plausible deniability?

          Now that said, sure this could be a nothing burger, but when coupled to be right wing…

          What’s that saying?

          You find me a nazi I can sure bet they’d be voting Republican.

    • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world
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      3 hours ago

      They might mean other tattoos, he seems to have a collection.

      It still makes him a religious weirdo, possibly with a bizarre crusade fetish. Not a great look.

      • danc4498@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        The article specifically mentioned that tattoo and no other ones… I’m not saying this dude is qualified for the job. There’s probably tons of legit reasons to hate this pick.

        This article is just rage bate, though. And judging by this thread it is a successful one.

      • Aksamit@slrpnk.net
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        2 hours ago

        Not to detract from this guy likely yes being a massive nazi piece of shit-

        -but many deeply religious Polish Catholics who lived through WW2 and the atrocities, had (maybe still have, idk all my grandparents and aunties who did are now dead) Jerusalem crosses on their walls, usually displayed alongside their many JP2 pictures, crucifixes and black madonna’s.

        Also not to say that many of these Polish Catholics weren’t also massive racists, but I’m pretty sure the Jerusalem crosses they displayed were a Catholic thing for them rather than a white supremacy thing.

          • nelly_man@lemmy.world
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            20 minutes ago

            Were you linking to a specific entry in their database? The link took me to the database as a whole, and I couldn’t find any mention of the Jerusalem Cross when searching it.

            When searching elsewhere, I see similar results as the above commenter. There’s mostly discussions of its Christian meaning and some reddit posts that argue that it’s a symbol of hate due to its association with the crusades.

            However, there was a different post from somebody who got a tattoo of it and was worried when people said it gave them Nazi-ish vibes. The commenters on the post assured him that it’s not a white supremacist symbol, but it was probably reminding people of the Iron Cross.

          • Hoimo@ani.social
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            55 minutes ago

            There’s a version of the Jerusalem Cross used by Episcopalian service members, according to Wikipedia. I’m not American, so I don’t know the exact connotation of the symbol on that side of the pond, it could still be harmless. As an outsider, I’d associate it with the crusades (or the country of Georgia), but it doesn’t have to be intended that way.

            Now, the fact that he’s a Trump appointee automatically makes him suspect, of course, but it’s less like “He has a Nazi tattoo, therefore Trump appointed a Nazi” and more “Trump appoints Nazis, therefore the tattoo is a Nazi tattoo”.

            • horse_battery_staple@lemmy.world
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              48 minutes ago

              It’s a symbol that’s been coopted by hate groups. I understand the reticence to call it a hate symbol as it can be used by cultural people in a different context. The far right took Celtic runes and the Celtic cross from me and my people and turned it into a symbols of hate. They’ve done it with Norse runes as well. It’s what they do, the swastika was originally a symbol of peace and trust.

              So yes context matters. Trump appoints alt right nut jobs who twist the meaning of cultural symbols so that they can spread a message of hate. This is what I am upset about, and likely others are as well.

      • danc4498@lemmy.world
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        1 hour ago

        Yes, and any cross is a symbol of white nationalism because they were used by the KKK.

        Not every symbol used by racist people is a symbol of racism. You gave the one most extreme example where a symbol was co-opted and can never mean anything else again.